Dear Editor,

Although I am no longer a student at California State University of Northridge, I am outraged with the recent invitation of Norman G. Finkelstein. ?While I accept criticism of Israel, Finkelstein’s so-called criticism isn’t really criticism at all. ?Prior to his visit to CSUN, he traveled and met with Hezbollah terrorists. ?The same terrorists who celebrated the terrorist career of Imad Mugniyah who was allegedly killed by Israeli Mossad in Syria.

Finkelstein met with Hezbollah leaders, NOT that he cares about any sort of Palestinian civilian deaths that just happen to be part of Israeli collatoral damage. ?But rather, he sides with Hezbollah terrorists in a modern version of a “Tokyo Rose”/ “Axis Sally”. ?This isn’t criticism of Israel as what Finkelstein is promoting. ?The terrorists whom Finekelstein sided with such as the late Imad Mugniyah celebrate the mass murder of Israeli citizens and Palestinian human shields which Hezbollah terrorists hide behind. ?During Imad’s career as a terrorist, he was involved in many attacks against U.S. citizens.

Among the lists include the Beirut barracks, bombing and massacring over 200 U.S. soldiers, the Khobar Towers bombing, USS Cole attack, U.S. Embassies in Africa bombings, TWA Flight 847 hijacking. Imad was alos said to be behind Al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgency. ?During Imad’s career as a terrorist, he was first involved in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat and also Arafat’s Force 17 armed group.

Now for the academia faculty whom invited Finkelstein but never questioned him for his support for Hezbollah, shame on them. ?Would the same academia faculty invite members of followers of the radical Meir Kahane? ?The racist/anti-Semitic New Black Panthers Party or perhaps members of the National Socialist Movement or American Nazi Party? ?Doubtful they would receive a similar reputation.

I hope there would be more of a condemnation of Finkelstein’s true agenda. ?It’s academic dishonesty to invite someone like Finkelstein who is not but the least honest.

Sincerly, Maxwell Hoffman Graduate Student Of 2007 Major: History

Dear Editor:

In the 2/12/08 issue of the Daily Sundial, Beth Cohen,?who is identified as a “Holocaust historian and interim coordinator for the Jewish studies program,”?claims that?Norman Finkelstein’s scholarship on the Nazi Holocaust is?not highly regarded by?scholars?in the field.??

?This is?simply?untrue.

?In Finkelstein’s first book on the topic, “A Nation on Trial” (co-authored with Ruth Bettina Birn,?a leading historian of Nazi Germany), it contains?back jacket endorsements from?some of the leading?historians of this period: Christopher?R. Browning (author of?”Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland”),? Arno Mayer (author of “Why did the Heavens Not Darken?”), Ian Kershaw (author of?”Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris”) and Eric Hobsbawm (author of?”The Age of Extremes”).

?Moreover,?there is the case of Raul Hilberg.? He is?the author of the monumental three volume study, “The Destruction of European Jews”?and widely regarded as the founder of Holocaust studies.?Until his recent death, he was both the?leading authority on the?Nazi Holocaust?and?a huge?admirer of Norman Finkelstein’s scholarship.?

?Hilberg’s has written a?glowing?back jacket endorsement for Finkelstein’s The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering adding in an interview?that?”I?wish it were longer” and that in “sum and substance I agree with what Finkelstein says.”

?How could Beth Cohen not know this?? Could it be that she has?confused Norman G.?Finkelstein, who lectured at CSUN?last week, with?Norman H.?Finkelstein, the author of children’s books??

Sincerely, Nader Hashemi Visiting Assistant Professor UCLA International Institute