Lecture: The Struggle for Justice in Palestine: Past, Present, and Future.

Source: Media Education Foundation

Controversial author and political scientist Norman Finkelstein will appear in person at UMass on Tuesday, October 17, at 7 p.m. in the Integrative Learning Center (ILC), COMM Department HUB, 3rd Floor, to speak about the tragic situation unfolding inside Israel and Gaza. The talk, entitled “The Struggle for Justice in Palestine: Past, Present, and Future,” will also be livestreamed on Zoom.

Over the past few days, Finkelstein’s book, Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom, has risen to #1 on Amazon’s Middle East History bestseller list. The Intercept said of the book, “No one who ventures an opinion on Gaza . . . is entitled to do so without taking into account the evidence in this book.” And Noam Chomsky said, “In its comprehensive sweep, deep probing and acute critical analysis, Finkelstein’s study stands alone.”

An electrifying public speaker, and the author of 13 influential books in total, Finkelstein is a distinguished Middle East scholar renowned for his analysis of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is best known for his fierce advocacy of Palestinian rights and the controversy that erupted when he was denied tenure at DePaul University after a high-profile campaign led by Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz. The case remains one of the most significant in American educational history involving academic freedom.

Now an independent scholar, Finkelstein has continued to write about pressing social and political issues. His latest book, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It: Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom, is a withering critique of contemporary campus politics, and what Finkelstein calls “woke culture.” While there have been many right-wing attacks on “wokeness,” Finkelstein’s analysis comes squarely from the left, examining academic freedom and the suppression of campus speech through the lens of class politics and the possibilities of meaningful progressive social change.

To view on Zoom send an email to events@mediaed.org on the day of the lecture to get the Zoom link.
For more information, contact UMass professor Sut Jhally at Sutj@umass.edu