Israel critic denied post at university

By Leonard Doyle in Washington

A top American university has denied tenure to a prominent academic amid allegations of anti-Semitism and his defence of the Palestinian cause.

Norman Finkelstein, a frequent critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, said he had been "blacklisted" by the university and would now have to leave teaching. He had been offered lifelong tenure by the political science department of the Catholic DePaul University in Chicago, but faced with a bitter campaign against him, the university denied him the post.

Mr Finkelstein, whose family survived the Holocaust, has been public enemy number one of the Israel lobby in the US for a number of years. He has frequently accused American Jews of exploiting the Holocaust for financial gain and is a regular critic of Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. He described DePaul's move as an "egregious violation" of academic freedom.

One of his main critics, Alan Dershowitz, an attorney and Harvard law professor, said: "It was plainly the right decision."

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