> >I have to disagree, Doug. Bartov's review was not only just, it was kind.
>
>A Tale of Two Holocausts
>Date: August 6, 2000, Late Edition - Final
>Byline: By Omer Bartov
I have to disagree with the disagreement. In a reductio ad absurdum, Bartov, in this review, falls into the same bad behavior he accuses Finkelstein of, i.e., it is a piece whose standard rhetorical devices reveal a barely concealed hatred for the subject of the review. This comment reveal the political source of this hatred:
"Here he combines an old-hat 1960's view of Israel as the outpost of American imperialism with a novel variation on the anti-Semitic forgery, ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,'' which warned of a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world."
Since when is this an "old-hat" view of Israel?
Bartov deploys the standard "old-hat" rhetorical device of a thinly-veiled accusation of anti-Semitism in order to silence (by varying political degrees) critics of Zionism and Israel. Because Finkelstein is Jewish, he is accused of "collusion".
This makes it difficult to address the problem of Jewish racism, which is clearly running rampant today. In todays' world, it is a problem greater than anti-Semitism. Two recent manifestations: the election of Sharon, and the 75% vote in favor of Giuliani (and, implicitly, his NYPD policies) in the last NYC election for Mayor, this against an opponent (Messinger) who happened to be Jewish!
Bartov is certainly neither kind nor just.
-Brad Mayer