Bill: I don’t always agree with Finkelstein and as Jerry Haber wrote to me recently he’d prob. not be the most convivial companion. But what I find compelling about him is that he is an uncompromising, laser-focussed political moralist. His arguments are fierce, unyielding & rigorous. He gives no quarter nor asks for any. Some of our Biblical prophets were fierce in the same way. Perhaps not the nicest person around, but I cut a lot of slack for a child of survivors. I’m sure the demons can be intense.

I still don’t understand “pro-Israel extremist”. If you define yourself as “pro-Israel”, what you said makes no sense. That is like saying “he is like me, but too much”. I would understand “chauvinist”, “fascist”, “racist”, “jingoist”, or whatever.

Steve really hit a nerve didn’t he.

No, I enjoy pointing out the inanities posted by people like you & him.

Are you a Norm Finkelstein fan, if your not the adds shouldn’t be on your site.

I do so enjoy people like Bill Pearlman telling me what I should & shouldn’t do on my blog. It’s terribly persuasive Bill & I always take yr advice so seriously. I would advertise your book, Bill, if you could ever get one published that I found interesting. Chances of that happening are next to none. But it’s true. And if I did advertise yr book you can be damn sure it doesn’t mean I’m a fan of yrs. Same holds true of Finkelstein. I find what he writes to be 1,000% more compelling than anything you or Steve can come up with. Hence, I promote it in my store.

And if any of my readers want to support this blog I’d urge them to check the store out & thank Steve & Bill for helping me promote it. Because you can be damn sure that anything these two find objectionable almost all the rest of my readers would quite enjoy reading.

@ Steve:

I criticize a man who supports Hizbullah, who would like to see them defeat Israel

You called him a ‘nutcase’ & ‘anti-Semite’ which is a little diff. than merely “criticizing” him. And you don’t quite have the full picture concerning his views. Finkelstein believed, as I do, that Israel waged an unjustified war of aggression against the Lebanese people that was all out of proportion to the actual event which triggered the war. He believed that Hezbollah was fully justified in defending Lebanon against Israeli attack.

I don’t support Hezbollah’s kidnapping Israeli soldiers. But Israel’s invasion and mauling of an entire nation was wholly unjustified. Finkelstein believed Israel deserved to lose the war. I don’t believe that but I certainly don’t believe they deserved to win it either. There would’ve been far more effective means of avenging the kidnapping than the choices made.

As for the epithets I used which you object to: they were used in debate with commenters here who I find intellectually dishonest, politically repugnant. Since you haven’t read my blog very long you will not know their history here, what they written, & how they have slandered me and my views. All you have to do is search through this blog for their names & you will find their other comments.

I don’t pull punches here. If someone wants to debate civilly & w/o ad hominem attacks on me then they will be responded to civilly in return. But those who use insults, snark & the like, thereby falling below those standards will be responded to in kind. If you don’t like that then there are a few million other blogs out there you may turn to which may interest you more.

@ Bar Kochba

I am still puzzled why you use the term “pro-Israel” as an epithet

The term I actually used was “pro-Israel extremist” which is entirely diff. than “pro-Israel.” You apparently didn’t bother to read my response to you the last time you raised this red herring argument. I am pro-Israel. The American Thinker “journalist” is a “pro-Israel extremist.” I think the diff. should be self-evident.

Here are some of the words you’ve used recently with other people who disagree with you:

demagogic propagandist
yr warped world view
the world’s greatest class-A asshole
That’s dumber than dumb.

Sounds a lot to me like “close-mindedness, intolerance, spitefulness & all around lack of menschlichkeit”.

that nutcase antisemite

Which only betrays your close-mindedness, intolerance, spitefulness & all around lack of menschlichkeit. You must think “hate your fellow-Jews” was one of the 613 commandments.

You must be immensely proud.

You sure win the snark award today. I think all the books in my store are worth reading as do the hundreds of thousands of other readers including many Jews who’ve purchased them. What would be in your store? Baruch Goldstein’s memoir? When Dersh writes that first opera of his why don’t you hawk tickets for it via your own online store? Maybe you could sell Daniel Pipes’ latest diatribe & David Horowitz’s latest attack on academia.

Oh, yes…just noticed you’re hawking his books on your site. You must be immensely proud.