- Dear Friends,
-
- I want to alert you to a disturbing development on the
academic freedom front: It is possible that the University of California
Press might not, after all, publish the long-awaited book by Norman Finkelstein,
Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History.
The reason is that UCPress, under pressure from outside political forces
as well pressure from inside the UC administration, has asked Norman Finkelstein
to make further changes despite and in violation of an earlier commitment
to publish the final galleys without any further changes.
-
- This commitment came after a very long and tortuous editing
process during which Norman has bent over backwards in accommodating queries
by editors, reviewers, and several (nine is the figure I heard) libel lawyers
that UCPress consulted. As the article below by Jon Wiener that appears
in the current issue of the Nation magazine shows, the book has received
excellent reviews by eminent scholars and has been cleared by several lawyers.
The new demands seem to be the result not of scholarly concerns, but of
intensive lobbying by Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard professor and author
of the book, The Case for Israel, which Norman tears apart by showing that
every substantive claim the book makes is false. Norman also makes a strong
case that Dershowitz is a plagiarist.
-
- My understanding is that the core of the new demands
by UCPress is the deletion of any references to plagiarism on the part
of Alan Dershowitz, primarily in order to avoid being sued. That is a dangerous
abdication of the right of academic freedom and the consequences go well
beyond Norman Finkelstein and his book. If the heavy handed tactics succeed
in muzzling UCPress and Norman Finkelstein, university presses in general
will become very wary of publishing any book critical of Israeli policies
or of the apologists for these policies, of which Dershowitz is a prime
example. The capitulation of the President and Provost of Columbia University
when it comes to what ME professors can teach now may have its publication
equivalent.
-
- There is no doubt in my mind that Norman's book would
have been published by now if the normal procedures of peer review were
followed. The folks at UCPress, if left alone to do their work freely would
have seen this book through. But peer review procedures and academic freedom
do not always apply when it comes to critical academic works about Israel.
What we have before us here is a naked in-your-face attempt to exercise
political muscle in support of bankrupt intellectual arguments.
-
- The article by Jon Wiener below was written before these
new developments, hence the assumption that book will be published in its
current form. I should also note that despite claims to the contrary, the
letters sent by Dershowitz and his lawyers unequivocally aim at suppressing
the publication of the book.
-
- It is ironic that when Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor
of California, was asked to intervene on behalf of Dershowitz and prevent
the publication of this book, his office replied that it cannot do so,
for this is a clear case of academic freedom. I think it is very important
that UCPress and UC administration and its lawyers be reminded that this
core principle is at stake and they should not allow outside pressures
to dictate the political boundaries of what can or cannot be published.
-
- Beshara
-
- ****
-
- From: Beshara Doumani
- Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 3:07 AM
- Subject: Finkelstein and Academic Freedom follow up
-
- Dear Friends,
-
- Below is a link to yet another article on Norman's book.
This one is by Scott Jaschik, "First Amendment Furor," and is
available at the following link:
-
- http://insidehighered.com
-
- It includes a wonderful quote from Lynne Withey, editor
of UCPress, contradicting Dershowitz's claim that has not tried to suppress
the publication of the book and rejecting
-
- Dershowitz's charge that it is anti-Semitic:
-
- "But Lynne Withey, director of the University of
California Press, said in an interview Friday that Dershowitz had tried
to stop publication of the book. "He doesn't want the book published,"
Withey said, adding that it was "outrageous" for Dershowitz to
charge the book with being anti-Semitic. "To say that the book is
anti-Semitic is to say that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic,"
she said."
-
- As I mentioned in my last email, the folks at UC Press,
if left to their own devices, would have seen this book through. They have
been sitting on a very hot seat ever since they "dared" to publish
Norman Finkelstein's book and few would trade places with them. The threat
of lawsuits is real and the financial consequences can be severe. At the
same time, the threat to academic freedom is also very real, as is the
chilling effect of scare tactics on honest and reasoned discussions of
Middle East issues in this country. It is vitally important for the UC
administration and UC Press to muster the political will and allocate the
resources to defend the principle of academic freedom and fulfill their
already agreed on agreement with Norman Finkelstein. If they do, I expect
that they will receive strong support from the academic community and from
the informed public.
-
- Beshara
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