Comments on: How DePaul Is Terrified Of Anything Finkelstein

By: Carlson

Carlson — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:57:58 +0000

How remarkable that at your young age you would have the courage of your convictions. While most the other students were giving high fives and doing whatever self-absorbed things young people usually do, you and a few others showed wisdom and insight beyond your years. That maturity is how I would define a successful college career, whether accomplished despite, as much as because, of De Paul. Well done.

By: Binh

Binh — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:37:17 +0000

Dershowitz and Hitchens got off easy from Finkelstein.

And if anyone wants to whine about why people compare the Zionists with the Nazis, tell Israel to stop acting like the Nazi Germany (one IDF officer even said the IDF should learn from “how the German Army operated in the Warsaw Ghetto”).

By: Heike

Heike — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:35:33 +0000

His behavior was that he dared to criticize Arab students who had distributed flyers equating Israel with Naziism. Non renewal of a contract, in this case, is the equivalent of firing. He was fired after strong pressure was exerted on the university by CAIR. You don’t think that Finkelstein’s demonization of people he doesn’t like, including calling Dershowitz a whore madame (or saying that he had no right to protest the Latuff cartoon since he has been known to sunbathe in the nude on Martha’s Vineyard!) or calling on Chris Hitchens to commit suicide, or calling Phyllis Chesler an “idiot, imbecile, and lunatic,” and suggesting that she was mentally ill might be the subject of the Faculty Code of Conduct (slander is prohibited in many universities)?

Don’t rely on “Zionist-friendly Wikipedia,” and do some of your own research on the Klocek case.

By: Kim Petersen

Kim Petersen — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:47:37 +0000

But freedom of speech should belong to all Heike, even those who we are not fond of.

By: Kim Petersen

Kim Petersen — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:39:25 +0000

Not familiar with Klozek, but it seems that Tom Klocek was not dismissed for his speech but rather his behavior. From Zionist friendly Wikipedia: “Dean Susanne Dumbleton talked with Klocek in private, explaining that the behavior reported during the incident violated the university’s Faculty Code of Conduct. Klocek was given the opportunity to apologize to the students for his behavior and continue in his position. He declined.”

Yes, speech is a behavior, but the Wiki piece makes clear it was not about speech.

Also he wasn’t fired; his contract was not renewed.

By: Heike

Heike — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:21:16 +0000

Funny that no one shouted the name “Tom Klocek” at the graduation. Is freedom of speech only to be granted to those whose views we like? Is there no one at De Paul who thinks the firing of Mr. Klocek brings up genuine issues of freedom of speech?

By: Kim Petersen

Kim Petersen — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:06:11 +0000

Dear Michael Kenny,

Might it not be “that nobody got annoyed at any of” the “graduation hi-jinks” because they support Norman Finkelstein and his right to academic freedom? A good Catholic high school might have taught about Occam’s razor.

You are wrong; Finkelstein did not seek “to drag a Catholic university into a dispute between Jews over their respective visions of Israel.” Finkelstein’s views were already public when he was hired for a tenure track position; the level of his scholarship was already known; and his refusing to bend before titled individuals is old hat. That DePaul brings up old canards long down the road is disingenuous at best.

Also, to claim that an assault on morality where millions of lives are imperiled is not a “Catholic problem and it would be wrong for DePaul to take sides in it” should astound any Catholic or thinking person. Did you not learn the story of the Good Samaritan in your Catholic high school?

Please do not get high schools and universities mixed up. DePaul U’s mission is not “to provide a Catholic education.” One can read DP’s mission statement in which the central purpose is made clear:

“DePaul, in common with all universities, is dedicated to teaching, research, and public service. However, in pursuing its own distinctive purposes, among these three fundamental responsibilities this university places highest priority on programs of instruction and learning. All curricula emphasize skills and attitudes that educate students to be lifelong, independent learners.”

With all due respect, your comments are factually inaccurate and empty rhetoric.

By: Michael Kenny

Michael Kenny — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:48:15 +0000

The most interesting thing about all this graduation hi-jinks is that nobody got annoyed at any of it. And wasn’t the reason why the speaker hesitated because she knew NF wasn’t the next graduate’s name? That would be the common sense option. All this dark innuendo is a bit too, well, … studenty!

Finkelstein’s problem is not his ideas, but the fact that he has sought to drag a Catholic university into a dispute between Jews over their respective visions of Israel. That’s not a Catholic problem and it would be wrong for DePaul to take sides in it. The mission of a Catholic university is to provide a Catholic education. Getting into other people’s fights impedes that mission.

By the way, you can imagine the almighty uproar there was in my Catholic high scool 40 years ago when someone added “Buster Cherry” to a list of names to be read out by the dean of discipline (a rather short-tempered Christian Brother) and he read it out before he noticed it!

And, oh yes. Question for “hp”. Who the blazes is Ernst Zundel?

By: hp

hp — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:21:38 +0000

Perhaps the student should have said “Ernst Zundel!”

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:42:56 +0000

A wonderful article. I am so inspired by the students at De Paul who have taken action on behalf of Norman Finkelstein. They are mentoring faculty all around the country as to why academic freedom is under assault in this case in the boldest, clearest manner that we have seen in a long time.