Also see, more on Norman Finkelstein (and Noam Chomsky) regarding their moral & intellectual hypocrisy, their closet (rear-guard & 5th column) Zionism, Israel, the Israel lobby, and an anti-Israeli apartheid boycott, divestment & sanctions movement:

San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center

An Open Letter to Norman Finkelstein, and Barbara Lubin of MECA in Berkeley, et al
by Joseph Anderson, Berkeley, CA
Friday Feb 15th, 2008 3:39 PM

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/02/15/18479413.php

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Audio of Norman Finkelstein & John Dugard at UC Berkeley, 10/15/08
by Joseph Anderson
Thursday Oct 23rd, 2008 7:07 PM

San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center

http://www.indybay.org

(right-hand blue column under Local News)

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/10/23/18546108.php

And casual commentary article.

(Note: mp3 audiofile of lecture itself is under the Summary at the top of the article, and mp3 audiofile of the Q&A is below the article. My many thanks to Aaron Aarons, of Berkeley, CA, for his assistance in uploading these files to the website.)

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EDUCATING NORMAN FINKLESTEIN — ON THE USE OF THE WORD ZIONISM

(JA: from one of my brilliant friends!)

In our discussions we need to bring, use, actually repeat as much as we can the word Zionism, its implications, its meaning, its usage, and its results.

There is a liberal-intellectual “patronizing” the masses by “protecting” them from the ugly truth by baby-talking them away from the “complex concepts where the masses are too dumb to understand”. This effort sugar coats the truth and prevents facing the reality.

“Imperialism” is such a word. Instead of dumbing down our arguments against the reality of imperialism, I think the right thing to do is to make people learn, understand and think about this word and fact. Many people, including intellectuals, or well-read people have not been exposed to the concept or only accept it as a distant and historical phenomenon related to others in the past and never to the US. Should we not mention “imperialism” and talk only about the “greed” or “bad Bush” or “mistakes the US makes”? THE SYMPTOMS! If you believe that Finkelstein is correct, that is exactly what we should do ‘to avoid being isolated from the masses’.

Zionism is real. We see its tragic results everyday. People need not only look at its victims and decide, “oh, bad Israel government policies”, or “How sad!”, but people need to understand what nationalism, religious bigotry, imperialism, and capitalism all mean and how they manifest themselves in every day life. Learning Zionism is not an abstract discussion. It is also an education in the above subjects.

Zionism, as an expression of imperialism and nationalism, could be used to explain many things by leftists. It is far from being abstract. Starting with Zionism one could talk about imperialism in the 19th century, creation of national bourgeoisie, comprador classes, imperialism becoming an “internal affair”, human rights, Nazi ideology, birth of nations in the era of imperialism, neo-colonialism, capitalist state, neo-colonial type fascism, …, EVERYTHING! Actually, using Zionism, we had endless discussions with my Arab friends, which inevitably turned the discussion to imperialism and capitalism. They resisted these concepts (prior to Iraq war) and only wanted to concentrate on Zionism and Jews, but through this subject and long discussions they too started using these terms because Zionism is related to the broader subjects, whether you like it or not.

Using, forcing and pressing our words and concepts, will reveal the reality and truth. We need to oppose the current dominant culture, and its convoluted terminology and use our tools. This will also expose the double meanings used by the ruling classes (words like “democracy,” “freedom,” “dictatorship,” “imperialism,” “fascism” etc) which is a prerequisite to pull the masses from the grasp of a lying system and bolster an alternative culture, even though it may not be socialistic yet, in a society that is ripe for a change. Discussion of Zionism is pregnant with many rich other subjects that it embodies. I use the word as much as I can in every opportunity.

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http://www.theage.com.au/national/holocaust-denier-arrested-20081002-4s58.html

In any case, Finklestein is quite brilliant. I’m very glad that he is out there, exposing the zionist lies for what they are.

about neocons
from above analyses i affirm that we’v always had everywhere the same cons.
ok, if one insist calling new liars saying old lies “neocons”, it’s ok w. me.
sorry to disagree w. ur statement that bush has no ideas.
the fact to remember is that every human being has hunches(ideas)/feelings/wishes.
these entities to many of us r inseparable from one another. and sorry to espy, there r in US another 50mn or more likeminded people.
so, because of this observation i never personalize events nor do i condemn just cheney/bush but ab 200mn amers.
that is the problem; 200mn mad, raging, greedy people.
thnx

Bush doesn’t have any ideas. He’s very close to a puppet. The office of the presidency has been largely that of a puppet since Reagan. The point of the office is to act as Public Relations – to look good (coiffed by others), to give speeches (written by others).

The Neoconservatives have ideas, although the problem is not the ideas, it’s that there is a class system (in politics called the “electoral system”) that allowed the Neocons to come to power. Structurally, monsters like the Neocons must exist – if the Neocons fade other monsters will take their place, because American (derived from Western) society is built on imperialism and all it entails – domination, coercion, theft.

Much like money, a title is only as good as the paper it’s printed on. The Catholic Church requires consent in it’s domination, consent which is only in part “manufactured” (per Chomsky). There is always an underlying aspect of popularity which can be separated and admired about any elite institution, however much this aspect is merely taken on for purposes of exploitation. However monstrous the Olympics may be, for example, it’s enjoyable to watch the sporting events.

The elite are not so much evil as corrupt, people who are constantly re-aligning themselves to suit the needs of increasing their power. The whole process and desire of the elite is to entrench themselves so much that this process ends – that they “no longer” have to change to suit the changing winds. They could also, alternatively, no longer *pursue* power, but they disregard that option.

The elite are those people for whom nothing matters but wealth, power, and those things (such as prestige and exposure) that increase wealth and power.

The only way, ultimately, to destroy the elite is to ensure that humans no longer quest for power.

The elite are parasites, but many on the left make the mistake of believing the parasites dominate the host. Without the flesh and blood the parasite is attached to, the parasite dies. Much like the goodness of humanity, or the enjoyability of sport, the elite can never quench the human spirit.

The elite are vampires, and there is a pride of strength that we have in allowing the vampires to feast on us. When that pride dies, when in our newfound humility and decency and love of selves we deny ourselves that pride, we will kill the structures that ensure elite domination.

You’re lumping the baby in with the bathwater. One might dislike Christianity without disliking the underlying human being. One might wish that human would discard the Christian cloak draped around his shoulders.

Also, one might dislike Christianity without disliking the impact of Christianity on all humans. Religions are tools, and some humans can use religion wisely, so for them it is good.