More on Finkelstein's Deportation from Israel

on
  • Canadian Broadcasting Company Radio's As It Happens, 5/26/08 and 5/27/08
You can't come in -- and don't bother knocking for another ten years. That's what Israeli security officers said to Dr. Norman Finkelstein, when he arrived at the door of Ben Gurion Airport on Friday.

To say the author and academic holds controversial views about Israel would be an understatement. He's the author of five books about the Middle East, including The Holocaust Industry, about the exploitation of Jewish suffering for political purposes; and Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History. You get the picture.

Dr. Finkelstein has visited Israel about fifteen times, but this was the first time he was detained and deported.

We reached him in Brooklyn, New York.

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Tomorrow on As It Happens, a response from the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Alan Baker.

Listen here (WMV file) (It begins at around 16:40.)



"You're not welcome."

Dr. Norman Finkelstein got that message, loud and clear, when he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Friday. Last night on As It Happens, the American author and academic told us how Israeli security officers detained and deported him, and told him could not return to the country for ten years.

Dr. Finkelstein is the author of five books, and a fierce critic of Israeli government policy. His most recent work is Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History.

Because Dr. Finkelstein is an American citizen, we attempted to reach the Israeli Ambassador to the United States to ask about this story, but our calls were not returned. However, the Israeli Ambassador to Canada agreed to speak with us. We reached Alan Baker in Ottawa.

Listen here (WMV file) (Also begins at around 16:40 minutes.)