My first video on him in this thread is much better in that he's focusing on the international law aspect of it, thus much less biased. IN this video, he's expressing much of his own opinion on the matter, and I wholeheartedly disagree with him on a number of fronts.
Here's an excerpt from the video:
Interviewer: "Is there no other way than military resistance?"
Finkelstein: "I don’t believe there is another way."
And a little later...
Finkelstein: "Do you know what the Jewish attitude is? Never to forgive. Never to forget. And I agree with that... I respect the Jews a thousand times more. Never to forgive, never to forget."
As for his comment "never to forgive.Never to forget.", it can easily be proven not entirely true(
Bold mine):
50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, 50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph,
Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
(King James Bible, Genesis)
14:17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy,
forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
(King James Bible, Numbers)
30:5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD shall
forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
(King James Bible, Numbers)
30:8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall
forgive her.
(King James Bible, Numbers)
30:12 But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the LORD shall
forgive her.
(King James Bible, Numbers)
25:18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and
forgive all my sins.
(King James Bible, Psalms)
86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
(King James Bible, Psalms)
103:3 Who
forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
(King James Bible, Psalms)
I won't question Finkelstein's faith, but will say that as a self-professed Jew, he ought to be promoting the spirit of his Faith, which clearly includes forgiveness.
I can agree with Finkelstein on the legalistic front, that Israel ought to withdraw from foreign-occupied territory. But seeing that Israel has now withdrawn from Lebanon already, then I think the Lebanese government would be on the right track to forgive. Besides, Islam teaches the same thing (
bold mine):
O ye who believe! devour not usury, doubling it again and again! But
fear God, that ye may prosper.
And fear the fire which is prepared for them that believe not; and obey
God and the apostle, that ye may find mercy:
And vie in haste for pardon from your Lord, and a Paradise, vast as the
Heavens and the Earth, prepared for the God-fearing.
Who give alms, alike in prosperity and in success, and who master their
anger, and
forgive others! God loveth the doers of good.
From Sura 3 of the Qur'an
So is Finkelstein suggesting that the Lebanese people abandon the spirit of his faith and theirs out of anger?
Yes, he is totally right when he says that Israel has violated international laws, and that it needs to withdraw from occupied territories. He is not right though when he suggests that Lebanon or Palestine ought to take the law into their own hands. Two wrongs don't make a right.
While I can certainly understand his anger, I do find him somewhat condescending and insulting in this video towards those Lebanese who desire to forgive Israel. There can be no peace without forgiveness.
Now I'm not suggesting that occupied territories simply roll over and let Israel crush them. What I am saying though is that, just as we expect Israel to abide by international law, we have every right to expect Palestine and Lebanon to abide by international law. Should Lebanon wish to seek compensation, it's certainly free to go to the International Court of Justice to plead its case. And seeing that international law does allow a country to defend its territory, fighting Israeli troops in occupied territories can be legitimate as long as it is done in full accordance with international laws, including the UDHR, the Geneva Convention, etc.
International law does allow war in national self defense, but not in vengeance. While Lebanon was well within its rights to fight Israel during the occupation, that right disappeared the moment Israel withdrew. From that point forward, Lebanon's only recourse would be to go to the International Court of Justice and abide by its decision. What Finkelstein appears to be proposing here is to abandon the spirit of the Jewish and Muslim Faiths as taught in the sacred texts of both religions, and commit a wrong to counter another wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right.
Here is Hezbollah's leader Nasrallah........on Jews.
CAMERA: Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words
Finkelstein is either incredibly stupid, or a Jew-hater......(insane)
I'd say he's neither stupid nor a Jew hater, but on that video irrational and angry, not thinking about what he's saying, and showing some ignorance of the Jewish Faith. Ignorance is not to be confused with stupidity though. But in this video, he's wrong on many fronts.
