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Follow Us on TwitterVIDEO: The Palestine solidarity movement and political strategy 22Oct12 October 22, 2012
with Norman Finkelstein and Anna Baltzer - ZCommunications - 15 October 2012
The thrust of the discussion, in which Norman and Anna take strongly opposed positions on several issues, focuses on the appropriate political strategy for the Palestine solidarity movement, the implications of international law as an anchor for that strategy, and the issue of activist privilege, i.e. the extent to which solidarity activists ought to defer to Palestinians in setting the movement’s political objectives. There is also some interesting disagreement on what the movement against apartheid in South Africa has to teach us, politically.
Both Norman and Anna give very strong representations, though unfortunately the debate ends just as they are about to really address the core disputes between them head on. Still, worth a watch.
The New School for Public Engagement is a division of The New School, a university in New York City offering distinguished degree, certificate, and continuing education programs in art and design, liberal arts, management and policy, and the performing arts. | http://www.newschool.edu/public-engagement
Leading commentators on the Israel/Palestine conflict, together span three generations of struggle for a just peace in the Middle East. In this public forum, they discuss the possibility that increasing awareness of the conflict among the American Jewish community is creating a more critical stance towards Israel. Such a separation between traditional allies could give new impetus to resolving a conflict that has, for many years, seemed intractable.
Participants
Anna Baltzer is a graduate of Columbia University, Fulbright scholar, and three-time volunteer with the International Women’s Peace Service in the West Bank, where she documents human rights abuses and supports the nonviolent resistance movement to the occupation. She is the author of Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories.
Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. A member of the American Academy of Science, he has published widely in both linguistics and current affairs. His books include Fateful Triangle: The U. S., Israel and the Palestinians; Necessary Illusions; Hegemony or Survival; Deterring Democracy; Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy and Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.
Norman G. Finkelstein was educated at Princeton University and taught political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict for many years. He is the author of nine books including Knowing Too Much: Why the Jewish American Romance With Israel Is Coming To an End; What Gandhi Says: About Nonviolence, Resistance and Courage; This Time We Went Too Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion; and The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering.
Adam Shatz is a contributing editor at the London Review of Books. He has reported from Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Algeria. He is also the editor of an anthology, Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel (Nation Books).
Sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics and the Department of Humanities at The New School for Public Engagement and OR Books. | http://www.newschool.edu/vlc
Thank You.
