“The Unwritten Law”: Norman Finkelstein and the Price of Criticizing Israel in American Universities
In the landscape of American higher education, there exists a principle that is never codified in any manual, yet every professor and administrator understands its coercive power: “Academic freedom and the right to critique apply to the policies of every government on earth, with one sacred exception: Israel.” The revelatory report by David Klein, a professor of mathematics at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), regarding the failed efforts to hire Professor Norman Finkelstein, pulls back the curtain on a mechanism where administrative bureaucracy is weaponized for censorship and character assassination.
8/4/20264 min read
“The Unwritten Law”: Norman Finkelstein and the Price of Criticizing Israel in American Universities
An Analysis of David Klein’s Report on Systematic Boycotts and the Erosion of Academic Freedom
In the landscape of American higher education, there exists a principle that is never codified in any manual, yet every professor and administrator understands its coercive power: “Academic freedom and the right to critique apply to the policies of every government on earth, with one sacred exception: Israel.” The revelatory report by David Klein, a professor of mathematics at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), regarding the failed efforts to hire Professor Norman Finkelstein, pulls back the curtain on a mechanism where administrative bureaucracy is weaponized for censorship and character assassination.
1. The DePaul Case: When Politics Trumps Scholarship
Finkelstein’s story entered a critical phase in June 2007, when DePaul University denied him tenure despite his staggering scholarly credentials. Finkelstein was a researcher who earned his PhD from Princeton, authored five seminal books (translated into 46 languages), and was the most popular instructor in his department. While the Political Science Department and faculty committees voted overwhelmingly in favor of his promotion, massive outside pressure—led by Harvard’s Alan Dershowitz—forced the administration to reverse course.
Raul Hilberg, the founder of Holocaust studies, defended Finkelstein, stating: “His acuity of vision and analytical power are assured.” Nevertheless, under pressure from the Israel lobby, DePaul fired him. Klein emphasizes that had Finkelstein not been Jewish, the label of “anti-Semite” would have sufficed to destroy him; however, because he is the son of two Holocaust survivors whose entire family perished in Nazi camps, his detractors were forced to resort to even more grotesque labels, such as “Holocaust denier.”
2. The Campaign of Intimidation at Northridge (CSUN)
In 2008, David Klein attempted to bring Finkelstein to CSUN as a visiting scholar. As soon as the proposal became public, a flood of threats and protest letters from groups such as the JDL (Jewish Defense League), StandWithUs, and Hillel inundated the administration. Klein’s report notes that even death threats were sent to the Provost, Harry Hellenbrand.
During Finkelstein’s visit, JDL members sat in the front rows of his lectures, aiming cameras at the audience to intimidate them. they attempted to disrupt the sessions with shouts of “Nazi,” “sick puppy,” and “Holocaust denier.” However, Finkelstein’s composure, scientific style, and meticulous reliance on historical facts surprised many faculty members and students who had been influenced by the prior propaganda.
3. Testimony of the Elite: A Global Coalition in Support of Finkelstein
Klein’s report includes letters from some of the world’s most prominent intellectuals written to the CSUN administration in support of Finkelstein:
* Noam Chomsky (MIT): Described Finkelstein’s work as a model of “scrupulous documentation, careful research, and unusual integrity.”
* Khaled Abou El Fadl (UCLA Law): Called Finkelstein a “towering intellectual figure” and described his exclusion as a “national embarrassment” for American educational ideals.
* Sara Roy (Harvard): As a child of Holocaust survivors herself, she emphasized that Finkelstein’s work is informed by a profound concern for “human dignity” and the danger of “dehumanization.”
* Avi Shlaim (Oxford): Recommended him as one of the most able and critical scholars of Middle Eastern history in the world.
4. The Bureaucratic Veto: End of the Game in the President's Office
The most bitter part of Klein’s report is how the CSUN presidency handled the request. Despite support from dozens of faculty members in departments ranging from Physics and Chemistry to Journalism and Women’s Studies—and even a $30,000 donation offer from a retired professor to fund the position—the university president, Jolene Koester, chose a different path.
When all scholarly and ethical arguments favored Finkelstein, the administration resorted to a “sudden change in bureaucratic rules.” The President issued a policy decision stating that the university would no longer hire any visiting professors, even if a request originated from a specific department (such as Journalism). This decision, which Klein labels a “Presidential Veto,” was the final blow to academic freedom, delivered to appease the pressure of the lobby.
5. A Systematic Pattern of Censorship: From Desmond Tutu to Sami Al-Arian
In his final analysis, Klein views Finkelstein’s case as merely a representative example of a broader trend. He points to similar cases that demonstrate the reign of the “Unwritten Law”:
The disinvitation of Nobel Laureate *Desmond Tutu** at the University of St. Thomas due to his critique of Israel.
The firing and prosecution of *Sami Al-Arian** at the University of South Florida.
The campaign to deny tenure to *Nadia Abu El-Haj** at Barnard College because of her research on Israeli archaeology.
Klein argues that American universities are suffering from a form of “political Lysenkoism,” where science and truth are sacrificed at the altar of ideology and the financial interests of lobbying groups.
Conclusion
“The Unwritten Law” tells us that in the supposed cradle of free speech, criticizing Israel carries a heavy price: loss of employment, character assassination, and eternal blacklisting. David Klein’s report shows how university administrators—who praise Galileo in their speeches for standing against the Church—act as the “Inquisition” when faced with modern lobbying pressures.
The firing and boycotting of Norman Finkelstein is more than an attack on one individual; it is a strike against the integrity and independence of American academia. Klein warns that when universities become “dark theaters” where only voices favored by power are heard, the entire society pays the price for this self-imposed ignorance. Finkelstein remains the symbol of a professor who refused to trade truth for job security, and for that “crime,” he was exiled from the academic world.