Israel-Palestine Scholar Challenges U.S. Stance

Even for Oberlin, the number of keffiyehs -- traditional Palestinian patterned scarves -- was unusually high on Thursday night in the Science Center's Craig Lecture Hall. At 8 p.m., scholar and Palestinian activist Norman Finkelstein delivered a talk titled "The Israel-Palestine Conflict: What We Can Learn from Gandhi."

The talk, co-sponsored by Students for a Free Palestine and the departments of politics, history and sociology, drew an audience that packed the sizeable lecture hall. As latecomers took seats in the aisles, Finkelstein opened with lighthearted remarks on Oberlin's culture, calling co-ed rooms on campus "quite remarkable. When I went to college [at Princeton University], we had co-ed bathrooms, which I thought was cutting-edge."

The speaker quickly took a more serious turn, declaring his intention to "clarify exactly what the historical, diplomatic and human-rights records show about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Finkelstein cited the U.N.'s repeated, almost unanimous resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank region, asserting that "the whole world, literally, apart from the United States and Israel" opposes the occupation of Palestinian territory.

The challenge "for those seeking peace," according to Finkelstein, is to "get the U.S. and Israel to respect international law and enlightened public opinion." The speaker went on to outline Gandhi's philosophies of nonviolent resistance, but held that Palestinians should not be judged harshly for resorting to violence. A lesser-known passage from Gandhi's writings provided the basis for this argument. According to Finkelstein, violently defending one's own personal dignity does not conflict with Gandhi's approach: "If you don't have the moral reserves to practice nonviolence," said Finkelstein in the words of Gandhi, "you had better 'hit back, and hit back hard.'"

Finkelstein showed a clear passion for his subject matter, but remained articulate and level-headed throughout his talk. Despite the serious nature of the talk, the speaker managed to inject notes of humor into his engagement with the audience. Before describing Gandhi's satyagraha philosophy, Finkelstein paused and said with a wry smile: "What's a satyagrahi? Let's see if the smart Oberlin audience knows." When an audience member gave the correct answer -- "nonviolence in the pursuit of truth" -- the rest of the audience laughed and applauded.

Despite the controversial nature of Finkelstein's positions, few seemed interested in challenging him during the question-and-answer session; one student simply asked, "What's the next step?"

The speaker concluded his two-hour talk with a simple answer to this question, alluding to Gandhi once again: "We have to hold onto the truth. Keep remembering what the struggle is all about.... It's to free the Palestinian people from their oppression." Though he made his position clear, Finkelstein was careful to emphasize that the end goal of any resistance should be "inclusive.... No one is a loser: no Palestinian, no Israeli -- everyone is a gainer if we stand by truth and justice.