A Jewish American political scientist, academic, and author whose primary research focuses on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is also the son of a Nazi concentration camp survivor. He holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University and has taught at several institutions, including the City University of New York and DePaul University. Although his academic career has been marked by significant controversy due to his radical views and outspoken political stance, he remains well-known for his rigorous documentary research and his challenges to official narratives.
Finkelstein’s professional achievements are best reflected in his influential body of work, most notably his book “The Holocaust Industry.” In it, he critiques how the memory of the Holocaust has been exploited by certain organizations for political and financial gain, sparking intense global debate. Furthermore, he is widely recognized in academia as one of the most meticulously researched scholars on the Israel-Palestine conflict, often using detailed empirical analysis to deconstruct mainstream propaganda.
Finkelstein is one of the most steadfast supporters of the Palestinian cause, advocating for a resolution based on international law while long remaining a vocal critic of Israel’s policies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. His support is evident not only in his extensive academic writing and public speaking but also in his active participation in protests, often at great personal cost to his career—most notably being denied tenure at DePaul University. He maintains that the injustice against Palestinians is one of the preeminent moral issues of our time and remains dedicated to promoting international awareness of Palestinian human rights by exposing historical truths.
His most famous speech on the Israeli-Palestinian issue is his “crocodile tears” speech. During a Q&A session at the University of Waterloo in 2008, a female student tearfully accused him of hurting the feelings of the Jewish audience. He then gave this powerful response:
I don’t like to play before an audience the Holocaust card. But since you played it, I now feel compelled to play it back. My late father was in Auschwitz; my late mother was in Majdanek. Every single member of my family on both sides was exterminated. Both of my parents were in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. And it is precisely and exactly because of the lessons my parents taught me and my two siblings that I will not be silent when Israel commits its crimes against the Palestinians.
And I consider nothing more despicable than to use their suffering and their martyrdom to try to justify the torture, the brutalization, the demolition of homes that Israel daily commits against the Palestinians.
So I refuse any longer to be intimidated or browbeaten by the tears. If you have any heart in you, you would be crying for the Palestinians.