Renowned Jewish author Norman Finkelstein has long been an outspoken critic of Israel‘s settler-colonial crimes. For this reason, he’s become a prime target for Zionist intimidation. And in a chilling public scene recently, Zionist agitators placed a pager in Finkelstein’s jacket – in a clearly threatening reference to last year’s Israeli terrorist attacks in Lebanon.
In September 2024, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in Lebanon. The terror attack injured around 4,000 civilians. Israel’s prime minister, wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, approved the operation.
Zionist death threats against Norman Finkelstein
Fascists killed countless members of Norman Finkelstein’s family in the Holocaust, and both of his parents were in Nazi concentration camps. And as he once stressed:
it’s precisely and exactly because of the lessons my parents taught me… that I will not be silent when Israel commits its crimes against the Palestinians.
Pro-Israel voices fear and smear Finkelstein because of his clarity and consistency. And ultra-nationalist group Betar targeted Finkelstein in the street precisely because of his principled positions.
Betar is “one of the oldest and most impactful Zionist movements in history”, which expresses its “unwavering commitment to the land of Israel” and seeks to “advocate boldly for Zionism”. As Jewish Voice for Peace explains:
Zionism is a form of Jewish nationalism, and is the primary ideology that drove the establishment of Israel.
It adds that:
While it had many strains historically, the Zionism that took hold and stands today is a settler-colonial movement, establishing an apartheid state where Jews have more rights than others.
In a post online, Betar agitators shared their intimidation of Finkelstein, saying:
This kapo is an enemy of the State of Israel.
As Jewish author and activist Andrew Feinstein has insisted:
Kapo is the worst insult u can use against a Jewish person, especially the descendants of Holocaust survivors. It means Nazi collaborator. For Jews to call other Jews… a kapo is beyond disgusting. It suggests the person using the slur has lost any sense of decency or humanity & is denigrating the Holocaust & those who perished or suffered.
Betar US is actively walking around and putting pagers in American’s pockets. Watch Betar harass & threaten @normfinkelstein curse at him & put a pager in his pocket
Betar is claiming they are working w/ @ICEgov to make death threats
WHY IS @FBI DOING NOTHING? pic.twitter.com/qRLrNpYSak
— GenXGirl (@GenXGirl1994) February 3, 2025
Jewish Currents editor-at-large Peter Beinart, who like Finkelstein has spoken up for Palestinian rights, has also become a target for Betar’s pager-related death threats:
Oppose my ideas all you want. But when you urge people in my neighborhood to give me a pager–in the wake of Israel's pager attack in Lebanon–that sounds like a death threat. https://t.co/C4jE4i156B
— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) February 3, 2025
Another far-right group emboldened by Western support for Israel’s genocide
Betar has been openly harassing anti-genocide protesters in recent months, and has apparently targeted some anti-Zionist websites too. It also expresses anti-immigrant views and claims to be documenting any foreign citizens (particularly students) in the US who have opposed Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
Online, it has retweeted dehumanising comments like this one from a person harassing Peter Beinart:
Self loathing Kapos like you are modern day Nazis…
I would say you’re an animal, but that’s just disrespectful to animals.
They’re clearly fans of Donald Trump’s ethnic cleansing rhetoric regarding Gaza. And unfortunately, they have received the support of high-profile celebrities like musician Matisyahu.
Free speech. Free Palestine.
Norman Finkelstein has previously criticised the “smear campaign” aiming to “blackmail” high-profile left-wingers like Jeremy Corbyn who stand up for Palestine, saying:
it ends up besmirching the victims of the Nazi holocaust, diverting from the real suffering of the Palestinian people, and poisoning relations between the Jewish and Muslim communities
To fight back, he has insisted that the left must “revitalise, resurrect” its “tradition of free speech”. He has also been stressing the importance of uniting the battle for freedom from injustice and the battle to defend freedom of speech, especially as Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. And that makes sense. Because billionaires are generally pro-Israel, the mainstream media and social media giants are largely pro-Israel, and the Western political establishment is overwhelmingly pro-Israel.
People on the left desperately need to unite against this putrid establishment if we want social and economic justice. But it will be even more of an uphill battle if we don’t embrace freedom of speech. As Audrey White from Merseyside Pensioners Association asserted in 2024:
The destruction of Corbyn was essentially a massive exercise in state-driven cancel culture.
That’s why, she said:
Whatever new party or movement we’re building in this country should be the genuine party of free speech in the UK.
Featured image via screengrab
