So now it turns out that the martyr of the academic hard left, Norman Finkelstein, was denied tenure at DePaul University not so much because of my critique of his non-scholarship, but in large part because of his overt sexism.
According to a news story in today’s Chicago Sun-Times, a report filed against his tenure by three members of the Political Science faculty “claims that Finkelstein allegedly called a female staff member a ‘bitch.’” The report also claimed that Finkelstein “shunned” colleagues who disagreed with him and that his boorish conduct extended to “dramatically closing his office door when his colleague arrives.” In addition to describing his abusive sexist behavior toward a subordinate, the report characterized Finkelstein as “mean spirit” and as “unprofessional.”
This negative report was suppressed by Finkelstein supporters who leaked other, more favorable assessments.
Finkelstein refused to comment on the newly disclosed report, just as he refused to confirm or deny that he had arranged for a neo-Nazi cartoonist to draw a picture of me masturbating in ecstatic joy at dead Lebanese civilians. He did apparently demand that the authors of the negative report provide “proof” of his use of the b-word against a subordinate, but that is his usual way of issuing a non-denial denial.
So in addition to being a Jewish anti-Semite, Finkelstein now emerges as a left wing sexist bigot who is willing to use abusive words to a subordinate. Will he still remain the darling of the hard Left now that this darker sexist side has emerged?