Chicago, IL, June 11, 2007 … Lonnie Nasatir, Director of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Greater Chicago/Upper Midwest Regional Office, issued the following statement in reaction to DePaul University’s denial of tenure to Professor Norman Finkelstein:
The Anti-Defamation League has long been troubled by Professor Norman Finkelstein’s vitriolic and mean-spirited rhetoric in his written works and public speaking engagements. His career has been marked by hurtful attacks on those seeking to remember the Holocaust, an obsessive hatred of Zionism and Israel, and a penchant for distorting the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
To the extent that DePaul’s decision to deny tenure to Prof. Finkelstein is intended as a repudiation of his hateful and bigoted ideas, we applaud the University for its actions in standing up for its principles.
It should be noted that DePaul accepted Jewish students when other universities had strict quotas, and we look forward to continuing the close relationship between DePaul and the Jewish community that has done so much to benefit Chicago and Catholic-Jewish relations.
