F. has written of his parents' experiences during World War II. His mother, Maryla Husyt Finkelstein, daughter of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish father, grew up in Warsaw, Poland, and survived the Warsaw Ghetto and the Majdanek concentration camp, as well as two labor camps. F.'s father, Zacharias Finkelstein, was a survivor of both the Warsaw Ghetto and the Auschwitz concentration camp.

F. completed his undergraduate studies at Binghamton University in New York in 1974, after which he studied at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He went on to earn his Master's degree in political science from Princeton University in 1980, and later his PhD in political studies, also from Princeton. F. wrote his doctoral thesis on Zionism. Before gaining academic employment, F. was a part-time social worker with teenage dropouts in New York. He then taught successively at Rutgers University, New York University, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College and, until recently, taught at DePaul University in Chicago, where he was an assistant professor from 2001 to 2007. 

F.'s career has been marked by controversy. F. has written sharply critical reviews of several prominent writers and scholars whom he accuses of misrepresenting the documentary record in order to defend Israel’s policies and practices. His writings, noted for their support of the Palestinian cause, have dealt with politically-charged topics such as Zionism, the demographic history of Palestine and his allegations of the existence of a "Holocaust Industry" that exploits the memory of the Holocaust to further Israeli and financial interests. 

F.'s book "The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering" was published in 2000. Here, F. argues that Elie Wiesel and others exploit the memory of the Holocaust as an ideological weapon. This is so the state of Israel, one of the world's most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, can cast itself as a victim state in order to garner immunity to criticism.

F. was placed on administrative leave for the 2007-2008 academic year, and announced his resignation after coming to a settlement with the university. On May 23, 2008 F. was denied entry to Israel and was banned from entering the country for 10 years. 

Anschrift von / Address of F.:  

Werke von / Works of F.: 

Literatur über / Writings concerning F.: 

Literatur im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek von und über / Writings in the catalogue of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek of and about :
Norman Finkelstein  

Letzte Änderung / Last update: 23.06.2008 

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