Word: finkelstein
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...Finkelstein, whose works include "Beyond Chutzpah" and "The Holocaust Industry," has been accused of shoddy scholarship by many prominent academics, as well as by the very people he quotes in his books, such as historian Benny Morris. A central thesis to his work is that the Holocaust is exaggerated and exploited by American Jews for financial gain and to defend Israel, a view that a New York Times book review in August 2000 described as a "novel variation on the anti-Semitic forgery, ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion...
These men’s views may seem far from those held by most Jews, or by most critically thinking individuals for that matter. Yet, both Weiss and Finkelstein play on their Jewish backgrounds to draw attention to their fringe opinions. By doing so, they become, in effect, traveling sideshows, "iconoclastic" anti-Jewish Jews, of interest only to groups seeking to delegitimize Israel...
...representing a "Jewish view" on foreign policy and social justice. Weiss routinely presents the Neturei Karta as representing "authentic Judaism" despite the fact that only several thousand people identify as members of the sect and that most Jews, including the Ultra-Orthodox, have strongly denounced Weiss and his associates. Finkelstein is more subtle: He harnesses his Jewish background in an attempt to bring legitimacy to his opinions. He routinely and targetedly mentions that his mother is a Holocaust survivor, and employs common Jewish expressions—such as "chutzpah"—in his work...
...many Jews, it is difficult to respond to the likes of Finkelstein and Weiss, because of the core Jewish belief in pluralism and freedom of expression; among a sampling of Jews, you are likely to find the very religious, the completely secular, Zionists, anti-Zionists, Democrats, and Republicans—all of whom cite something distinctly "Jewish" about their point of view. Finkelstein and Weiss take advantage of this pluralism in order to further their political goals...
Still, a line can be drawn at some point as to what constitutes a "Jewish view," and it is fair to say that both Weiss and Finkelstein have routinely crossed that line. They not only disparage other Jewish opinions as inauthentic and conspiratorial, but have supported those who commit violence and threaten genocide against the Jewish people...