Norman Finkelstein: the Holocaust Industry - Term Paper Example

Despite Finkelstein's fervent revulsion for an industry he equates to a Monte Carlo casino, it is vital to remain clearly conscious of the fact that Finkelstein puts argumentation not about whether the holocaust occurred or its authenticity, but rather that it has glided away from its fundamental meaning whereby commemoration has been exploited by the Jewish faction in favor of fortune. Finkelstein's publications are not about denial of its occurrence nor its motives. Rather it questions the scale of genocidal activity and the motives of today's generation in their supposed quest for global recognition of their cause and the cause of the state of Israel.

In its place, Finkelstein focuses on spotlighting the recollection of the cruelty and how recollecting that appalling episode has become commercialised, negatively benefited and utilized in the form of exploitation by America's ruling leaders. Norman Finkelstein's Jewish heritage and the brutal experiences of his parents have provided him with an opportunity to express his views on a subject so very sensitive. In fact, he has nevertheless, still been tagged anti-Semitic and he informs being labeled a "garbage man," an "anti-Zionist," and a "notorious ideological opponent of the State of Israel" (pp. 65-66) in spite of the truth that he is Jewish himself, the latter remark does flash attention as Finkelstein does, on a number of junctures in The Holocaust Industry take plea that the Jewish religion has been altered into one that is based fundamentally upon The Holocaust and that Israel's foreign policies are made legitimate by an industry he considers is deficient in morality.

Perhaps, the most elemental reinforcement of Finkelstein's work is his thesis that the Holocaust is an ideological depiction. "The Holocaust is an ideological representation of the Nazi holocaust. Like most ideologies, it bears a connection, if tenuous, with reality" (Finkelstein, p3). Finkelstein then carries forward this view further, arguing that "the Holocaust is not an arbitrary, but rather an internally coherent construct. Its central dogmas sustain significant political and class interests.

Indeed, the Holocaust has proven to be an indispensable ideological weapon". (Finkelstein, p3) Finkelstein puts this philosophy within the background of Israel and inquires about to argue that ideological representation has, "through its deployment, [allowed] one of the world's most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, [to] cast itself as a 'victim' state, and the most successful ethnic group in the United States has likewise acquired victim status". (Finkelstein, p3) Finkelstein's perception of the Holocaust is based on this impression of ideological demonstration as he tries to divide 'The Holocaust' from the genocide that occurred under Adolf Hitler's dictatorship in Nazi Germany.

Finkelstein argues that considerable benefits accrue to this "specious victimhood" -especially, exemption to disapproval, however defensible - a position that he deems to be repulsive. (Finkelstein, pp3) Finkelstein's message is contentious but obvious - that although the Holocaust has been utilized to provide justification the state of Israel, this has been disregarded, appreciated, fixed and admitted by the American-Jewish privileged class whom Finkelstein records a deep hatred - to assist them furthering their own monetary interests in this exclusive industry. Peter