"Some people seem to believe that the Nazi persecution of Jews justifies oppression and exploitation by Israel (v. Norman Finkelstein's recent article on the Goldhagen book) -- and therefore somehow those like Chomsky who dare to condemn the latter must not believe in the former. Is it simply an error in logic or a corrupt sychological equation?"
How is that a reply to me? I have always been a public supporter of Palestinian rights, which earned me condemnation by Irwin Suall of the ADL as a "self-hating Jew."
That Chomsky has done exemplary work in that field cannot justify lending POLITICAL, not civil-libertarian, support to Nazis who deny the Holocaust.
To Maria Gilmore I answer: I certainly do acknowledge and honor Noam Chomsky's contributions to the struggle for human freedom. However, this thread began, for better or for worse, as a discussion of our heroes' clay feet, in a private e-mail that was posted to the list contrary to my stated request.
Ken Lawrence