Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History (2005; upd. 2nd ed. 2008)

Meticulously researched and tightly argued, Beyond Chutzpah points to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Norman G. Finkelstein exposes the corruption of scholarship and the contrivance of controversy shrouding human rights abuses, and interrogates the new anti-Semitism. This paperback edition adds a preface analyzing recent developments in the conflict, and a new afterword on Israel's construction of a wall in the West Bank.

"A very solid, important, and highly informative book. Norman Finkelstein provides extensive details and analysis, with considerable historical depth and expert research, of a very wide range of issues concerning Israel, the Palestinians, and the U.S."—Noam Chomsky, author of Hegemony or Survival

"The most comprehensive, systematic, and well-documented work of its kind. It is one of the harshest—rational and nonemotional—texts about the daily practices of the occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories by Israel, and it is an excellent demonstration of how and why the blind defenders of Israel, by basing their arguments on false facts and figures, actually bring more damage than gains to their cause."—Baruch Kimmerling, George S. Wise Professor of Sociology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"A brave and daring challenge, meticulously researched. Must reading for anyone committed to a just and enduring peace in the Middle East."—Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!

"Beyond Chutzpah is a brilliantly illuminating study of the lengths to which some American Jews will go to present Israel in a favorable light. On display are all the sterling qualities for which Finkelstein has become famous: erudition, originality, spark, meticulous attention to detail, intellectual integrity, courage, and formidable forensic skills."—Avi Shlaim, Professor of
International Relations, Oxford University

"The scholarship is simply superb. Finkelstein has clearly done his homework, and consulted and mastered a breathtaking range of material: primary sources and documents, scholarly works, reports old and new, correspondence with relevant individuals, and numerous other sources too. He has left no stone unturned."—Mouin Rabbani, Contributing Editor, Middle East Report

"In this sequel to his international bestseller The Holocaust Industry, Norman G. Finkelstein moves from an iconoclastic interrogation of the new anti-Semitism to a meticulously researched expose of the corruption of scholarship on the Israel-Palestine conflict." "Bringing to bear the latest findings and recasting the scholarly debate, Finkelstein points to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record. Why, then, does so much controversy swirl around the conflict? Finkelstein's answer, copiously documented, is that apologists for Israel contrive controversy. Whenever Israel comes under international pressure, another media campaign alleging a global outbreak of anti-Semitism is mounted." "Finkelstein also scrutinizes the spread of distortions masquerading as history. Recalling Joan Peters's book From Time Immemorial, published to great fanfare in 1984 but subsequently exposed as an academic hoax, he asks deeply troubling questions here about the periodic reappearance of spurious scholarship and the uncritical acclaim it receives."--Jacket Contents......Page 10 Preface to the First Paperback Edition......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 72 Introduction......Page 74 PART ONE THE NOT-SO-NEW “NEW ANTI-SEMITISM”......Page 92 1 From Jesus Christ Superstar to The Passion of the Christ......Page 94 2 Israel: The “Jew among Nations”......Page 105 3 Crying Wolf......Page 139 PART TWO THE GREATEST TALE EVER SOLD......Page 160 Introduction......Page 162 4 Impurity of Arms......Page 169 5 Three in the Back of the Head......Page 204 6 Israel’s Abu Ghraib......Page 215 7 Return of the Vandals......Page 241 8 Blight unto the Nations......Page 263 9 High Court Takes the Low Road......Page 280 Conclusion......Page 294 Postscript: Reconciling Irreconcilables:How Israel’s High Court of Justice Proved the Wall Was Legal......Page 300 Appendix I: Of Crimes and Misdemeanors......Page 346 Appendix II: History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict......Page 372 Appendix III: Peace Process......Page 396 Epilogue: Dershowitz v. Finkelstein: Who’s Right and Who’s Wrong,by Frank J. Menetrez......Page 436 Index......Page 468 Finkelstein, a political science professor and author of The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, has conducted a rancorous public feud with Harvard Law professor and pro-Israel stalwart Alan Dershowitz over the latter's The Case for Israel, and here expands his arguments into a vigorous polemic on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first part of the book examines what he feels is a growing tendency of pro-Israel commentators to use spurious charges of anti-Semitism to deflect and discredit legitimate criticism of Israel. The second, much longer, part is a line-by-line debunking of The Case for Israel, which he compares to Communist apologetics for Stalinist Russia.