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Home » Norman Finkelstein at UMass: Gaza, Truth & the Battle for Free Speech (Transcript)

Norman Finkelstein at UMass: Gaza, Truth & the Battle for Free Speech (Transcript)

Read the full transcript of acclaimed scholar and author Norman Finkelstein’s lecture on “Gaza, Truth & the Battle for Free Speech” at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, September 24, 2025.

Introduction

SUT JHALLY: Good evening everyone. It’s a fantastic crowd here. I think most probably close to 500 people here for this event, which is fantastic. My name is Sut Jhally. I am a professor here in the Department of Communication.

In a sane world of rationality and principle, the old adage about a speaker like Norman Finkelstein not needing an introduction would be true. His many accomplishments would speak for him. But we do not live in such a world, especially when it comes to Israel-Palestine, where Finkelstein’s work has been the target of unrelenting attack and lies. And so there is the necessity of an introduction. First, the facts.

He is the author of 13 books, including in 2000 The Holocaust Industry, which argued that a network of institutions has cheapened the memory of the Holocaust and exploited Jewish suffering to advance elite financial and political interests and shield Israel from accountability for its criminal policies towards the Palestinians.

The Tenure Denial and Academic Blacklisting

He first came to national prominence in 2008 when he was denied tenure at DePaul University in Chicago following a vicious external attack of lies and slander by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. You may remember him—he is Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer. At the time of his tenure decision, Finkelstein was already the author of five books. Five books.

That already constitutes a career, let alone a case for tenure. Despite overwhelming support from his students who adored him and his faculty colleagues, he was denied tenure by senior administrators because he was, quote, “not civil.” In other words, he hurt the feelings of the people he was criticizing, effectively blacklisting him from being hired anyplace else.

Or speaking anyplace else. He was just telling me this is his first appearance at a university since October the 7th. That should tell us something on its own.

When I hear this story of his tenure denial, I am struck not only by the cowardice of so-called academic leaders, but also their lack of imagination. At the time, there was not one college president, not one college president who had the guts or the foresight to say, quote, “Not only is this wrong, but this is a business opportunity to brand ourselves as defenders of free speech and academic freedom by offering Professor Finkelstein a job.”

That’s what I would have done if I was a university president at that time, and it would have brought instant fame. It would have been an incredible coup that would have cost almost nothing.

Actually, university leaders once thought like that, believe it or not, in case you think this is all fantasy. For instance, our own Department of Economics here at UMass has a world-class reputation as a heterodox department that is encompassing many approaches because in 1973, they hired a number of brilliant young Marxist scholars who had been denied tenure by Harvard and Yale. And when they did that, they became instantly famous for it. Instantly famous for it.

Today’s college leaders are not intellectuals, but administrators who cannot even defend themselves against the feeble-minded attacks of Republican Congresspeople, as evidenced by the so-called anti-Semitism hearings. If the American Academy is to survive the rabid savages at the gates, it is going to be up to the faculty, not administrators, to lead the fight.

Although I do have to note that we have had no pushback from the UMass administration about this event taking place, despite, as I suspect from past experience, intense pressure to cancel. We know that there have been emails going in to the president’s office pressurizing him to cancel, but we have not heard anything.

Scholarly Acclaim and Recognition

Since 2008, Professor Finkelstein has become a world-renowned independent scholar, the author of another eight books, building a global reputation as a principled forensic scholar on the issue of Israel-Palestine. For this, he has earned the admiration from the leading scholars in the field.

Raul Hilberg, founder of the academic field of Holocaust studies, hailed Finkelstein’s rigorous and fearless scholarship, declaring, quote, “It takes an enormous amount of courage to speak the truth when no one else is out there. His place in the whole history of writing history is assured.” I’m just going to repeat that from the founder of Holocaust studies: His whole place in the whole history of writing history is assured.

The distinguished Israeli historian, Avi Shlaim, says, “Finkelstein has a most impressive track record. He is known for erudition, originality, spark, meticulous attention to detail, intellectual integrity, courage, and formidable forensic skills.”

And Sara Roy of Harvard University says, “Finkelstein’s scholarship is exceptional both for its brilliance and rigor. His work is considered seminal. Disciplines would be intellectually inferior without it.”

And John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago says simply, “No scholar has done more to shed light on Israel’s ruthless treatment of the Palestinians than Norman Finkelstein.”

His two latest books, Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom and I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It are both available for sale outside the hall. His forthcoming book, which unfortunately was not published in time for this event—it’s published in November—Gaza’s Great Figures turns the spotlight onto the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and even Israel’s seemingly harshest critics, exposing how they helped shield Israel from accountability for its genocidal actions.

Holding On to the Truth

Norman Finkelstein is a fearless seeker of the truth, no matter where that may lead. Indeed, when we live in a post-truth or post-fact world, the truth is all we have.

When I teach Israel-Palestine in my classes, I normally end with a video excerpt of a speech given by Professor Finkelstein just after his tenure denial. At the time, he was working on a book on Mahatma Gandhi and he referred to the Gandhian concept of Satyagraha, a term derived from two Sanskrit words, Satya meaning truth and Agraha meaning firm insistence, which Gandhi translated as, quote, “Hold on to the truth.” Hold on to the truth.

Through everything, Norman Finkelstein has been principled and fearless in holding on to the truth.