I briefly re-subscribed to comment here. Re: Finkelstein. It's one thing to support Palestine and oppose the Jewish state. Oodles of Jewish journos and academics do this - Peter Beinart to name one - and it fact, it's so unremarkable hardly anyone bothers to complain anymore.
It's another to deliberately provoke by calling those who study and write about the Holocaust an "industry." implying they're those stereotypical Jews who only care about money. (Unlike the lofty leftists, Marxists and WASPs who, as we know, solely work for the good of mankind.)
How would you react, Glenn, to being called a member of the "Black Conservative Industry?" (Since all good Black people are on the left, someone on the right is obviously there for the money.
Perhaps the most vulgar and disgusting is Finkelstein's appropriation of his parents' Holocaust survivorship as validation of his own positions: whether it be against Israel as a Jewish state, or a reverence for the Soviet Union, and the closest thing to it still in existence: Putin's Russia. (He claims his parents raised him to respect the USSR because the Red Army ultimately saved them by defeating Hitler.)
I cannot honestly claim status even from my parents' far-easier experiences -- they grew up poor in Depression-era New York City -- because I did not live my parents' lives. I happened to grow up in Westport!
I recently heard another hero of the left, Bernie Sanders, make a faux pas in an NPR interview in which he claimed to be of the working class. To his credit, the clearly affluent Sen. Sanders quickly corrected himself: "...child of the working class."
You should probably actually READ the book, The Holocaust Industry, before making assumptions about what Norm refers to when he uses that term. It's a well-researched book that gives EVIDENCE of how specific orgs and individuals (NOT just an abstraction: ie all/some "jews") were ripping off holocaust survivors for their own gain and political aggrandizement. As you I'm sure you know, out of all his family members, only his parents survived the camps. That's why Norm takes it personally and is so disgusted/vociferous in his critique of the hucksters who ventriloquised the suffering of the victims to only turn around and take the money they were supposedly selflessly collecting for them.
You are probably the ten thousandth person I've read or heard admonishing naysayers to "read the book," otherwise you have no business criticizing the author. Quite often this is in reference to an author who has made him or herself infamous via outlandish assertions in the media or, even worse, actual evil deeds.
No I am not required to read anything by David Irving to personally assess the validity of his assertion that the Holocaust never happened. (Finkelstein has been quoted in defense of Irving's scholarship, by the way.) Nor must I read "Mein Kampf," "Chairman Mao's Little Red Book" or Lenin's "What is to be Done" to horrified by the death and destruction their authors unleashed upon the world.
If Finkelstein were an advocate for better policing of Jewish charities, that would be wonderful!
Of course this would have absolutely nothing to help the Palestinian cause, as there are plenty more corrupt Muslim and Christian organizations than Jewish ones, by simple virtue of the relative size of Muslim and Christian populations.
No, my objection is to the idea that memorializing the Holocaust has somehow been misused to create sympathy for the Jewish state. For me -- and the vast majority of the world's Jews -- it's patently obvious that the Holocaust DOES demonstrate the need for a Jewish state, as only a Jewish state can be counted on to rescue Jews threatened by the next Hitler.
Of course, a vocal minority of Jews object to a Jewish state, and as one of those you are perfectly free to have that opinion. Only I hope that should the unthinkable happen again, you will not be one of those who impeded the rescue of Jews as did some Jews in America and around the world during WWII.
I'd like to point out that I originally subscribed to support Glenn and John in their enterprise (not industry) to publish their heterodox views on race and society. I cancelled when it became clear that the enterprise had succeeded to such an extent it no longer needed my 72 bucks a year to survive.
Subsequently I was dismayed by Glenn's decision to appear on the incredibly bigoted Tucker Carlson's TV show as well as inviting guests to his blog who either supported Trump's presidency or at least apologized for it.
Finkelstein is a first insofar as being a guest from the left who bothers me.
Glenn was bigoted during his appearance on Tucker's show? Do tell...
Didn't approx. half the country vote for and (presumably) approve of Trump's presidency? Are they to be uninvited to voice their views in public? Where are they supposed to go?
If you read carefully you'll note I said Tucker Carlson is bigoted, not Glenn. Further: I concede that 1) Glenn is free to appear on any TV show he wants, 2) anyone who wants to vote for Trump is free to do so, and say so. 3) I am free not to contribute to an blogger who makes choices I find objectionable. I assumed most readers here could figure all this out, but I'm spelling it out for your benefit.
I briefly re-subscribed to comment here. Re: Finkelstein. It's one thing to support Palestine and oppose the Jewish state. Oodles of Jewish journos and academics do this - Peter Beinart to name one - and it fact, it's so unremarkable hardly anyone bothers to complain anymore.
It's another to deliberately provoke by calling those who study and write about the Holocaust an "industry." implying they're those stereotypical Jews who only care about money. (Unlike the lofty leftists, Marxists and WASPs who, as we know, solely work for the good of mankind.)
How would you react, Glenn, to being called a member of the "Black Conservative Industry?" (Since all good Black people are on the left, someone on the right is obviously there for the money.
Perhaps the most vulgar and disgusting is Finkelstein's appropriation of his parents' Holocaust survivorship as validation of his own positions: whether it be against Israel as a Jewish state, or a reverence for the Soviet Union, and the closest thing to it still in existence: Putin's Russia. (He claims his parents raised him to respect the USSR because the Red Army ultimately saved them by defeating Hitler.)
I cannot honestly claim status even from my parents' far-easier experiences -- they grew up poor in Depression-era New York City -- because I did not live my parents' lives. I happened to grow up in Westport!
I recently heard another hero of the left, Bernie Sanders, make a faux pas in an NPR interview in which he claimed to be of the working class. To his credit, the clearly affluent Sen. Sanders quickly corrected himself: "...child of the working class."
You should probably actually READ the book, The Holocaust Industry, before making assumptions about what Norm refers to when he uses that term. It's a well-researched book that gives EVIDENCE of how specific orgs and individuals (NOT just an abstraction: ie all/some "jews") were ripping off holocaust survivors for their own gain and political aggrandizement. As you I'm sure you know, out of all his family members, only his parents survived the camps. That's why Norm takes it personally and is so disgusted/vociferous in his critique of the hucksters who ventriloquised the suffering of the victims to only turn around and take the money they were supposedly selflessly collecting for them.
You are probably the ten thousandth person I've read or heard admonishing naysayers to "read the book," otherwise you have no business criticizing the author. Quite often this is in reference to an author who has made him or herself infamous via outlandish assertions in the media or, even worse, actual evil deeds.
No I am not required to read anything by David Irving to personally assess the validity of his assertion that the Holocaust never happened. (Finkelstein has been quoted in defense of Irving's scholarship, by the way.) Nor must I read "Mein Kampf," "Chairman Mao's Little Red Book" or Lenin's "What is to be Done" to horrified by the death and destruction their authors unleashed upon the world.
If Finkelstein were an advocate for better policing of Jewish charities, that would be wonderful!
Of course this would have absolutely nothing to help the Palestinian cause, as there are plenty more corrupt Muslim and Christian organizations than Jewish ones, by simple virtue of the relative size of Muslim and Christian populations.
No, my objection is to the idea that memorializing the Holocaust has somehow been misused to create sympathy for the Jewish state. For me -- and the vast majority of the world's Jews -- it's patently obvious that the Holocaust DOES demonstrate the need for a Jewish state, as only a Jewish state can be counted on to rescue Jews threatened by the next Hitler.
Of course, a vocal minority of Jews object to a Jewish state, and as one of those you are perfectly free to have that opinion. Only I hope that should the unthinkable happen again, you will not be one of those who impeded the rescue of Jews as did some Jews in America and around the world during WWII.
I'd like to point out that I originally subscribed to support Glenn and John in their enterprise (not industry) to publish their heterodox views on race and society. I cancelled when it became clear that the enterprise had succeeded to such an extent it no longer needed my 72 bucks a year to survive.
Subsequently I was dismayed by Glenn's decision to appear on the incredibly bigoted Tucker Carlson's TV show as well as inviting guests to his blog who either supported Trump's presidency or at least apologized for it.
Finkelstein is a first insofar as being a guest from the left who bothers me.
Glenn was bigoted during his appearance on Tucker's show? Do tell...
Didn't approx. half the country vote for and (presumably) approve of Trump's presidency? Are they to be uninvited to voice their views in public? Where are they supposed to go?
Is Bicker REALLY your last name?
If you read carefully you'll note I said Tucker Carlson is bigoted, not Glenn. Further: I concede that 1) Glenn is free to appear on any TV show he wants, 2) anyone who wants to vote for Trump is free to do so, and say so. 3) I am free not to contribute to an blogger who makes choices I find objectionable. I assumed most readers here could figure all this out, but I'm spelling it out for your benefit.
Thank you. I believe I understand perfectly now (and so does everyone else).