The Holocaust Industry - ''Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering,'' *[A5] Paperback - 304 pages, Second Edition,by Norman G. Finkelstein. Description :This iconoclastic study was one of the most widely debated books of 2000. Norman Finkelstein indicts with both vigor and honesty those who exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust for their own personal political and financial gain. The paperback edition includes updated material discussing the book’s initial reception.Finkelstein interrogates the conventional accounts of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in American culture. It was not until the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel’s evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began to acquire the exceptional prominence it enjoys today. Leaders of America's Jewish community were delighted that Israel was now deemed a major strategic asset and, Finkelstein contends, exploited the Holocaust to enhance this new-found status. Their subsequent interpretations of the tragedy are often at variance with actual historical events and are employed to deflect any criticism of Israel and its supporters.Recalling Holocaust fraudsters such as Jerzy Kosinski and Binyamin Wilkomirski, as well as the demagogic constructions of writers like Daniel Goldhagen, Finkelstein contends that the main danger posed to the memory of Nazism’s victims comes not from the rubbish of Holocaust deniers but from prominent, self-proclaimed guardians of Holocaust memory. Scrupulously researched and closely argued, The Holocaust Industry is alI the more disturbing and powerful because the issues it deals with are so rarely discussed.Reviews :“When I read The Holocaust Industry, I was in the middle of my own investigations of these matters, and I came to the conclusion that he was on the right track. I would now say in retrospect that he was actually conservative, moderate, and that his conclusions are trustworthy … a breakthrough.” — Raul Hilberg, the world’s leading authority on the Nazi holocaust. “Breathtaking in [its] angry accuracy and irony.” — The Jewish Quarterly. “[Finkelstein] is scathing in his denunciation of the institutions and individuals who have cropped up around the issue of reparations in the last several years.” — New York Press. “When it comes to analyzing how “The Holocaust” has been employed to advance political interests Finkelstein is at his best.” — The Nation.
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