Would an intervention by Pope Francis help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? | Finkelstein

This is an excerpt from Norman Finkelstein’s address to the UCD Philosophy Society, University College Dublin, on the current state of the occupied territories. In his address, Dr Finklestein discusses the recent conflicts in the occupied territories which followed the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli youths and a Palestinian teen; Israel's anti-missile defence system, the Iron Dome; Isreal’s Operation Protective Edge; and possible ways to resolve the conflict. Finkelstein, a political scientist, has written extensively on the political, social and historical state of Israel and the occupied territories. He famously and successfully dismantled and deconstructed 'From Time Immemorial' by Joan Peters which, at the time, was considered a foundational and invaluable text on the Palestine - Israel Conflict. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. He currently teaches at Sakarya University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkey. He is the author of ten books that have been translated into 50 foreign editions. The title of his latest book is Method and Madness: The hidden story of Israel’s assaults on Gaza. “Mr Finkelstein's research is certainly thorough. His characterisations, too, can be brilliant, and he spares nobody...” The Economist (2012).