Norman Finkelstein is a political scientist, activist, professor, and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Nazi holocaust.
A couple of decades ago he wrote a book called The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, in which he exposes the wide array of organisations and individuals who claim to be defenders of Jews and Nazi holocaust victims while, in reality, serving their own interests.
Beyond reproach
He goes on to say that the Nazi holocaust has been elevated to an event in history so unique that, to even suggest that the suffering of any other group of people might possibly be just as tragic (or worse) constitutes “Holocaust denial”.
In other words, questioning what happened in Rwanda and Cambodia is not denial, but questioning what happened in Germany is denial (and punishable in many countries, as David Cole found out).
Furthermore, the industry has created, for Israel, total immunity from criticism, justified or not; if you criticise Israel, then you’re antisemitic. Norman’s mother, for example, who survived both the Warsaw Ghetto and the Majdanek concentration camp, was given an embarrassing $3000.
Where did all the billions of dollars go? In fact, where are all the billions of dollars still going?
The Holocaust has proven to be an indispensable ideological weapon. Through its deployment, one of the world’s most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, has cast itself as a “victim” state, and the most successful ethnic group in the United States has likewise acquired victim status.
The current campaign of the Holocaust industry to extort money from Europe in the name of “needy Holocaust victims” has shrunk the moral stature of their martyrdom to that of a Monte Carlo casino.
Our conversation
He joined me for a fascinating conversation about the Holocaust Industry™.
