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Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History First Edition
Bringing to bear the latest findings on the conflict and recasting the scholarly debate, Finkelstein points to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record. Why, then, does so much controversy swirl around the conflict? Finkelstein’s answer, copiously documented, is that apologists for Israel contrive controversy. Whenever Israel comes under international pressure, another media campaign alleging a global outbreak of anti-Semitism is mounted.
Finkelstein also scrutinizes the proliferation of distortion masquerading as history. Recalling Joan Peters’ book From Time Immemorial, published to great fanfare in 1984 but subsequently exposed as an academic hoax, he asks deeply troubling questions here about the periodic reappearance of spurious scholarship and the uncritical acclaim it receives. The most recent addition to this genre, Finkelstein argues, is Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz’s bestseller, The Case for Israel.
The core analysis of Beyond Chutzpah sets Dershowitz’s assertions on Israel’s human rights record against the findings of the mainstream human rights community. Sifting through thousands of pages of reports from organizations such as Amnesty International, B’Tselem, and Human Rights Watch, Finkelstein argues that Dershowitz has misrepresented the facts.
Thoroughly researched and tightly argued, Beyond Chutzpah lifts the veil of controversy shrouding the Israel-Palestine conflict.
- ISBN-100520245989
- ISBN-13978-0520245983
- EditionFirst Edition
- PublisherUniversity of California Press
- Publication dateAugust 28, 2005
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6 x 1 x 9 inches
- Print length343 pages
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
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From the Inside Flap
A very solid, important and highly informative book. Norman Finkelstein provides extensive details and analysis, with considerable historical depth and expert research, of a very wide range of issues concerning Israel, the Palestinians, and the U.S.”Noam Chomsky, author of Hegemony or Survival
The scholarship is simply superb. Finkelstein has clearly done his homework, and consulted and mastered a breathtaking range of material: primary sources and documents, scholarly works, reports old and new, correspondence with relevant individuals, and numerous other sources too. He has left no stone unturned.”Mouin Rabbani, Contributing Editor, Middle East Report
"A vigorous, intelligent, succinct and powerfully argued analysis that is difficult if not impossible to reproach."Sara Roy, Senior Research Scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
"Accurate, well-written, and devastatingly important."Daniel Boyarin, Department of Near Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley
"Beyond Chutzpah is a brilliantly illuminating study of the lengths to which some American Jews will go to present Israel in a favorable light. On display are all the sterling qualities for which Finkelstein has become famous: erudition, originality, spark, meticulous attention to detail, intellectual integrity, courage, and formidable forensic skills."Avi Shlaim, Professor of International Relations, Oxford University
"A brave and daring challenge, meticulously researched. Must reading for anyone committed to a just and enduring peace in the Middle East." - Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!
From the Back Cover
"A vigorous, intelligent, succinct and powerfully argued analysis that is difficult if not impossible to reproach." Sara Roy, Senior Research Scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University
"A brave and daring challenge, meticulously researched. Must reading for anyone committed to a just and enduring peace in the Middle East." - Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!
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Product details
- Publisher : University of California Press; First Edition (August 28, 2005)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 343 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0520245989
- ISBN-13 : 978-0520245983
- Item Weight : 1.05 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #221,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #108 in African Politics
- #303 in Middle Eastern Politics
- #399 in Israel & Palestine History (Books)
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Finkelstein set out to enumerate the techniques used by Israeli apologists, and to that end I found Beyond Chutzpa to be beyond reproach. He sets out to use Dershowitz and other propagandist's own works to show how they go about disseminating falsehoods, exaggerations and lies to obfuscate the reality on the ground to the detriment of both sides. As for Dershowitz's works, Finkelstein devotes much of the book to systematically tearing down each of his arguments and shining a bright light on the shoddy scholarship used by Dershowitz. By using Dershowitz as an example case, he lays waste to the arguments that Israel is a humane and just nation that deals with all peoples, including the Palestinians, on an equal basis.
Mr. Finkelstein uses two world renowned human rights organizations, (and also Palestinian and Israeli organizations) Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to document the numerous humanitarian violations committed by the Israeli government. He uses copious amounts of documentation from these organizations to rebut claims made by Dershowitz. He also points out Dershowitz's lack of reference to these organizations. This is a glaring omission since many times these organizations are the only groups to have neutral observers on the ground to witness and document what is happening in places like Gaza and the West Bank. How could anyone writing a book about this area not use these organizations as source material?
This conflict is a very divisive issue for anyone who delves even skin deep into this topic. We all come to the table with built in biases and well formed opinions, but we must sift through these "opinions" and figure out what is fact before there will ever be a peaceful conclusion. What we have now is not only killing Palestinians and Israelis, but in a wider context, destabilizing the entire world. Believe it or not many of the terrorists that have attacked the U.S. did not commit these acts because "they hate our freedoms" but rather is directly attributable to their belief that the U.S. is no longer an honest broker in the area, and when a UN vote in regards to Israeli policies comes up and the vote ends up being the entire world voting yea and the U.S., Israel and the Marshal Islands voting nay I believe they may have an argument.
People like Dershowitz do not help anyone when they obscure the reality of the situation. When someone from such a prestigious university says that Israel is wonderful place that has a wonderful record on human rights people here believe him. Then that means that the crazy hate filled Arabs are just racists who have a great life but just want to kill Jews anyway. We here in the U.S. must become the honest brokers that the citizenry believes we are, but to do that we have to have the blinders removed. So once again, if this book is a lie then attack the scholarship and expose it, but do not simply spout that he's a racist and expect me to dismiss this book.
The best part of the book is the much longer, highly detailed expose of the dishonest attempt at "scholarship" by Harvard's Alan Dershowitz in his 'The Case For Israel' (2003). Finkelstein is very detailed with exhaustive documentation. This is not pleasant reading, specially for those who believe all the pro-Israeli mythology that pervades reporting in the US. Dershowitz is clearly exposed as a world class liar; sorry, there's just no polite way to say it.
For anyone willing to listen to all the international bodies that have studied the issues - this is an eye opener that's almost too painful to read. I did not read it until January 2014 and found it still highly relevant almost a decade later.
The Dershowitz issues are nicely updated in Howard Friel's excellent 'Chomsky and Dershowitz: On Endless War and the End of Civil Liberties' (2014).
This is not fun reading but if you want an adult dose of reality this will reward your efforts.
Part I of the book deals with the latest campaign by Israel's dogged supporters to convince us that the world is awash in a "new anti-Semitism" which turns out to mean any criticism of the Zionist state. The evidence is...nothing. Finkelstein shows that this a regular practice whenever Israel is forced to come close to actual peace.
In Part II Finkelstein deals with Dershowitz' attempts to paint Israel as not only innocent of human rights violations but as a paragon of virtue ("generally superb") in the face of unanimous opposite conclusions by every international body dealing with the subject. I would recommend that any reader first read Appendices II and III before the rest of the book to get an appreciation of Dershowitz' appalling misrepresentations. To make his case Dershowitz is compelled to denounce every human rights organization and the International Court of Justice. The latter not only found Israel's recently constructed "wall" built in the occupied West Bank illegal but also confirmed once again that the Israeli "settlements" - all of them - were likewise illegal, so the violations were not only offensive in themselves but were committed in illegally occupied territory. This book effectively exposes Dershowitz' claims which have been promoted by the Israeli government as "among the most spectacular academic frauds ever published on the Israel-Palestine conflict." Only a skillful and courageous Jew like Norman Finkelstein could have written and published this book.
Top reviews from other countries
This is well referenced book. If you are swayed by such things as references / footnotes.
The term anti-semite might apply to you. It is incredible how the category has broadened in the last few decades.
Abuse of history is an ongoing process and it isn't something new. I just wish educational institutions would refrain from participating.
The sheer demolition of Dershowitz's book is impressive.
The layout of the Kindle version is horrible, though. At least on my Android Kindle reader the text from the footnotes is mixed with the content making it really awkward to read.
This time its Alan Dershowitz, who is found to have pretty much invented everything in his Zionist Bible, "The Case for Israel".