Expression Against Oppression Week started off with a bang as two intellectual heavyweights went toe to toe over Israel on Monday.
Controversial American scholar Norman Finklestein and Israeli advocate David Olesker debated the Middle Eastern hotspot in front of a packed, politically-charged audience at the Faculty of Music, with the question period often deteriorating into a screaming match between pro-Israeli audience members and Finklestein.
As the author of several books on Israel, including some that assert American and Israeli lobbies are “blackmailing” poor European countries for Holocaust reparations, Finklestein never backed down from his beliefs during the event, despite the often tense atmosphere. Born in Brooklyn, New York, both of Finklestein’s parents were survivors of the Holocaust in the Warsaw ghetto.
In addition to the U of T “Blue Crew,” security was very visible, with eight campus police officers and 14 Metro Toronto officers, including plainclothes officers, in attendance. One anti-Finklestein member of the audience stormed out of the talk after screeching at the speaker from his seat.
In his opening remarks, Finklestein went through the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and what he saw as a “strike when the iron is hot” policy of land conquest during war times. He referred to Israel several times as an “apartheid-like regime,” forcing Palestinians into “dense Arab settlements.” Finklestein also hammered away at the fact that a UN resolution on the occupied territories has been favoured repeatedly by almost every country in the world. In 1989, he noted, the vote was 160-4. “Besides the United States and Israel, the other two nations [Micronesia and the Marshall Islands] can fit in the empty seats in this room,” said Finklestein, who received a round of laughter and applause for the witty assessment. He also kept the mood light during his remarks by joking that moderator Sue Spratt of the Canadian Auto Workers union “brought back memories of my late mother,” with her stern attitude, much to the amusement of both the audience and Spratt. Finklestein was not so flippant when it came to talking about what he saw as Israel’s inability to ratify the Saudi peace proposal which was approved by all 22 states in the Arab League several years ago. “The only obstacle to peace is the obstinancy of the United States and Israel,” he stated to thunderous applause.
David Olesker used his opening remarks to delve into the option of partition in the region, instead of the apartheid and expulsion methods which Finklestein raised. “If every Arab state hadn’t voted against partition, the independent Palestinian state would be celebrating its 55th anniversary,” he stated. Olesker also challenged Finklestein’s assessment of the issue coming down to Israel regressing to the pre-1967 war borders, noting that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964, “to destroy the pre-’67 borders.”
Along with the constant threat of terrorism inside Israel, Olesker also talked about how that hatred is spreading worldwide, specifically referring to the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. “They make his confess on camera, ‘I am a Jew, son of a Jewess,’ and then they slit his throat,” said a solemn Olesker.
Sporting a beard and a traditional Jewish yarmulke, Olesker then added “Take a look at me, guys. How long do you think I’d last on the streets of Damascus?”
Olesker closed out his speech by noting that Israel is the only democratic nation in the Middle East, and that he believes an entire generation of children are being brainwashed by groups such as Hamas to be suicide bombers. “Is 11 years old too young? Twelve? You’re talking about kids being educated to blow up, not grow up,” said Olesker, who also received a resounding round of applause.
The question period followed, with audience members from all points of the political spectrum asking about some very tough issues.
When asked if, as a Jew, Finklestein thought he could survive without the Jewish state of Israel, he responded by saying “To be perfectly frank, I’ve never thought of Israel as aiding my ability to survive.” Olesker countered by surmising that if Israel had been created 20 years earlier (then in 1948), many Jews might have found safe haven from the Holocaust.
Living up to his billing, Finklestein shocked many crowd members by remarking “I feel perfectly safe [in the occupied territories], except from Israeli soldiers.” This comment sparked one of the many shouting matches during the period between himself and members of the audience. Another fiery assertion of Finklestein’s was that “The problem is not Jews living in an Arab country, it’s Jews controlling all the land in an Arab country.”
Olesker also rejected claims that the Israeli army is heavy-handed, simply because they outgun the Intifada. “There’s a weird kind of moral calculus going on here,” he said. “Simply because you have the ability to defend yourself, doesn’t mean you can’t be threatened.”
Olesker also took a recent UN conference on racism in Durban to task, noting that African nations which still trade human slaves, such as Sudan, were not mentioned at all, while the entire conference was devoted to needling Israel. “I find it offensive,” he noted.
As the night wore down, Finklestein took time to address his own notoriety, offering a metaphor to explain his beliefs. “What would you say about a historian who tried to explain why the Apaches killed Europeans who came to North America?”
The evening ended rather poignantly with Olesker pleading for Israeli opponents to stop using the term “nazis” to refer to his people. He noted that even the most hated and corrupt regimes of recent times, such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi government, are never referred to as nazis, because as he revealed, “calling Jews ‘nazis’ hurts.”
Olesker also sent out a call to all U of T students to use the campus as a place for interfaith dialogue. “Break out of the sterile repetitions of slogans…you have a chance to make a difference, don’t blow it.”
