Tonight at the Rose Theatre, Norman Finkelstein, political science professor at DePaul University and author of books such as Beyond Chutzpah and The Holocaust Industry, will speak at The University of Memphis.
Finkelstein, who was invited by the Students for Middle East Justice, will lecture on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. policy regarding the matter.
"He has spoken at (just about) every single major university (in the U.S.) and in Europe," said Omar Baddar, political science graduate student and president of Students of Middle East Justice.
Finkelstein, who claims to be descendants of Holocaust survivors, is a controversial figure to many.
Abraham H. Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League called Finkelstein an "obsessive anti-Zionist" and said that Finkelstein had "a penchant for distorting the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict."
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America reported that Finkelstein's work was inaccurate, selective and contained omissions of facts on their website.
Some figures on campus also have issues with Finkelstein.
In a letter to The Daily Helmsman, David Patterson, the Bornblum Chair in Judaic Studies and Director and the Advisor for Hillel (The Jewish Student Union), said that Finkelstein was "another inciter of Jew hatred," "a hate monger" and compared him to a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Patterson also said that Finkelstein was an "espouser of anti-Semitism."
However, Baddar said he has received overwhelming positive feedback from people around the Memphis area.
"A lot of people wanted to attend. I got calls from people in the area wanting to know if tickets were free," Baddar said. "I only had one negative phone call from a lady in Florida, who basically was a conspiracy theorist and thought he was a part of the New World Order."
Baddar said he expects anywhere from 200 to 400 people to show up.
The format of the event will be a lecture, followed by a discussion, according to Baddar.
"I got in touch with Dr. Patterson (whom I know disagrees with Finkelstein) and Hillel (formerly the Jewish Student Union) and no one would agree to a debate," Baddar said.
Jerry Patterson, a representative from the Memphis Jewish Federation, refused to comment on Finkelstein's speaking at The U of M.
