The Dershowitz–Finkelstein affair was a public controversy involving academics Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein and their scholarship on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2005.
Shortly after the publication of The Case for Israel (2003) by Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, Norman Finkelstein alleged that it was "a collection of fraud, falsification, plagiarism and nonsense."Amy Goodman, "Scholar Norman Finkelstein Calls Professor Alan Dershowitz's New Book On Israel a 'Hoax'," Democracy Now! September 24, 2003, accessed February 10, 2007. (Incl. links to full transcript and audio clip and MP3 podcast.) Finkelstein further derided the book, remarking, "If Dershowitz's book were made of cloth, I wouldn't even use it as a schmatta ... his book is such garbage."Quoted from interview in American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein. Finkelstein charged that Dershowitz had engaged in plagiarism in his use of Joan Peters' book From Time Immemorial.Norman G. Finkelstein, The Dershowitz Hoax , normanfinkelstein.com (passim), accessed February 11, 2007. Dershowitz denied the charges. Former Harvard president Derek Bok, following a review requested by then-Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, stated that no plagiarism had occurred.Marcella Bombardieri "Academic Fight Heads to Print: Authorship Challenge Dropped from Text," Boston Globe July 9, 2005, accessed February 12, 2007.
In Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, published by University of California Press on August 28, 2005, Finkelstein aimed to debunk The Case for Israel. Dershowitz had written letters to both The New Press and to the University of California Press to prevent its publication, claiming it contained massive libel and stating that the book should not be published.Gary Younge, "J'accuse," The Guardian August 10, 2005, accessed February 11, 2007. Dershowitz responded in his book The Case for Peace and alleged a campaign of vilification by Finkelstein against several pro-Israel academics.
Finkelstein's criticisms of Dershowitz
The book Beyond Chutzpah is a critique of arguments used to defend Israel's stance in the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the use of the allegations of antisemitism to neutralize criticism of Israel. A major theme of the book is a comparison of Alan Dershowitz's earlier book, The Case for Israel, with the findings of mainstream human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Finkelstein wrote that Dershowitz had lied, misrepresented and fabricated many of his points in order to protect Israel and hide its record of alleged human rights violations, while "the real issue is Israel's human rights record".Norman G. Finkelstein, The Real Issue is Israel's Human Rights Record , accessed July 6, 2007.
In addition, Finkelstein wrote that he had found plagiarism where Dershowitz reproduced the exact errors found in Peters's citation of original sources. He said this was evidence that Dershowitz did not check the original sources he cited, a claim that Dershowitz adamantly denied.Norman G. Finkelstein, Speech presented at Vancouver Public Library, link to Part 7, webcasts posted at workingtv.com, n.d., accessed February 11, 2007.
Finkelstein said he had located twenty instances within as many pages, in which Dershowitz used some of the same words from the same sources that Joan Peters had used, largely in the same order. In several paragraph-long quotations, the two books have ellipses in the same positions. Finkelstein wrote that, in one instance, Dershowitz refers to the same page number as Peters, although he is citing a different edition of the same source, in which the words appear on a different page.Norman G. Finkelstein, "Alan Dershowitz Exposed: What if a Harvard Student Did This?" normanfinkelstein.com n.d., accessed February 12, 2007. Finkelstein stated: "It is left to readers to decide whether Dershowitz committed plagiarism as defined by Harvard University—'passing off a source's information, ideas, or words as your own by omitting to cite them.'Norman G. Finkelstein, "The Real Issue Is Israel's Human Rights Record: A Statement by Norman G. Finkelstein upon Publication of Beyond Chutzpah, 25 August 2005, accessed 13 February 2007. According to a book review of Beyond Chutzpah, written by Professor Michael C. Desch in The American Conservative, "Finkelstein does not accuse Dershowitz of the wholesale lifting of someone else's words, but he does make a very strong case that Dershowitz has violated the spirit, if not the exact letter, of Harvard's prohibitions of the first three forms of plagiarism."Michael C. Desch, "The Chutzpah of Alan Dershowitz," The American Conservative December 5, 2005, online posting, normanfinkelstein.com, accessed February 10, 2007.
During an interview of the two men by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, Finkelstein also said that Dershowitz may not have written, or even read, the book.
Dershowitz took a number of steps to stop publication of Beyond Chutzpah. His lawyers wrote letters to the University of California Press threatening a lawsuit if it published the book. Dershowitz also wrote to the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking him to stop the book from being published. Schwarzenegger responded that "he is not inclined to otherwise exert influence in this case because of the clear, academic freedom issue it presents". According to Jon Weiner, writing in The Nation, Dershowitz' lawyers contacted the president of the University of California, the university provost, seventeen directors of the university press and nineteen members of the university press’s faculty editorial committee to attempt to stop the publication of the book.
Dershowitz's response
Dershowitz threatened to bring a legal action against the University of California Press in response to the charges in Finkelstein's book.June 1, 2005 letter to University of California Press from Dershowitz's lawyer reads: "...your appendix—if it is not removed before publication—is going to lead to painful surgery for the Press." Verified October 31, 2007. Dershowitz claimed to have written every word of The Case for Israel by hand and to have sent the University of California Press his handwritten manuscript. He says there is not a single phrase or sentence in it that was plagiarized, and accused Finkelstein of knowing this and making the charges in order to garner publicity.STATEMENT OF ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ , Harvard Law web-site. Verified October 30, 2007. Dershowitz offered to produce his handwritten drafts (he does not type) to debunk the claim that The Case for Israel was ghostwritten and claimed Finkelstein has not asked to see them.
Dershowitz also asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to intervene in order to prevent the University of California Press from publishing the book.See the reproduction of four letters from Dershowitz as posted on normanfinkelstein.com with a headnote. Schwarzenegger's legal advisor responded, however, that the governor would not intervene in issues of academic freedom.
As a result, when Beyond Chutzpah was published, it no longer used the word "plagiarize" in its argument that Dershowitz inappropriately borrowed from another work, nor did it include the claim that Dershowitz did not write The Case for Israel, because, the publisher said, "[Finkelstein] couldn't document that."Daniel J. T. Schuker, "Accusations Fly in Academic Feud: Harvard Law Prof Tries to Prevent Publication of Book about Israel," The Harvard Crimson July 8, 2005, accessed February 12, 2007. "Dershowitz has said he cited sources properly, attempting to check all primary sources and citing Peters when she was his only source."Lauren A. E. Schuker, "Dershowitz Accused Of Plagiarism: Law School Professor Denies He Relied on Another's Work," The Harvard Crimson September 29, 2003, and "Dershowitz Defends Book. Professor Calls Plagiarism Accusation 'funny'." The Harvard Crimson October 2, 2003, both accessed February 11, 2007.
Dershowitz said that Finkelstein has invented false charges in order to discredit supporters of Israel: "The mode of attack is consistent. Chomsky selects the target and directs Finkelstein to probe the writings in minute detail and conclude that the writer didn't actually write the work, that it is plagiarized, that it is a hoax and a fraud," alleging that Finkelstein has leveled the same kind of charges against many others, calling at least 10 "distinguished Jews 'hucksters,' 'hoaxters,' 'thieves,' 'extortionists,' and worse."Alan M. Dershowitz, "The Hazards of Making The Case for Israel," jbooks.com n.d., accessed February 11, 2007.
Dershowitz's subsequent book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Case for Peace, contains a chapter rebutting Finkelstein's charges, which Dershowitz made available on his web site. Dershowitz also claimed that Finkelstein's mother was a kapo.
Additional responses by Finkelstein and Dershowitz
Finkelstein argued in a letter to The Harvard Crimson published on October 3, 2003, that Dershowitz reproduced exactly two of Peters' mistakes, and made one relevant mistake of his own.Norman Finkelstein, "Finkelstein Proclaims 'The Glove Does Fit'," Letter to the editors, The Harvard Crimson October 3, 2003, accessed February 10, 2007. In quoting Mark Twain, Finkelstein argued, "Dershowitz cites two paragraphs from Twain as continuous text, just as Peters cites them as continuous text, but in Twain's book the two paragraphs are separated by 87 pages." While still quoting Twain, although Dershowitz cited a different edition of Twain's Innocents Abroad than Joan Peters cites, Finkelstein continues, "the relevant quotes do not appear on these pages in the edition of Twain's book that Dershowitz cites." Finkelstein points out that these quotations do, however, appear on the pages that Joan Peters cites as her edition of Innocents Abroad. Finkelstein asserted: "Quoting a statement depicting the miserable fate of Jews in mid-19th century Jerusalem, Peters cites a British consular letter from 'Wm. T. Young to Viscount Canning.' Dershowitz cites the same statement as Peters, reporting that Young 'attributed the plight of the Jew in Jerusalem' to pervasive anti-Semitism. Turning to the original, however, we find that the relevant statement did not come from Young but, as is unmistakably clear to anyone who actually consulted the original, from an enclosed memorandum written by an 'A. Benisch' that Young was forwarding to Canning." He concluded: "It would be impossible for anyone who checked the original source[s] to make the[se] error[s]."
In response to the general charge of plagiarism, Dershowitz had characterized the excerpts as quotations that historians and scholars of the region cite routinely, such as Mark Twain and the reports of government commissions.From the preface of "The Case for Israel" by Alan Dershowitz, 2003 edition
In "Statement of Alan M. Dershowitz" featured on a faculty webpage at Harvard Law School, Dershowitz writes: I will no longer participate in this transparent ploy to gather media attention for Finkelstein and his publisher. I answer all of his charges fully in Chapter 16 of my forthcoming book The Case For Peace, to be published by Wiley in August. My book deals with important and current issues, such as the prospects for peace in the immediate future. Finkelstein's deals with the irrelevant past that both Israelis and Palestinians are trying to put behind them. Let the marketplace judge our books. As far as I'm concerned, the public controversy is over and I will comment no further on the false charges leveled by Finkelstein and the UCP. Let them henceforth pay for their own publicity, instead of trying to get it on the cheap by launching phony attacks against me.