Wednesday, May 31, 2006
The PC(USA) will be having its General Assembly in a couple of weeks at which it will be reconsidering its divestment activities.Just in time, Norman Finkelstein has sent a letter along with, thanks to "[g]enerous financial contributors and activists", a copy of his book, Beyond Chutzpah, to all 700 voting delegates and alternates. A copy of the letter and photos of Finkelstein's envelope stuffers are at Finkelstein's site, here.
Meanwhile, one of the participants in a Presbyterian trip mentioned in the post below (US Presbyterian Leaders Challenge Church's Flawed Divestment Policy), Will Spotts, has posted some of his quite measured thoughts at Bearing Witness and the Truth in Love blog.
...Last week I was in Israel and the Palestinian territories; I went there to see and hear the situation for myself, and to listen to the perspectives of as many people as possible. Every person with whom I met was extraordinarily gracious. Most presented their views passionately and eloquently. I have no delusion that I have grasped even a tithe of the situation as it truly is, but I came away understanding that the Presbyterian narrative we have received is highly flawed. Let me clearly say I am convinced that majority of those who are advancing this Presbyterian narrative have good motives, but, acting in good faith, they have still overlooked many things. This narrative suffers from extensive gaps – not small details, but important pieces of information that might considerably alter our perceptions of the situation...
Anything Norman Finkelstein says about Israel, boycotts and divestment is due to his hatred of himself. He is an anti Semitic Jew, who seeks the end of Israel as a Jewish state, and also plays the useful idiot to the Arabs who use him for their own purposes. He is up for tenure at DePaul, and that is very scary