June 27, 2005

Beyond Chutzpah pulled by University of California Press

Bad news from the Norman Finkelstein website. In bold letters it says - Dershowitz wins: University of California Press will not publish BEYOND CHUTZPAH. I haven't been able to get any further info on this yet but check this. In his various threats over the book the Dershowitz said that it published falsehoods about him. Eventually it was found that there was one allegation that Finkelstein couldn't substantiate and the publishers agreed to remove it from the book. The allegation was that Dershowitz hadn't written the book, published in his name, The Case for Israel. Finkelstein's original charge, which he certainly proves on the balance of probabilities, is that Dershowitz plagiarised much of the book from the exposed fraudster Joan Peters's book From Time Immemorial. In various interviews, including the now famous Democracy Now debate, it appeared that Dershowitz may not have even read, let alone written, the book. But anyway, the offending piece was removed and
"I want to see his book published now," Dershowitz said of Beyond Chutzpah, which he said was in some ways "a sequel" to the notorious anti-Semitic tract Protocols of the Elders of Zion. "I want to see it demolished in the marketplace of ideas."
So what's happened here? If Dershowitz wanted the book published, why has UCP pulled it? They have been supportive of Finkelstein until now. Check this
But Lynne Withey, director of the University of California Press, said in an interview Friday that Dershowitz had tried to stop publication of the book. "He doesn’t want the book published," Withey said, adding that it was "outrageous" for Dershowitz to charge the book with being anti-Semitic. "To say that the book is anti-Semitic is to say that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic," she said.
If you are as dismayed as I am by this latest setback for the book, eagerly anticipated since the beginning of the year, then please write to the Director, Lynne Withey to seek a reversal or, at least, an explanation. Thanks.

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