I for one would love to know more about his Wall Street career.Insider info anyone?

what would hebrew culture be but israeli culture, ie, land grabbing and hating (and being gay. see angry arab post today) and steinhardt's racist vision of his version of jewish culture(whatever that is. yiddish?).

Haaretz has weighed in with a cogent defense of Norman Finkelstein’s right to travel to Israel in Who’s Afraid of Finkelstein?

In Finkelstein’s case, the disturbing issue is neither the legality of keeping him out nor the authority to do so, but the reasonableness of the decision. Considering his unusual and extremely critical views, one cannot avoid the suspicion that refusing to allow him to enter Israel was a punishment rather than a precaution…

True, the right to enter Israel is not guaranteed to noncitizens, but the right of Israeli citizens to hear unusual views is one that should be fought for. It is not for the government to decide which views should be heard here and which ones should not.

The decision to ban Finkelstein hurts us more than it hurts him.

…It is…reasonable to assume that Finkelstein is persona non grata, and that the Shin Bet, whose influence has increased to frightening proportions, latched onto his meetings with Hezbollah operatives in order to punish him.

And the decision is all the more surprising when one recalls the ease with which right-wing activists from the Meir Kahane camp – the kind whose activities pose a [real] security threat – are able to enter the country.

There has been a disturbing new development in the online discussion of the Finkelstein affair. At Mondoweiss, Bill Pearlman, writing under the pseudonym, Sword of Gideon, wrote this:

“It’s too bad that they didn’t shoot the scumbag.”

I also note that Finkelstein, at his own site, features this personal e mail from Pearlman:

To: normangf[at]hotmail.com
Subject:
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:46:22 -0400
From: wpearlman@aol.com

Aren’t you dead yet. Bill Pearlman

I know Bill to be an ignorant, essentially harmless bigot. So the point isn’t that Bill might perpetrate violence against Finkelstein. Rather, there are Kahanist zealots out there who would target fellow Jews for violent attack. I’m not sure how much we should worry for Finkelstein’s safety. But the problem with odious rulings like the one made by the Shin Bet is that it declares open season for Jewish wingnuts on the victim.

That’s all the more reason that Finkelstein, in this particular fight, deserves the support of all Jewish progressives, including those who disagree with his political views.

My own Comment is Free piece will be published at the Guardian 7AM eastern time (Tuesday).

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tags bill pearlman, haaretz, shin-bet, whos afraid of finkelstein
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“It’s too bad that they didn’t shoot the scumbag.”

I also note that Finkelstein, at his own site, features this personal e mail from Pearlman:
…Aren’t you dead yet. Bill Pearlman'

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Tsk-tsk, gideon, you've gone and gotten yourself into all kinds of trouble, haven't you, you silly, crazy zionist.

Weren't you warned about getting your emotional problems under control? You seem to be on the same path as Israel. Get yourself a better Rabbi…or a better shrink.

"The Zionist component of the Boston Russian Jewish community is particularly vicious and prone to attempt to intimidate by bluffing.

In protesting these genocide-supporters, it is important to emphasize that they entered the USA under fraudulent circumstances and should be denaturalized and deported. To make sure that they do not emigrate to Israel and start treating Arabs as other Russians treat Chechens, denaturalized Russian Jews should be subject to extraordinary rendition to Syria or to Iran where they can be tried for supporting Zionist crime."

Nice company you keep. Mr. Weiss.