Dov Hikind (D, Brooklyn) was enraged to learn that the Brooklyn Public Library is hosting a lecture series by Norman Finkelstein, an anti-Semitic self-promoter who makes his living as a propagandist. Finkelstein’s “No Free Speech for Fascists” series at the library uses tax-supported resources to allow the radical publicist an opportunity to peddle hateful, harmful ideas, explains Assemblyman Hikind.

“It’s no secret that Norman Finkelstein is a despicable, self-hating Jew who has made sickening, dangerous statements like ‘We are all Hezbollah,’” said Hikind. “The question is why would the Brooklyn Public Library allow this vile propagandist to use their facilities to spread his hate to the public? Is the Library also using New Yorker’s tax dollars to pay this individual? Are they allowing children to attend this hateful lecture series? Will they allow the heads of the KKK and Neo-Nazi party to lecture at the library next?

“Hardly a day goes by without a bomb threat to a Jewish center filled with preschoolers and the elderly,” Hikind continued. “Every week, there’s a swastika painted, or a cemetery attacked in the middle of the night. That’s the current reality. And what is the Brooklyn Public Library’s response? To host a modern-day Goebbels who makes excuses for terrorism and denies the extent of the Holocaust. That’s shameful!”

Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul University and placed on academic leave for a year because of the vile things he advocates. Hikind also pointed out that in 2008, Israel denied Finkelstein entry to their country due to security concerns.

“DePaul University and Israeli authorities understood that espousing hatred leads to violence,” said Hikind. “The last thing we need in Brooklyn right now is someone who expresses solidarity with Hamas and Hezbollah under the guise of ‘academia’ stirring the pot of racial hatred.”

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