Finkelstein's most recent book, "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History," is largely an attack on Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel." In it, Finkelstein argues that Israel uses the outcry over perceived anti-Semitism as a weapon to stifle criticism. Dershowitz, who threatened to sue the book's publisher for libel, urged DePaul officials to reject Finkelstein's tenure bid.
"This should not have been a close case," he said in an e-mail yesterday. "Finkelstein's only academic output is ad hominem attacks on ideological enemies. . . . The only reason this appeared close was because outsiders from the hard left mounted a political campaign on his behalf."
The debate over his tenure raised the ire of many in academic and religious circles, and blogs and petitions that both support and deride him have appeared on the Internet.
"In the opinion of those opposing tenure, your unprofessional personal attacks divert the conversation away from consideration of ideas, and polarize and simplify conversations that deserve layered and subtle consideration," school president Dennis Holtschneider wrote in a letter dated June 8.
The son of Holocaust survivors, Finkelstein earned his doctorate at Princeton . He published five books and taught political theory at DePaul since 2001, school officials said.
