Alan Dershowitz is so persecuted
Chronicle of Higher Education - April 5, 2007 http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/04/2007040504n.htm
Harvard Law Professor Works to Disrupt Tenure Bid of Longtime Nemesis =
at DePaul U. By JENNIFER HOWARD
The highly public feud between Norman G. Finkelstein of DePaul =
University and Harvard Law School’s Alan M. Dershowitz has taken an =
unusual procedural twist, with Mr. Dershowitz attempting to weigh in =
on Mr. Finkelstein’s bid for tenure at DePaul.
How Mr. Dershowitz’s move will play out remains to be seen. Mr. =
Finkelstein’s department supported his tenure bid, but the dean of =
his college has refused to support him. A final decision is expected =
next month.
There’s no love lost between Mr. Finkelstein, an assistant professor =
of political science, and Mr. Dershowitz, a law professor. The two =
scholars have attacked each other repeatedly in the past few years, =
hurling accusations of plagiarism and polemicism at one another.
They’ve taken adversarial stances on such issues as the Israel lobby, =
anti-Semitism, and what Mr. Finkelstein terms “the Holocaust =
industry.” Mr. Dershowitz threatened to take legal action against the =
University of California Press if Mr. Finkelstein’s Beyond Chutzpah: =
On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History (2005) went =
to print with allegations that Mr. Dershowitz plagiarized portions of =
his 2003 book The Case for Israel (The Chronicle, July 22, 2005).
Last fall, with Mr. Finkelstein up for tenure, Mr. Dershowitz sent =
the DePaul law school faculty and members of the political-science =
department what he described, in a letter dated October 3, as a =
“dossier of Norman Finkelstein’s most egregious academic sins, and =
especially his outright lies, misquotations, and distortions.”
“I hope that this will serve as an introduction and primer to the so- =
called scholarship that Finkelstein will present this term as he is =
considered for tenure,” Mr. Dershowitz wrote.
Mr. Finkelstein said in an interview on Monday that Mr. Dershowitz =
had embarked on “this frenetic and relentless campaign to deny me =
tenure.”
“He sent to every member of the law school … a dossier which came, =
I think, to about 50 pages, leveling or, I should say, recycling all =
of the allegations he’s been putting forth for the past couple of =
years. And he sent a copy of that dossier to every member of my =
department.”
The packet included what Mr. Dershowitz’s letter called “some of the =
lies I am absolutely confident that Finkelstein told” on such points =
as Israeli torture and whether or not Mr. Dershowitz writes his own =
books.
In a telephone interview on Wednesday with The Chronicle, Mr. =
Dershowitz confirmed that he had sent the information to “everybody =
who would read it.” He said he had compiled the material at the =
request of some two dozen DePaul students, alumni, and faculty =
members who were alarmed at the prospect of Mr. Finkelstein’s =
receiving tenure.
Asked what he hoped to accomplish, he said, “Revealing the truth — =
all I’m doing is disclosing the truth.”
Mr. Dershowitz continued, “It would be a disgrace to DePaul =
University if they were to grant tenure. It would make them the =
laughing stock of American universities. … His scholarship is no =
more than ad hominem attacks on his ideological enemies.”
He added, “I think, by every standard, he’s worse than Ward =
Churchill. … He’s a propagandist, not a scholar.”
Given Mr. Dershowitz’s history of clashes with Mr. Finkelstein, some =
might conclude that the matter had by now become more personal than =
professional. Mr. Dershowitz denied that. “For me, it’s not personal. =
It’s institutional.” He said that Mr. Finkelstein sent “a message to =
other pro-Israel writers: If you dare write anything scholarly in =
favor of Israel, I will call you names, I will call you a plagiarist.”
Mr. Dershowitz’s involvement has stirred serious concern among the =
DePaul faculty.
Gil Gott, a professor of international studies at DePaul who is =
chairman of its Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Faculty Governance =
Council, said in an e-mail message on Wednesday that the council had =
taken up the matter at its November 17, 2006, meeting. (Mr. Gott was =
not then chair of the council.)
According to the minutes of the session, the council voted =
unanimously to authorize a letter to DePaul’s president, Dennis H. =
Holtschneider, and the university’s provost, Helmut P. Epp, along =
with the president of Harvard University and the dean of Harvard Law =
school. The letter was to express “the council’s dismay at Professor =
Dershowitz’s interference in Finkelstein’s tenure and promotion case” =
and also to explain “that the sanctity of the tenure and promotion =
process is violated by Professor Dershowitz’s emails.”
The minutes add: “A discussion followed in which members expressed =
their views that this was a very disturbing intrusion which attacked =
the sovereignty of an academic institution to govern its own affairs.”
Asked whether it was unusual for a scholar to weigh in on tenure =
deliberations at another university, Mr. Dershowitz responded, =
“What’s so unusual about a concerned academic’s objecting to his =
receiving tenure? He would be the first person in history ever to =
receive tenure based on no scholarship other than personal attacks.”
Mr. Finkelstein contacted The Chronicle last weekend to discuss his =
concerns about the status of his case. He said that his department =
had investigated Mr. Dershowitz’s claims and “concluded that none of =
the scholarly allegations that Dershowitz leveled against me had any =
merit.”
But he added: “DePaul is in a growth mode, and they see me as an =
albatross because they=92re getting all this negative publicity because =
of me. And they want to get rid of me. And now the question is, =
what’s going to prevail? The principles of fairness, the principles =
of academic freedom, or power and money in the form of a mailed fist?”
According to Mr. Finkelstein and to departmental reports sent to The =
Chronicle, his department voted 9 to 3 in favor of granting him =
tenure, with the majority voicing strong support for his scholarship =
and giving him high marks for his pedagogy. One of the reports =
described him as “an outstanding teacher whose contributions to =
student learning and transformation are impressive.” It concluded =
that “while not all members of the department share a love of polemic =
and inflammatory rhetoric as practiced by Norman and his adversaries, =
there is clearly a substantial and serious record of scholarly =
production and achievement.”
The College Personnel Committee subsequently voted 5 to 0 in favor of =
tenure for Mr. Finkelstein. But Charles S. Suchar, dean of the =
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, shot down the recommendation in =
a March 22, 2007, memo, a copy of which was also obtained by The =
Chronicle.
In language similar to that used by Mr. Dershowitz, the dean wrote, =
“I find the personal attacks in many of Dr. Finkelstein’s published =
books to border on character assassination and, in my opinion, they =
embody a strategy clearly aimed at destroying the reputation of many =
who oppose his views.”
Because the process is not yet complete, the DePaul administration =
has not made a public statement about Mr. Finkelstein’s case.
“No comment at this time,” Mr. Suchar wrote in an e-mail message. =
“The promotion and tenure review process is still under way, and =
final decisions are not expected until mid- to late May.” The final =
decision on whether Mr. Finkelstein receives tenure rests with the =
provost and president of the university.