"Schuld" — it's German for guilt. If certain German universities don't feel some "schuld" for canceling Norman Finkelstein's lectures, it may be because of McCarthyite Zionism. Norman Finkelstein is an internationally renowned scholar of the Israeli−Palestinian conflict. Finkelstein grew up in New York as the son of two Jewish Holocaust survivors. His controversial views revolve around his idea that a "Holocaust Industry" exploits the Holocaust. This "industry" uses the Holocaust as a tool to further Israel's interests along with other profiteering purposes.
Recently, four of Finkelstein's lectures in Germany were cancelled. After Bak Shalom, a German neoconservative Zionist group, lobbied for Finkelstein's appearances to be canceled, the group that was sponsoring one of the lectures, the Böll Foundation, stated, "In our judgment, Finkelstein's behavior and his theses do not remain within the limits of legitimate critique." This begs the question: Are there limits of legitimate critique? And if yes, what exactly are they? It's evident that freedom of speech is still not a value that everyone is very fond of.
Bak Shalom's affiliate stated, "Fink−elstein is internationally popular among anti−Semites" and went further to accuse him of being a revisionist historian who is an anti−Semitic Jew. Finkelstein earned his master's degree and Ph.D. at Princeton University, has taught at Rutgers, DePaul and New York University and has been praised by Jewish and non−Jewish scholars such as Avi Shlaim and Noam Chomsky. It's not surprising to find a neoconservative pro−Zionist group defame and label as anti−Semitic a scholar who speaks against their imposed status quo: a status quo that believes Israel can do no wrong.
While Bak Shalom may be an active group in Germany, rest assured that we have our fair share of neoconservative pro−Zionist groups here in America. It is not a coincidence that Israel, a country with a GDP per capita of approximately $27,000, continues to receive more foreign aid than almost any other country in the world. In fiscal year 2010 Israel received $2.775 billion, according to American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and Egypt was the second−largest recipient of aid, receiving $1.71 billion. You can think of AIPAC as Bak Shalom on steroids, as it has significant leverage in both houses of Congress and in the White House with both Democrats and Republicans.
University of Lubeck (Germany) Professor Rolf Verleger, chair of the German section of the European Jews for a Just Peace, compared this phenomenon of accusing people of being anti−Semitic to the McCarthy era when U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused Americans of being disloyal, communist or communist sympathizers.
McCarthyism, like this new trend in labeling people as anti−Semitic, is based on demagogic attacks where the onus isn't to prove a person's links with communism, or in this case an inherent prejudice or hostility towards Jews, but rather to stir sufficient suspicion to ruin an individual's reputation and credibility. In Senator McCarthy's case, the heinous drama didn't decline until McCarthy accused the army of being Communist. Public sentiment shifted against McCarthy, and his accusations were seen as illegitimate. A similar fate awaits McCarthyite Zionism if stubborn pro−Zionist groups continue to deny any wrongdoing on Israel's behalf and react to those who seek justice by labeling them as anti−Semitic.
Finkelstein has repeatedly said that his parents' experiences during the Holocaust taught him to help the Palestinians, as those who were oppressed 70 years ago have now become the oppressors. This age of McCarthyite Zionism is bound to end. At that point the adamant Zionists who have not learned their fair share of lessons from history ought to know that, although neither I nor any human−rights activists agree, Israel's crimes against humanity are perfect fodder for those who still believe the Holocaust was justified. Israel must think of the consequences of its heinous actions beyond the short term — human persecution is never justified.
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Ibrahim Khwaja is a junior majoring in International Relations.
