Battleangel

US political author Norman Finkelstein apparently has been denied entry into Israel, detained, slapped with a 10 year ban, and is now awaiting deportation. Democracy in the middle east? Not so much it turns out.

Finkelstein landed at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv in the early morning and was told by a representative of the ministry of interior that he would not be allowed into the country on ’security’ grounds, attorney Michael Sfard told dpa.

‘This usually means a 10-year ban on entry,’ Sfard added.

Finkelstein, who is Jewish and the son of Holocaust survivors, has written critical books on Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories and on what he called ‘exploitation’ of the Jewish tragedy during World War II.

Finkelstein has received with the fierce disapproval of some authors and academics, while others have praised his controversial works.

Good publicity nevertheless. Had these Israeli fascists had any brains, they would have let him pass unnoticed. Now it is a big deal and all over the news. Plus they had to make up a ridiculous excuse to cover their dislike of the man and his inconvenient truth-telling, which only makes them seem smaller and pettier.

Further news coverage, syndicated on Finkelstein’s official site …

Jerusalem Post: Officials said that the decision to deport Finkelstein was connected to his anti-Zionist opinions and fierce public criticism of Israel around the world.

Ynet: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) denounced Finkelstein’s deportation [...] The decision to prevent someone from voicing their opinions by arresting and deporting them is typical of a totalitarian regime. A democratic state, where freedom of expression is the highest principle, does not shut out criticism or ideas just because they are uncomfortable for its authorities to hear, it confronts those ideas in public debate [...]