That the old catholic world reveres her, and explain that in such a way that it is told as a story to people who find it an enjoyable experience and to read and encounter her and i suppose love her. For more information on this and other cities on the local content vehicles for go to cspan. Org localcontent. With a month left in 2012 many publications are putting together a third year end list of notable books. Booktv will feature several of these lists focusing on nonfiction elections. These nonfiction titles were included in the New York Times 100 notable books of 2012. And barack obama the story david maraniss, associate editor of the Washington Post present a history of president Barack Obamas family. Charles murray of the American Enterprise institute argues a growing divide between the upper and lower class goes beyond economics differences in coming apart the state of White America 19602010. In victory, the triumphant game revolution, Linda Hirschman presenting history of the gayrights movement. David nassau chronicles the life and career of the father of the kennedy political dynasty in the patriarch, remarkable life and Turbulent Times of joseph kennedy. History professor at Duke University examined haiti from its founding to today in haiti the aftershock of history. For an extended list of links to publications, 2012 notable books election visit booktv website booktv. Org or our Facebook Page facebook. Com booktv. Next, Norman Finkelstein argues the support of your by liberal American Jews is declining by overwhelming evidence the Israeli Government after treatment of the palestinians is unjustified. This is about two hours. [applause] thank you very much for that lovely introduction. I want to thank karen, Colin Robinson and john oakes. The American Jewish romance with israel is both ordinary and extraordinary. American jewish concern over israel is not so different from the longdistance nationalism of cubanamericans, irishamericans, Indian Americans and palestinian americans who are physically in the state that virtually or vicariously over there but the differences are no less important to make this a special case. Very few American Jews are of is really gorgeous. Israel as always been projection screen for American Jews, phantasmagorical region of the mind as much as an actual country. Another more salient distinction is the exceptional physician that israel occupies, israel is americas closest ally of part from saudi arabia. In spite of its small population the jewish by considerable margin the biggest recipient of u. S. Aid 3 billion annually. Israel is also an occupying power, born of war in which two thirds of the indigenous population was driven from their land, israel went on to expand its borders further in 1967 when it conquered the west bank, the gaza strip and golan heights. There are half a million jewish settlers in the occupied territories who enjoy all manner of state subsidies and privileges while palestinians under occupation suffer indignities and humiliation too numerous to mention. The situation is not much better for palestinian citizens in israel who are increasingly treated as a fifth column despite their loyalty that the state has shown little affection over the years. Israels occupation is the longest in modern history and the Israeli Government appears to be in no hurry to end it particularly if it can change the topic to Irans Nuclear program or the threat of islam. Unconditional support for israel is not the only reason the United States is viewed with suspicion and hostility in much of the arab and muslim world but certainly one of the reasons and a very big one. The American Jewish relationship with israel is a considerable geopolitical significance and one does not have to buy in to antisemitic notions of a jewish power, to see that American Jews played an Important Role in establishing parameters of discussion such as what can or cannot be said on the subject and arguably in shaping american policy in the region. The best example of such influence is the socalled israel lobby which is a settlement enterprise and israels many wars. And stirring up panic on the Iranian Nuclear program. Lobby does not speak most American Jews that has been successful in bullying its critics to the point where it has convinced many if not most people that we stand united behind israel, right or wrong. So much for the joke that if you get two jews in the room you get three opinions. The idea of unanimous and unconditional jewish support for israel has always been not myths. As Norman Finkelstein points out in his book knowing too much the American Jewish romance was fostered by the 1957 war when israel became a key u. S. Ally and by the emergence of holocaust memory. It is the product in other words of politics and history, not of something primordial and static and the most eloquent critic of is really policy have been jews such as tony judd, distinguished guests, not to mention anna stone. This is by no means an accident but fit between israel and American Jews with strong traditions of liberalism and universal ethics. Was never a national one. Jewish liberal supporters of israel had to look past for the night unappetizing humanrights record but that has become much harder and harder to do. Norman finkelstein argues in his new book that American Jews no too much now and in the battle for American Jewish mines, the guerrillas and his zionism. Making this argument for some time, it is now being echoed in a different key by establishment figures like roger cohen and walter crone and thomas friedman. Is this the end romance . I am not sure. Support for israel has long been one of the three walls of what the french jewish writer called the jewish prison, and holocaust memory and the idea of the people. There is no doubt the we are seeing important and encouraging explosion of a debate among jews around the question of israel which is of course also the question of palestine footers for all intents and purposes only one real state from the jordan river to the mediterranean. The work of activist groups like jewish boys for peace and saigon, in demonstrating the jews do not speak with one voice on the middle east and what i think is particularly exciting is a growing number of young Jewish AmericanCollege Campuses are joining forces with palestinians and arab americans and understand the fate of israel, palestine cant just be a conversation on jews. I dont want to stray optimistic note. We may be seeing not so much the end of a romance but the growing diversification of the American Jewish opinion. After years of forced conformity it is a Welcome Development and may yet create the conditions for new alliances and a more Concerted Campaign against the occupation. Is my honor to introduce two speakers who have devoted themselves to peace and justice in israel palestine. Speaking out on this issue has never been easy and more often than not a thankless task that requires courage, fearlessness, willingness to make enemies and to in door all manner of insults including the cheapest and most obvious, the charge of antisemitism which amounts to effort was communication. Norman finkelstein, the son of parents to survive the warsaw ghetto is a political scientist and author of numerous books including image and reality of israel palestine conflict and his recently published knowing too much which has provided us the topic of todays discussion and came to prominence in the 1980s with his critique of joan peterss widely praised from time immemorial, highly selective use of ottoman demographic records, claimed palestines arab majority is not indigenous that had been attracted to palestine by opportunities created by jewish settlers. Thanks to the forensic critique that book is understood to be work has credible as holocaust revision. Led a time when descend on israel was rare and harshly punished norman was willing to stay with the others and a heavy price for continuing to speak his mind and made it easier for others to do so. And deal with matters of tone rather than substance that deep respect for his work on palestine and want to pay tribute to his courage and commitment and the ethical vision that underlies his work. [applause] our other distinguished guest is the National Organizer with the u. S. Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation and cofounder of the st. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee in st. Louis jewish boys for peace, the granddaughter of holocaust survivors, came to an awareness of palestinian question on a backpacking trip to the middle east in 2003 when she met Palestinian Refugees from the 1948 war. Justice in palestine is now lifes cause. She is the author of witnessing palestine, a Jewish American woman in the occupied territories and made Numerous Television Appearances including a lecture and im sure many of you saw on the daily show and in 2009 she received the arabamerican antidiscrimination committees peace and justice award and certificates of commendation from the governor of wisconsin for her commitment to justice in palestine. She has given 500 lectures at churches, mosques, synagogues and universities. Please join me in welcoming our two speakers. [applause] thank you for coming out. Does this sound ok . Can you hear me . Thank you for coming out this afternoon. I would like to thank adam for those very generous words. My publisher pretty much dropped up this idea. Colleagues, as it is called, not sure if courtney is here, loan spirit, i want to thank her. And most of all i want to thank anna for whom i have the highest regard. I do a lot of public speaking around the country and i always ask the question who has been here before me or who is coming after me and literally every single place i go the answer is regrettably there are very few other names. And of course disappointed as everybody in the room, probably more so that professor chomsky didnt make it. And initially i was pretty deflated at the thought of having to fill his shoes. It is luxurious trying to fill Whitney Houstons shoes. Fern was rather shocked that i knew who she reese was. I try to impress the younger generation. After a the moments of deflationary, ego and deflationary is more specific, i had to keep reminding myself that what i am doing and what i have done is not about ego gratification. Theres an israel lobby on the one hand, and theres a jewish ethnic bloc on the other. The two entities, they often overlapped, and the clout, obviously, grows out of the Jewish Communitys support for israel. But they are not the same. And conflating the two creates a lot of confusion. So if a jewish professor at Columbia Law School writes a journal article defending the legality of israeli settlements, its almost certainly not because the lobby orders or even prodded the professor. But because of the professors personal identification with the jewish state. Its not a conspiracy, its just ethic chauvinism. However, whereas its almost guaranteed that the israel lobby will back the Israeli Governments current policies, whatever they happen to be and however indefensible they might be, thats, after all, what lobbies for foreign governments do. Still, theres no guarantee that the Jewish Community will reflectsively reflectsively support these policies. The backing of American Jews for israel has historically been conditional, and its been circumstantial. Its been shaped by three factors; ethnicity, citizenship and ideology. Plainly, American Jews support israel in much higher percentages and with much greater fervor than most americans because israel calls itself a or this jewish state, and jews consequently fe a sense of kinship with it. The problem is that most analyses of the American Jewish relationship with israel begin and end there. If youre jewish, its assumed that you more or less uncritically support israel because of the blood bond. But in reality that hasnt been the case. From israels founding in 1948 until the june 1967 war, American Jews displayed very little interest in israel. After world war ii, unprecedented opportunities opened up for American Jews. The barriers to jewish ambition fell away. As irving chris call put it crystal put it, suddenly things seemed possible that hitherto had seemed utterly impossible. Jews set their sights on making it, as was crudely boasted, in america. While that political and cultural [inaudible] called israel left most jews cold. Whats more, because israel asserted itself to be the state of the jews, its rev represent to revive the bogey of dual loyalty that has historically haunted jews. The last thing jews wanted as they ascended the ladder of success realizing the american dream, the very last thing they wanted was for their loyalty to america to be called into question. It was all the more reason to keep israel at ars length. So ifyou do as i d one year and you thumb through the pages of mmentary magazine, the hipflags publition of the American Jewish establishment during the years pceding the june 1967 war, youll discover in the pages of commentary theres barely a mention of israel. In fact, in those days bfore june 196 one would each come aoss esarticl by lucy due bid witch who later became a staunch apologist for israel, articles in which she denounces, and now im quoting her the massacres of arabs resulting from israeli state policy. Juerything changed after the 1967 war when israel bec the new religion of American Jews. After its lightning ctory, washington upgraded israels status to a strategic american asset. Jewish support for israel no ngerthreatened to [inaudible] dual loyalty. On the contrary, it now connoted super loyalty as American Jews defended on the front lines american interests against the communist third world arab hordes. The jewish states martial prowess became a source of pride for jews for whom at that time the primary associatn of the nazi holocaust to the extent that it trillionerred any association triggered any association, was of j well,ews g like sheep to slaughter. The imageisra projected of itself alsoesonated with the st liberalism of american [inaudible] like the pioneers conquering the american wilderness, israel had made the desert bloom, was the only democracy in the middle east. It was t light unto the nations. It was home to the microutopia of the [inaudible] in the past three years excuse me, in the past three decades, however, the uplifting image of israel has withered and so has American Jewish support for israel. It is not so much that israel has changed, although it has changed mostly if not entirely for the worse, rather its that American Jews who are terate know much more. Indeed, at this point they know too much. American jews can noonger reconc theirlil beliefs with, t borrow a phrase from the soviet era, rarely existing zionism. It can be said until quite recently most scholarship on israel read like exodus with footnotes. To take one example, it was a truism that all the wars israel fought were in selfdefense. But current scholarship reveals a very different picture. In his monumental study, defending the holyland, the author who was formerly the head of strategic studies at tel aviv university, its a very large volume, and the essence of e volume ere s some original work, but the essence of the volume is he surveys the whole gamut of mainstream scholarship on all the wars israel has fought. Its a very impressive, i think, scholarly achievement. But for our purposes whats more interesting is what ccludes. So let me quote him. Israels war experience is a story of folly, recklessness and selfmade traps. None of t wars, with the possible exception of the 1948 war o independence, none of the wars israel foughtwere what raelis refer tos a war of necessity. The were all wars of choice or folly. Thats the current scholarly consensus. Israels fabled purity of arms and liberal occupatio have not faredmuch better after coming nder the statute think of historians under thescriny of historians and human rights organizations. Amnesty International Reported at israel systematically toure palestinian detainees while Human Rights Watch reported that israel tortured thousands, if not tens of thousands of palestinian detainees. The us Israeli Human Rights Organization thats seldom obsered and now im quoti it israel is the only country in the world where torture was lega sationed. This policy of routine torture was only modified by isras high court in 1999 after a worldwide ou