I’m not a good writer, and I don’t care. Unfortunately, after I left college, I didn’t have time much for literature. I wish I did. Most of the time I read documents, and that’s not going to help your writing. But I’m a very logical writer, and you can’t get out of me. Once I’ve nailed you, you’re finished.
Category Archive: Norman Finkelstein
I think sometimes we underestimate just how vulnerable Israel is on the public-relations front. That’s why they spend so much money on propaganda. And that’s why they panic every time they feel like they’re losing the propaganda war.
I don’t think it’s a good thing to have Christian states, Muslim states, or any kind of ethnic states.
I don’t want to pretend to be a prophet or a saint. I’m very conscious of my limitations. I know my flaws. But I don’t like lying.
No conditions justify torture.
DePaul’s plot to deny me tenure had nothing to do with my faults. In fact, and ironically, it viciously attacked me and destroyed my career because of my virtues. Which, although few in number, they still found threatening.
If there were an Oscar for best theatrical performance by a country, Israel would win every year. It’s a country based on theater. It’s a lunatic state – completely insane.
I think one of the problems when we discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict is people talk too much in terms of, ‘What’s your preference?,’ like politics is a Chinese menu – I’ll take one from column A and two from column B. That’s not what politics is about.
I was bashing Israel in the past because nobody else was exposing its true record. Many people are doing it now, so I switched hats from a critic of Israel to a diplomat who wants to resolve the conflict. I have not changed, but I think the spectrum has moved.
I am opposed to any state with an ethnic character, not only to Israel.