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Author of the Month

Book of the month:
Jerusalem : One City, Three Faiths
By Karen Armestrong
Paperback - Ballantine Books, 1997

British religious scholar Armstrong (A History of God) has written a provocative, splendid historical portrait of Jerusalem that will reward those seeking to fathom a strife-torn city. Her overarching theme, that Jerusalem has been central to the experience and "sacred geography" of Jews, Muslims and Christians and thus has led to deadly struggles for dominance, is a familiar one, yet she brings to her sweeping, profusely illustrated narrative a grasp of sociopolitical conditions seldom found in other books. Armstrong spares none of the three monotheisms in her critique of intolerant policies as she ponders the supreme irony that the Holy City, revered by the faithful as symbol and site of harmony and integration, has been a contentious place where the faiths have fought constantly, not only with one another but within themselves, in bitter factions. Her condemnation of Israel's 1967 annexation of the Old City and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War ("It was impossible for Israelis to see the matter objectively, since at the [Western Wall] they had encountered the Jewish soul"), however, pushes too far her theme of sacred geography as the physical embodiment of motivating myths and legends.-- they had encountered the Jewish soul"), however, pushes too far her theme of sacred geography as the physical embodiment of motivating myths and legends.

 

Norman G. Finkelstein

Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics, Princeton University, for a thesis on the theory of Zionism. He currently teaches political theory at DePaul University in Chicago.

Finkelstein is the author of five books:

Beyond Chutzpah: On the misuse of anti-Semitism and the abuse of history (University of California Press: forthcoming June 2005)

The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the exploitation of Jewish suffering (Verso: 1995; expanded second edition, 2003); an international bestseller, it has been translated into eighteen foreign languages

Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Verso: 1995; expanded second edition, 2003); translated into five foreign languages

A Nation on Trial: The Goldhagen thesis and historical truth (with Ruth Bettina Birn) (Henry Holt: 1998); named a "notable book of 1998" by the New York Times Sunday Book Review, it has been translated into three foreign languages

The Rise and Fall of Palestine: A personal account of the intifada years (University of Minnesota: 1996); translated into two foreign languages

In April 2005, Finkelstein was the presenter for an hour-long documentary ("The Final Insult") based on The Holocaust Industry, to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. He is also the subject of several independent film documentaries currently in production. In 2003 he was the keynote speaker on the main panel at the Rome Historical Book Fair and was a guest on Europe's main television news hour, the Sabine Christiansen show. In 2002 he delivered the annual memorial lecture in history at Alfred University.

Finkelstein was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1953.

Official Site: www.NormanFinkelstein.com

Noam Chomsky: "I'm delighted to hear that I'll be followed shortly by Norman Finkelstein and would very strongly advise you to come listen to him. Not only [is he] an old personal friend but a person who can speak with more authority and insight on these topics than anyone I can think of. So that should be a memorable occasion and I urge that you not miss the opportunity."

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