Finkelstein rejected from US college

Norman Finkelstein, an anti-Zionist author and academic, has had an application for tenure at Chicago's DePaul University rejected, a higher education website reported Sunday.

According to a report by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Finkelstein's application was opposed by the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, "and the University Board on Promotion and Tenure voted against granting tenure."

"The final decision rested with the university's president, the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, who said in the statement that he had found 'no compelling reasons to overturn' the tenure board's recommendation," the Chronicle said.

Finkelstein is author of the notorious book "The Holocaust Industry," in which he alleges that the slaughter of six million Jews by the Nazis has been "exploited" by Jewish leaders to attack critics of Israel.

He has been widely condemned, and described by some US Jews as being supportive of anti-Semitism. He has subsequently authored other books targeting, among others, the pro-Israel civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

The report quoted Finkelstein as attributing "political opposition" to his "speaking out on the Israel-Palestine conflict" for his failed attempt. "This decision is not going to deter me from making statements that, so far as I can tell from the judgment of experts in the field, are sound and factually based," he was quoted as saying.

Dershowitz, who has been attacked by Finkelstein in the past for his defense of Israel, welcomed the news, saying: "It was the right decision, proving that DePaul University is indeed a first-rate university, not as Finkelstein characterized it, 'a third-rate university.' Based on objective standards of scholarship, this should not have even been a close case."