Norman Finkelstein (kindly) sent me yesterday his new book, WHAT GANDHI SAYS: About Nonviolence, Resistance and Courage". I am almost done with the book: a very interesting read but the book failed to sway me in favor of Gandhi. On the contrary, I find him politically unappealing. Finkelstein read more than half of the collected works of Gandhi and the literature about him. Gandhi even spoke about the "psychological" barrier and fear between Indians and the British: which only reminded me of the ill-cited unrepentant Nazi anti-Semite, Anwar Sadat (the favorite son of Zionism--fitting of course). Finkelstein is impressed that Gandhi values courage more than nonviolence, but I don't see a political significance to that especially given his actual record. I argue that if Gandhi was not born, Western colonialism would have been compelled to create him. Anyway, here is a segment of the book that you would find of interest:
"Gandhi and Palestine
Gandhi rejected the ideological tenets underpinning the Zionist colonization of Palestine. He did not
accept that Jews had a biblical title to Palestine, and instead counseled them to seek their rights in the
countries where they resided. If Jews did decide to go to Palestine, it had to be with the consent of the
indigenous population. Otherwise, “they are cosharers with the British in despoiling a people who
have done no wrong to them.”30 Late in life Gandhi was seemingly less critical of the Jews’ aspiration
to sett le in Palestine, but he still deplored that they were “seeking to impose themselves on Palestine
with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism.”31 A cott age industry has sprung up trying to prove that what Gandhi repeatedly said on Palestine and Zionism he did not really mean.32 The scholarly output is long on speculation and rich in digression, but precious short on substantiating evidence."
"Gandhi and Palestine
Gandhi rejected the ideological tenets underpinning the Zionist colonization of Palestine. He did not
accept that Jews had a biblical title to Palestine, and instead counseled them to seek their rights in the
countries where they resided. If Jews did decide to go to Palestine, it had to be with the consent of the
indigenous population. Otherwise, “they are cosharers with the British in despoiling a people who
have done no wrong to them.”30 Late in life Gandhi was seemingly less critical of the Jews’ aspiration
to sett le in Palestine, but he still deplored that they were “seeking to impose themselves on Palestine
with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism.”31 A cott age industry has sprung up trying to prove that what Gandhi repeatedly said on Palestine and Zionism he did not really mean.32 The scholarly output is long on speculation and rich in digression, but precious short on substantiating evidence."
