No. 49 in America · Week of November 9, 2026
Political scientist and author
Norman Finkelstein is a political scientist whose work focuses on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust.
Photo: Zuhairali, CC BY-SA 3.0
Score breakdown
Nine parts, measured fresh each week. This is where Norman Finkelstein's points came from, and the evidence behind each one.
Debate record
Has debated critics of his work on Israel and Palestine for more than two decades, from Alan Dershowitz in 2003 to Destiny and Benny Morris in 2024.
Finkelstein was born in New York City to parents who survived the Holocaust. He graduated from Binghamton University and earned his Ph.D. in political science at Princeton.
He has taught at Brooklyn College, Rutgers, Hunter College, New York University and DePaul University.
On the record
2024
March 14, 2024
Broadcast debate
Against Destiny and Benny Morris · Lex Fridman Podcast #418
A nearly five-hour debate with analyst Mouin Rabbani on his side, against historian Benny Morris and Destiny. The full transcript is published on Fridman's site.
2003
September 24, 2003
Broadcast debate
Against Alan Dershowitz · Democracy Now!
Finkelstein charged that Dershowitz's book was riddled with factual errors; Dershowitz denied it. The exchange began a dispute that ran for years.
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