He stressed that his visit to Israel would be a “private” affair and that he had “no interest in turning this into a political issue. ...

Yeh, yeh! He has already politicized his very existence!
Israel saw the back of Pappe and now they'd let Finkelstein in?

The law of return, unfortunately for Finkelstein, is a LAW, written by thinking humans, not a RIGHT, which is granted hallowed status of untouchability. That means that he can apply for Israeli citizenship but he is by no means guarranteed to receive one.

There were cases when Jews were rejected by the state:

"A Jew can be excluded from Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return if he or she is considered to be dangerous to the welfare of the State of Israel. Jews who have a past that involves a serious crime, such as murder, or who are fugitives in another country for any felony (unless they are labeled such as persecution victims) can be denied the right of return, (e.g. Meyer Lansky, Victor Vancier).[4] Also Jews converting to other religions lose their right to citizenship under the Law of Return, (e.g. Brother Daniel)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Return#Eligibility_requirements

I think that the first condition is easily met in Fink's case. He met with enemy agents and incited for violence against the very country whose citizenship he seeks. I'm surprised he thinks this ploy can work.

On "Democracy Now" (The Mos Eisley of the indecent Left), Musa Abu Hashhash claims to have been quite traumatized by Finkelstein's inability to visit with him and his children. They were all practically heart-broken:

"MUSA ABU HASHHASH: [inaudible] I was shocked, you know. I didn’t expect Israel would, you know, come to this kind of decision, you know? Norman has been visiting us for fifteen times, and every time it was OK. He spent for night—ten days at our home, and we are friends. You know, I never, never thought it would happen. It was painful to us, to my family, to my children, to my wife. You know, all, we cried and did not understand now—’til now what happened. Why?"

I don't think the Law of Return needs to be invoked here at all. That's something that Finklestein has just thrown in Israel's face. Let him go as a tourist, then any application under the Law of Return will be obviated.

I thought that the Law of Return specifically excludes Jews who pose a danger to the state of Israel. Admittedly, this refers to criminals and fugitives from justice, but I suppose it could also mean those who pose a security danger. On the other hand, maybe applying that interpretation would be a bad idea. It could easily become a slippery slope, leading to the exclusion of those who legitimately disagree with the government's policies.

In any case, Israel can forestall Finklestein's Law of Return option by granting him a tourist visa. Israel has no choice in the matter, anyway. If it prohibits him, he then becomes a cause celebre; if it dawdles over the Law of Return, Finklestein could also milk that for all it's worth. But if it says that his tourist visa is already approved in principle, then that would take the wind out of his sails. He can't be a martyr, and the Law of Return becomes irrelevant.

If questioned, the Israeli government could then just say that, since Finklestein clearly has no intention of immigrating, but merely visiting, the tourist visa is far more appropriate.

Do Americans need visas for Israel? If they don't, the Israeli government can then simply outflank him by saying that there is no need to apply for anything, he could just go as a private citizen.

If Finklestein does go, the Israeli authorities have no choice but to stay out of his way. Any use of security will backfire promptly. Finklestein has to be seen to be moving freely.

Israel faces a bad set of options, true, but at least letting Finkklestein go with as little fanfare as possible would incur the least harm to itself. Letting him go as a tourist will forestall his public abuse of the Law of Return.

Oops! Israel has already barred him. I didn't realize that.

That means that Israel cannot backtrack now and say he can go as a private tourist. I don't know what Israel can do at this point.

Of course, the fact that Finklestein's friend has been "traumatized" by Finklestein's exclusion is a joke. Maybe the friend can meet Finklestein in Jordan. But, of course, no political points will be won by doing that.

I've read the article, and I'm surprised that Finkelstein (oops, I've been spelling his name wrong) doesn't have a job. I thought he'd be a cinch for a left-wing think tank or maybe for a column in The Nation magazine. Why doesn't he look abroad? Wasn't Ilan Pappe hired by a British university? I'm sure that some red-brick school over there would take him in a minute.

Oh, one other thing. His parents were more or less Communists. At least that is what the article says. That explains a lot. I'm under the impression that many left-wing anti-Zionists were red-diaper babies.

I think Finkelstein's upbringing has a lot to do with what he has become. I have read some of his writings in which he mentions his mother. I think he gets from her that deep-seated implacable contempt for his co-religionists.

"Given how ferociously she cursed the Jewish councils, ghetto police and kapos, I assume my mother answered me truthfully. Although acknowledging that Jews initially joined the councils from mixed motives, she said that "only scum," reaping the rewards of doing the devil's work, still cooperated after it became clear that they were merely cogs in the Nazi killing machine. When queried why she hadn't settled in Israel after the war, my mother used to reply, only half in jest, that "I had enough of Jewish leaders!"

http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=129

Another example:

"I once asked my late mother, who survived Maidanek concentration camp, about Dawidowicz's depiction of all the Jews in the ghettos and camps furtively staying faithful to their religion until their final steps into the gas chambers. "When I first entered my block at Maidanek, all the women inmates had dyed-blond hair," my mother laughed. "They had been trying to pass as Gentiles." The shocking accounts of Jewish corruption that could be found in conveniently forgotten memoirs like Bernard Goldstein's The Stars Bear Witness were deleted in Dawidowicz's fantasy."

http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=102

Can you even begin to explain, to understand, the perverseness of such an observation? That the naive attempt of these women -- to mislead by dying their hair blond and maybe, just maybe, manage to pass for someone who is actually not slated for the gas chambers -- should be mocked in such a brutal manner?

THere is a term in Hebrew, it is called "Gassut lev" and it's hard to translate. It means a coarse and vulgar heart, a heart incapable of the slightest compassion or sympathy.

Finkelstein seems to be almost sorry that there were any survivors in the Holocaust.

Israel saw the back of Pappe and now they'd let Finkelstein in?

Hey, if he's willing to live in Israel, pay taxes and run the risk of terrorism (I'd add serving in Tzahal, but he's too old) then I'll give him the same minimal level of respect that I give Pappe and the other grotesque leftists who at least live there when I don't.

On the other hand, if he thinks he can take citizenship and then flit in and out the country with no obligations -- well, that isn't quite how Israel works, for him or for anyone else.

Let him apply for Jordanian citizenship, he'd be the 1rst Jew allowed to become a citizen, they'd have to make an exception to their constitution and then he can try and cross the Jordan into the West Bank with Jordanian citizenship. Let him make that his test case...
What a pathetic loser in desperate need of attention, or maybe the Israelis arresting him at the airport actually scared the bravado talking coward a bit.

He was not "arrested". He was put in a room where he had to cool his heels until his flight back to wherever he came from. The "arrest" claims were an exeggerated account made for dramatic effectel:

"NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, I presented my passport at customs. My number was entered into the computer, and they asked me to go to the waiting room. I was then questioned or interrogated—[inaudible] more questioned—by a fellow from maybe immigration, maybe security, I’m not sure. And he asked me a wide range of questions: why was I going? Who was I going to see? Eventually he asked me whether I had ever had contact with al-Qaeda, whether I was on a Hezbollah mission, and so forth. And then after several rounds of questioning, I was told that I would be—I would not be allowed in. I asked how long would that ban last, and he said at least ten years. But then I was taken to a holding cell at the airport where I was kept until about eighteen hours, and then I was sent on a KLM airline back to Amsterdam.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And the reason for holding you for eighteen hours?

NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: The next flight out. The rule is they send you back on the plane you came in or the airline you came in, and the next flight out on KLM was the next morning. "

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/29/israel_bars_one_of_its_most

"I was then questioned or interrogated—" Note how he takes up the intensity of this regular procedure from mere questioning to "interrogation". This is also how it was reported in many of the blogs and media sympathetic to Finkelstein.

This kind of hyperbolic villification only further compromises Finkelstein's credibility and ability to assess reality in rationally-persuasive terms.

"When I first entered my block at Maidanek, all the women inmates had dyed-blond hair," my mother laughed. "They had been trying to pass as Gentiles."

Well at least they were not as bad a George Soros who helped the Nazis confiscate Jewish property.
Now what are the odds that Finkelstein given his history, would go hand in hand with Soros, given the chance/impetus?
He would have been the brave hero and stuck to his Jewishness given the circumstances?

#11 Noga -

I listened to the Finkelstein interview on Democracy Now and he wasn't taking up the rhetoric he actually corrected himself and stated he was questioned in a matter of fact tone..
I really think he's feeling his oats.. cocky and picking his spots for hyperventilation and over the top rhetoric now...
you would think perhaps going on Al Manar would turn up the heat on him for his disgusting challenge to Hezbollah interplaying them as the downtrodden and Israel as the jack booted Nazis... a real coward to do something like that...
but he's not ashamed or worried in fact he's proud...
the more attention he gets the happier he is.

Mike