Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...

Norman Finkelstein Norman Gary Finkelstein (; born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist, activist, former professor, and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a gr ...

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

The Case for Israel ''The Case for Israel'' is a 2003 book by Alan Dershowitz, a law professor at Harvard University. The work is a response to common criticisms of Israel. ''The Case for Israel'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. Summary The book is divided in ...

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

Joan Peters Joan Peters (née Friedman; April 29, 1936 – January 5, 2015), later Caro, was an American journalist and broadcaster. She wrote the 1984 book ''From Time Immemorial'', a controversial account of the origins of the Palestinians. Life Peters ...

From Time Immemorial ''From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab–Jewish Conflict over Palestine'' is a 1984 book by Joan Peters, published by Harper & Row, about the demographics of the Arab population of Palestine and of the Jewish population of the Arab wo ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Derek Bok Derek Curtis Bok (born March 22, 1930) is an American lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University. Life and career Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Following his parents' divorce, he, his mother, brother and siste ...

Elena Kagan Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...

Beyond Chutzpah ''Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History'' is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein published by the University of California Press in August 2005. The book's focus is on a critique of Israel supporters' defense of Isra ...

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

The New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André Schiffrin"J'accuse,"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' August 10, 2005, accessed February 11, 2007. Dershowitz responded in his book ''

The Case for Peace ''The Case for Peace: How The Arab–Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved'' is a 2005 book by Alan Dershowitz and follow-up to his 2003 book ''The Case for Israel''. Summary Dershowitz was originally planning to write ''The Case Against Israel's Enemi ...

'' and alleged a politically motivated campaign of vilification spearheaded by Finkelstein,

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

, and

Alexander Cockburn Alexander Claud Cockburn ( ; 6 June 1941 – 21 July 2012) was a Scottish-born Irish-American political journalist and writer. Cockburn was brought up by British parents in Ireland, but lived and worked in the United States from 1972. Together ...

against several pro-Israel academics.

Finkelstein's criticisms of Dershowitz

The bulk of ''Beyond Chutzpah'' consisted of an essay critiquing the "

new antisemitism New antisemitism is the idea that a new form of antisemitism has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tending to manifest itself as anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions ...

" and longer chapters contrasting Dershowitz's arguments in ''The Case for Israel'' with the findings of mainstream human rights organisations, such as

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, asserting that Dershowitz had lied, misrepresented and fabricated many of his points in order to protect

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and hide its record of alleged human rights violations. Finkelstein maintained that "the real issue is Israel's human rights record." In addition, Finkelstein claimed to have uncovered plagiarism in instances where Dershowitz reproduced the exact errors found in Peters's citation of original sources, and thus saw it as evidence that Dershowitz did not check the original sources he cited, a claim that Dershowitz adamantly denied. Finkelstein said he had located twenty instances that all occur within as many pages, Dershowitz used some of the same words from the same sources that Joan Peters used, largely in the same order. Several paragraph-long quotations that the two books share have ellipses in the same position. Finkelstein claimed that in one instance Dershowitz refers to the same page number as Peters, although he is citing a different (1996) edition of the same source, in which the words appear on a different page. Finkelstein stated: "It is left to readers to decide whether Dershowitz committed plagiarism as defined by Harvard University—'passing off a source's information, ideas, or words as your own by omitting to cite them.' According to a book review of ''Beyond Chutzpah'', written by Professor Michael C. Desch in ''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'', "Finkelstein does not accuse Dershowitz of the wholesale lifting of someone else's words, but he does make a very strong case that Dershowitz has violated the spirit, if not the exact letter, of Harvard's prohibitions of the first three forms of plagiarism." Michael C. Desch,
"The Chutzpah of Alan Dershowitz,"
''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'' December 5, 2005, online posting, ''normanfinkelstein.com'', accessed February 10, 2007. During an interview of the two men by

Amy Goodman Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author. Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupation ...

on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

'', Finkelstein also suggested that Dershowitz may not have written, or even read, the book. Later, he cited such allegedly "unserious" references as the Sony Pictures website for Kevin Macdonald's documentary film ''

One Day in September ''One Day in September'' is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Michael Douglas provides the sparse narration through ...

'' and an online high-school syllabus from ''Teaching the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Unit for High School Students'', by Professor Ronald Stockton, in his criticism of the book.

Dershowitz's response

Dershowitz threatened to bring a legal action against the

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

in response to the charges in Finkelstein's book. Dershowitz claimed to have written every word of ''The Case for Israel'' by hand and to have sent the University of California Press his handwritten manuscript. He says there is not a single phrase or sentence in it that was plagiarized, and accused Finkelstein of knowing this and making the charges in order to garner publicity. Dershowitz offered to produce his handwritten drafts (he does not type) to debunk the claim that ''The Case for Israel'' was ghostwritten and claimed Finkelstein has not asked to see them. Dershowitz also asked

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

to intervene in order to prevent the University of California Press from publishing the book.See the reproduction o
four letters from Dershowitz
as posted on ''normanfinkelstein.com'' with a headnote. Schwarzenegger's legal advisor responded, however, that the governor would not intervene in issues of academic freedom. As a result, when ''Beyond Chutzpah'' was published, it no longer used the word "plagiarize" in its argument that Dershowitz inappropriately borrowed from another work, nor did it include the claim that Dershowitz did not write ''The Case for Israel'', because, the publisher said, " inkelsteincouldn't document that."Daniel J. T. Schuker
"Accusations Fly in Academic Feud:
Harvard Law Prof Tries to Prevent Publication of Book about Israel," ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' July 8, 2005, accessed February 12, 2007. "Dershowitz has said he cited sources properly, attempting to check all primary sources and citing Peters when she was his only source."Lauren A. E. Schuker
"Dershowitz Accused Of Plagiarism:
Law School Professor Denies He Relied on Another's Work," ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' September 29, 2003, an
"Dershowitz Defends Book.
Professor Calls Plagiarism Accusation 'funny'." ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' October 2, 2003, both accessed February 11, 2007. Dershowitz said that Finkelstein has invented false charges in order to discredit supporters of Israel: "The mode of attack is consistent. Chomsky selects the target and directs Finkelstein to probe the writings in minute detail and conclude that the writer didn't actually write the work, that it is plagiarized, that it is a hoax and a fraud," alleging that Finkelstein has leveled the same kind of charges against many others, calling at least 10 "distinguished Jews 'hucksters,' 'hoaxters,' 'thieves,' 'extortionists,' and worse."

Alan M. Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoint ...

"The Hazards of Making ''The Case for Israel'',"
''jbooks.com'' n.d., accessed February 11, 2007. Dershowitz's subsequent book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ''

The Case for Peace ''The Case for Peace: How The Arab–Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved'' is a 2005 book by Alan Dershowitz and follow-up to his 2003 book ''The Case for Israel''. Summary Dershowitz was originally planning to write ''The Case Against Israel's Enemi ...

'', contains a chapter rebutting Finkelstein's charges, which Dershowitz made available on his web site.

Additional responses by Finkelstein and Dershowitz

Finkelstein argued in a letter to ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' published on October 3, 2003, that Dershowitz reproduced exactly two of Peters' mistakes, and made one relevant mistake of his own.Norman Finkelstein
"Finkelstein Proclaims 'The Glove Does Fit',"
Letter to the editors, ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' October 3, 2003, accessed February 10, 2007. In quoting

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, Finkelstein argued, "Dershowitz cites two paragraphs from Twain as continuous text, just as Peters cites them as continuous text, but in Twain's book the two paragraphs are separated by 87 pages." While still quoting Twain, although Dershowitz cited a different edition of Twain's ''

Innocents Abroad ''The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress'' is a travel book by American author Mark Twain. Published in 1869, it humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel ''Quaker City'' ...

'' than Joan Peters cites, Finkelstein continues, "the relevant quotes do not appear on these pages in the edition of Twain's book that Dershowitz cites." Finkelstein points out that these quotations do, however, appear on the pages that Joan Peters cites as her edition of ''Innocents Abroad''. Finkelstein asserted: "Quoting a statement depicting the miserable fate of Jews in mid-19th century

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, Peters cites a British consular letter from 'Wm. T. Young to Viscount Canning.' Dershowitz cites the same statement as Peters, reporting that Young 'attributed the plight of the Jew in Jerusalem' to pervasive

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. Turning to the original, however, we find that the relevant statement did not come from Young but, as is unmistakably clear to anyone who actually consulted the original, from an enclosed memorandum written by an 'A. Benisch' that Young was forwarding to Canning." He concluded: "It would be impossible for anyone who checked the original source to make the eerror " In response to the general charge of plagiarism, Dershowitz had characterized the excerpts as quotations that historians and scholars of the region cite routinely, such as

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

and the reports of government commissions. In "Statement of Alan M. Dershowitz" featured on a faculty webpage at Harvard Law School, Dershowitz writes:

I will no longer participate in this transparent ploy to gather media attention for Finkelstein and his publisher. I answer all of his charges fully in Chapter 16 of my forthcoming book ''The Case For Peace'', to be published by Wiley in August. My book deals with important and current issues, such as the prospects for peace in the immediate future. Finkelstein's deals with the irrelevant past that both Israelis and Palestinians are trying to put behind them. Let the marketplace judge our books. As far as I'm concerned, the public controversy is over and I will comment no further on the false charges leveled by Finkelstein and the UCP. Let them henceforth pay for their own publicity, instead of trying to get it on the cheap by launching phony attacks against me. I will not debate Finkelstein. I have a longstanding policy against debating
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
deniers, revisionists, trivializers or minimizers. Nor is a serious debate about Israel possible with someone who acknowledges that he knows "very little" about that country. I will be happy to debate any legitimate experts from
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
or any other human rights organization. Indeed, I have a debate scheduled with
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...
about these issues in the fall
005 ''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...
"Statement of Alan M. Dershowitz."

Dershowitz strenuously denied that he did not credit Peters' book adequately in his own book, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

supported him in that position in exonerating him against Finkelstein's charges that he committed "

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

".

Alan M. Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoint ...

"Professor Dershowitz 'Rests His Case',"
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' October 3, 2003, Letter to the Editors (Opinion), accessed February 11, 2007.

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...

"Plagiarism Accusations Unfairly Characterized,"
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' May 5, 2006, Letter to the Editors (Opinion) dated May 1, 2006 (appended correction), accessed February 12, 2007.

$10,000 challenge

During the joint interview of Dershowitz and Finkelstein in a 2003 ''Democracy Now!'' broadcast, host Amy Goodman alluded to an appearance on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

's ''

Scarborough Country ''Scarborough Country'' is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Country ...

'' in which Dershowitz made a challenge to "give $10,000 to the PLO" (

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

), playing a clip from the other program. In the headnote to the transcript, Goodman wrote:

On MSNBC's Scarborough Country on September 8, 2003, renowned appellate lawyer, Harvard Law professor and author Alan Dershowitz says: "I will give $10,000 to the PLO... if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false." The book Dershowitz refers to is his latest work ''The Case For Israel''. Today author and professor Norman Finkelstein takes him on and charges that Dershowitz makes numerous factual errors in his book. Dershowitz denies the charges. Finkelstein teaches at DePaul University and is the author of four books including ''
The Holocaust Industry ''The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering'' is a 2000 book by Norman Finkelstein arguing that the American Jewish establishment exploits the memory of the Nazi Holocaust for political and financial gain and to ...
: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering''.

The segment of ''Democracy Now!'' appears in the included transcript of the program:

Amy Goodman: ...we were intrigued on watching ''
Scarborough Country ''Scarborough Country'' is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Country ...
'' when you debated, the offer that you made ...just play it for a moment.

Alan Dershowitz: Tell you what, I will give $10,000 to the P.L.O. in your name if you can find historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false. I issue that challenge, I issue it to you, I issue it to the
Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
, I issue it to Noam Chomsky to
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''White ...
, every word in my book is accurate and you can't just simply say it's false without documenting it. Tell me one thing in the book now that is false?

Amy Goodman: Okay. Let's go to the book. The Case for Israel $10,000.

On ''Democracy Now!'' Finkelstein replied to that specific challenge for material errors found in his book overall, and Dershowitz upped it to $25,000 for another particular "issue" that they disputed. Finkelstein referred to "concrete facts which are not particularly controversial," stating that in ''The Case for Israel'' Dershowitz attributes to Israeli historian

Benny Morris Benny Morris ( he, בני מוריס; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. He is a member of t ...

the figure of between 2,000 and 3,000 Palestinian

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

who fled their homes from April to June 1948, when the range in the figures presented by Morris is actually 200,000 to 300,000. Dershowitz responded to Finkelstein's reply by stating that such a mistake could not have been intentional, as it harmed his own side of the debate: "Obviously, the phrase '2,000 to 3,000 Arabs' refers either to a sub-phase f the flightor is a typographical error." In this particular context, Dershowitz's argument is that Palestinians left as a result of orders issued by Palestinian commanders: "If in fact, 200,000 were told to leave instead of 2,000, that strengthens my argument considerably."

Others on the plagiarism controversy

Support for Finkelstein

In his review of ''Beyond Chutzpah'', echoing Finkelstein's criticisms, Michael Desch, political science professor at

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

observed:

Not only did Dershowitz improperly present Peters's ideas, he may not even have bothered to read the original sources she used to come up with them. Finkelstein somehow managed to get uncorrected page proofs of ''The Case for Israel'' in which Dershowitz appears to direct his research assistant to go to certain pages and notes in Peters's book and place them in his footnotes directly (32, col. 3).

Oxford academic

Avi Shlaim Avraham "Avi" Shlaim (born 31 October 1945) is an Israeli-British historian, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and fellow of the British Academy. He is one of Israel's New Historians, a group of Israeli ...

had also been critical of Dershowitz, saying he believed that the charge of plagiarism "is proved in a manner that would stand up in court."Mandy Garner,"The Good Jewish Boys Go into Battle," ''

Times Higher Education Supplement ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'', December 16, 2005 In Desch's review of ''Beyond Chutzpah'', summarizing Finkelstein's case against Dershowitz for "torturing the evidence," particularly Finkelstein's argument relating to Dershowitz's citations of Morris, Desch observed:

There are two problems with Dershowitz's heavy reliance on Morris. The first is that Morris is hardly the left-wing peacenik that Dershowitz makes him out to be, which means that calling him as a witness in Israel's defense is not very helpful to the case. The more important problem is that many of the points Dershowitz cites Morris as supporting—that the early Zionists wanted peaceful coexistence with the Arabs, that the Arabs began the 1948 War to destroy Israel, that the Arabs were guilty of many massacres while the Israelis were scrupulous about protecting human rights, and that the Arabs fled at the behest of their leaders rather than being ethnically cleansed by the Israel Defense Forces—turn out to be based on a partial reading or misreading of Morris's books. Finkelstein documents these charges in exhaustive detail in Appendix II of his book and the preponderance of evidence he provides is conclusive." (30–31)

Support for Dershowitz

As Desch acknowledges in his book review of ''Beyond Chutzpah'', "In the wake of a number of similar complaints against Dershowitz and two of his Harvard Law School colleagues

Laurence Tribe Laurence Henry Tribe (born October 10, 1941) is an American legal scholar who is a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He previously served as the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School. A constitutional law sc ...

and

Charles Ogletree Charles James Ogletree Jr. (born December 31, 1952) is an American attorney, law professor and the Jesse Climenko Professor at Harvard Law School, the founder of the school's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. He is also th ...

, former Harvard President

Derek Bok Derek Curtis Bok (born March 22, 1930) is an American lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University. Life and career Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Following his parents' divorce, he, his mother, brother and siste ...

conducted an investigation—the details of which were not made public—that... vindicated Dershowitz" (32, col. 3).

Dershowitz's involvement in Finkelstein's denial of tenure

In September 2006, Alan Dershowitz sent members of

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

's law and political science faculties what he described as "a dossier of Norman Finkelstein's most egregious academic sins, and especially his outright lies, misquotations, and distortions that... are not incidental to Finkelstein's purported scholarship; they are Finkelstein's purported scholarship," and he lobbied professors, alumni and administrators to deny Finkelstein tenure. De Paul's political science committee investigated the accusations against Finkelstein and concluded that they were not based on legitimate criticism. The department subsequently invited

John Mearsheimer John Joseph Mearsheimer (; born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the Univers ...

and

Ian Lustick Ian Steven Lustick (born 1949) is an American political scientist and specialist on the modern history and politics of the Middle East. He currently holds the Bess W. Heyman Chair in the department of Political Sciences at the University of Pennsylv ...

, two uninvolved academics with expertise on the Israel/Palestine conflict, to evaluate the academic merit of Finkelstein's work. Mearsheimer and Lustick came to the same conclusion.Richard Forer ''Breakthrough: Transforming Fear Into Compassion : a New Perspective on the Israel-Palestine Conflict''

E-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

2010 Pg 45 - 46 In April 2007 the De Paul University Liberal Arts and Sciences' Faculty Governance Council had voted unanimously to send a letter to Harvard University expressing "the council's dismay at Professor Dershowitz's interference in Finkelstein's tenure and promotion case."'' Chronicle of Higher Education'' Thursday, April 5, 200
"Harvard Law Professor Works to Disrupt Tenure Bid of Longtime Nemesis at DePaul U."
In early 2007, the DePaul University Political Science department voted 9 to 3, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Personnel Committee 5 to 0, in favor of giving Finkelstein

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

. The three opposing faculty members subsequently filed a minority report opposing tenure, supported by the Dean of the College, Chuck Suchar. Suchar stated he opposed tenure because Finkelstein's "personal and reputation demeaning attacks on Alan Dershowitz,

Benny Morris Benny Morris ( he, בני מוריס; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. He is a member of t ...

, and the holocaust authors Eli Wiesel and Jerzy Kosinski" were inconsistent with DePaul's "Vincentian" values. In June 2007 a 4–3 vote by DePaul University's Board on Promotion and Tenure (a faculty board), affirmed by the university's president, the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, denied Finkelstein tenure."DePaul denies tenure to controversial professor"
CNN, June 11, 2007. Finkelstein was placed on administrative leave for the 2007–2008 academic year (the remainder of his contract with DePaul), his sole course having been cancelled. However, in announcing his decision, Holtschneider said the outside attention "was unwelcome and inappropriate and had no impact on either the process or the outcome of this case." On September 5, 2007, Finkelstein resigned after he and the university reached a settlement; they released a joint statement on the resolution of the conflict.

Additional points of dispute between Finkelstein and Dershowitz

In ''The Holocaust Industry'', Finkelstein questioned

Elie Wiesel Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...

's claim to have read

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

's '' Critique of Pure Reason'' in

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

. According to Finkelstein, no translation of the work existed in Yiddish at the time. Dershowitz responded that this was not so: he alleged that one had been published in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1929, and said that he had seen a copy at the

Harvard Library Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...

. Finkelstein described this latter claim as false and inept, writing that the only work by Kant in Yiddish owned by the library was a partial translation of the ''

Critique of Practical Reason The ''Critique of Practical Reason'' (german: Kritik der praktischen Vernunft) is the second of Immanuel Kant's three critiques, published in 1788. It follows on from Kant's first critique, the '' Critique of Pure Reason'' and deals with his mo ...

'', a completely different work than the one referred to by Wiesel and Dershowitz. Norman G. Finkelstein
"Dershowitz Exposed Yet Again: The Critique of Pure Cant,"
online posting in "The Dershowitz Hoax", ''normanfinkelstein.com'' December 2003, accessed February 11, 2007. During a clash with members of

J Street J Street ( he, ג'יי סטריט) is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatica ...

at the 2010

American Israel Public Affairs Committee The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Stat ...

conference, Dershowitz chastised J Street for pandering to anti-Israel activists and asked, "Why are you so popular with Norman Finkelstein?" Both J Street rebuffed Dershowitz's claim.

Notes

References

* Arkes, Hadley
"The Rights and Wrongs of Alan Dershowitz."
''

Claremont Review of Books The ''Claremont Review of Books'' (''CRB'') is a quarterly review of politics and statesmanship published by the conservative Claremont Institute. A typical issue consists of several book reviews and a selection of essays on topics of conservatis ...

'' November 4, 2005. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Chrucky, Andre
"Norman Finkelstein, DePaul, and U.S. Academia: Reductio Ad Absurdum of Centralized Universities"
July 23, 2007. * Dershowitz, Alan M.br>"The Lerner-Finkelstein Duet."
''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' October 16, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. * –––.
"Neve Gordon Can't Take Criticism."
''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' November 8, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. * –––
"Plagiarism Accusations Political, Unfounded."
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' September 23, 2003. Accessed February 11, 2006. * –––.
"Tsuris Over Chutzpah."
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' August 29, 2005. Rpt. in ''normanfinkelstein.com'' n.d. Accessed February 11, 2007. (Comment on Wiener; see below.) [This article is followed by a letter from Dershowitz's research assistants: Holly Beth Billington (2002–2004), Alexander J. Blenkinsopp (2004–2005), Eric Citron (2003–2004), C. Wallace DeWitt (2004–2005), Aaron Voloj Dessauer (2004–2005), and Mitch Webber (2005); a reply by Jon Wiener; and a comment by Finkelstein.]
"Dershowitz v. Desch."
''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'' January 16, 2006, Forum. Rpt. ''normanfinkelstein.com'' n.d. Accessed February 12, 2007. (Incl. detailed reply by

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...

to book review of ''Beyond Chutzpah'' by Desch (see below) and reply by Desch (with pdf link), and a response added to his own site's presentation of this material by Finkelstein.) * Eichner, Itamar, and Tova Tzimuki
"Simpson's Attorney Advises: "Acquittal" of Israel."
''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

'' November 18, 2003: 11. Rpt. in ''normanfinkelstein.com'' n.d. Accessed February 11, 2007. (Incl. English translation & scan of Hebrew original.) * Finkelstein, Norman
"Dershowitz Was To Meet With Israeli Officials."
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' November 8, 2005, Letter to the Editors (Opinion). Accessed February 11, 2007. * ––�
"Finkelstein at Yale: ''Beyond Chutzpah''.
Video prod. by Leitrim Productions of lecture and discussion.

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

,

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. October 20, 2005. Accessed February 11, 2007. * –––
"Little Prissy Al."
''normanfinkelstein.com'' October 17, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. (Response to Dershowitz, "The Lerner-Finkelstein Duet.") * –––.
"Moment of Truth – Will Dershowitz Release the Letters?"
''normanfinkelstein.com'' November 9, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. * –––
"Never Before Aired: Watch Part II of the Debate between Finkelstein and Dershowitz."
Online posting. ''normanfinkelstein.com'' n.d. Accessed February 11, 2007. (Incl. link to Part I of the debate.) (See Goodman.) * Francois, Wendy.
"Politics Rip through Columbia."
''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

'' March 28, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. *

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

.
"Human Rights Watch Responds to Dershowitz."
''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' September 7, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Maizel, Lindsay A
"At Talk, Finkelstein Calls Dershowitz Book a Fraud."
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' November 4, 2005. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Segev, Tom
"Sharon Recommends a Book."
''

Ha'aretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'' October 24, 2005. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Seiderman, Ian.
"Right of Reply: Biased against Israel?
Not at all Amnesty International responds to Dershowitz." ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' September 11, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Tetley, William.
"Another Dershowitz Diatribe."
''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' July 24, 2006, letter to the editor. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Troianovski, Anton S
Crimson Cuts Columnist for Lifting Material:
Online Magazine Slate Says It Won't Pursue Action Against Paper." ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'' October 27, 2006. Accessed February 11, 2007. * Wiener, Jon
"Giving Chutzpah New Meaning."
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' July 11, 2005. Accessed February 11, 2007.

External links

Alan M. Dershowitz's Faculty Bibliography
at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

an
Alan M. Dershowitz
s own commercial website (''alandershowitz.com'') with links to publications by Alan M. Dershowitz and responses to some comments and publications by

Norman Finkelstein Norman Gary Finkelstein (; born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist, activist, former professor, and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a gr ...

.
"Statement of Alan M. Dershowitz"

Norman Finkelstein's website

"The Dershowitz Hoax"
(2003–2006) at the "official website of Norman G. Finkelstein" (''normanfinkelstein.com''), an in depth collection of materials relating to the affair from Finkelstein's point of view. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dershowitz-Finkelstein Affair Arab–Israeli conflict Historiography Academic scandals DePaul University Harvard University Plagiarism controversies Norman Finkelstein Alan Dershowitz