Michael Neumann
Encyclopedia
Michael Neumann is a professor of philosophy
at Trent University
in Ontario
, Canada
. He is the author of What's Left? Radical Politics and the Radical Psyche (1988), The Rule of Law: Politicizing Ethics (2002) and The Case Against Israel (2005), and has published papers on utilitarianism
and rationality
.
, Franz Leopold Neumann
. He has written that "Like my parents, I have always been an atheist." He is a US citizen and resident of Canada
. Neumann graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English and History from Columbia University
in 1968, and in 1975 was awarded his Ph.D. in philosophy by the University of Toronto
.
Neumann has taught at Trent University
since 1975, becoming a full Professor in 2003. His current interests at Trent University include ethics
, political philosophy
, formal logic
, philosophy of logic
, and metaphysics
. He has also published papers on utilitarianism
and rationality
. He is a faculty member of the university's Centre for the Study of Global Power and Politics.
Neumann is the author of What's Left? Radical Politics and the Radical Psyche (1988) and The Rule of Law: Politicizing Ethics (2002). He is a frequent contributor to the CounterPunch
newsletter edited by Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
, and contributed to their 2003 edited collection The Politics of Anti-Semitism
. In 2005 he published The Case Against Israel, a response to Alan Dershowitz
's The Case for Israel
.
website/newsletter.
Neumann warns against the dangers of abusing the charge of antisemitism to deflect any criticism of Israeli government policies. Strategies that attempt to conflate a political and humanistic critique of Israel
's policies towards the Palestinian people
with the vice of antisemitic prejudice devalue a potent term that should be reserved for those who show real animosity against Jews
, as a group and as individuals, wherever they live:-
In the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Neumann holds that it is dangerous to label as anti-Semitic the conclusion that "Jews, generally, had some responsibility for war crimes and human rights violations." He writes:-
In his essay 'What is antisemitism?' he argues that, given the earlier distinction he made, one should treat lightly accusations of antisemitism in the specific context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:-
He then states that Israel's goal is the extinction of the Palestinian people, adding:-
Thus Neumann discounts Arab
antisemitism as a significant issue in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict:
He concludes:
Neumann takes the position, not substantially different from that of John Mearsheimer
and Stephen Walt
, that support of Israel in the Israel-Palestinian conflict is against US interests. He also considers it a primary cause of violence against the US:
And again:-
Neumann favors an eventual one-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, preceded for practical reasons by a two-state solution.
Neumann's position has been attacked both by spokesmen for Jewish communities and by antisemites, from diametrically opposed positions.
Responding in part to some of these essays, the Canadian Jewish Congress
(CJC) wrote a letter of complaint to the president of Trent University
.
Equally, antisemites have also attacked Neumann's classical and nuanced stance precisely because of the distinction he has made between a political critique of Israel and hostility to Jews per se on racist grounds. According to this extremist view, there is no such distinction to be made:-
Subsequently JTR created a page publishing their alleged email exchange http://jewishtribalreview.org/neumann2.htm without Neumann's permission. This email got widespread attention in August 2003 when the National Post
published one of Neumann's most passionate passages about Jews and Israel. In particular, Neumann was quoted as writing:
In the ensuing controversy, Neumann clarified exactly what he intended by this statement:-
Nonetheless, the publication prompted complaints from the Canadian Jewish Congress
. In September, 2003, Neumann sent a letter of regret to the CJC. According to the Peterborough Examiner
, "Congress chairman Ed Morgan, who accepted the letter of regret from Neumann, told The Examiner he wants the letter to close the matter." On his Israel-Palestine page http://members.tripod.com/~mneumann/mnisrael.htm, Neumann includes a detailed "reply to the Canadian Jewish Congress concerning objections to material which appeared on the Jewish Tribal Review web site".
(CUPE) to ban Israeli professors from working in Ontario Universities. Neumann stated that "If people believe these are extreme circumstances and it will do some good, then I think it's reasonable and perhaps justified." He argued that a boycott is not anti-semitic, stating that "It targets Israeli, not Jewish, professors." He further stated that "People may always have bad motives underlying good motives. And it's not absolutely impossible that some of these people have anti-Semitic feelings deep down, but do I think that plays a large part? No, I certainly do not."
because of the 2008-2009 Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Neumann wrote that
The Israeli government has taken no action in relation to the request.
, although it declined to comment as to why he was invited. The invitation immediately became a controversy. The Conservative Party announced that none of their Members of Parliament will attend the speech. A spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Minister
, Jason Kenney
, stated that "Mr. Neumann has the right to air his noxious views. The corollary, of course, is that we can and must criticize them. Neumann’s farrago of cant, conspiracy theory and hate are completely repugnant to our government." Bob Rae
, the Liberal Party's foreign affairs critic, stated that Neumann was entitled to his opinions but that he was “surprised and disappointed” that the parliamentary group thought Mr. Neumann had something positive to contribute.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He is the author of What's Left? Radical Politics and the Radical Psyche (1988), The Rule of Law: Politicizing Ethics (2002) and The Case Against Israel (2005), and has published papers on utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
and rationality
Rationality
In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action...
.
Background and career
Neumann is "the son of German Jewish refugees", one of them the eminent political sociologist of NazismNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, Franz Leopold Neumann
Franz Leopold Neumann
Franz Leopold Neumann was a German-Jewish left-wing political activist, Marxist theorist and labor lawyer, who became a political scientist in exile and is best known for his theoretical analyses of National Socialism. He studied in Germany and the United Kingdom, and spent the last phase of...
. He has written that "Like my parents, I have always been an atheist." He is a US citizen and resident of Canada
Permanent resident (Canada)
A Permanent Resident in Canada is someone who is not a Canadian citizen but who has been granted permission to live and work in Canada without any time limit on his or her stay...
. Neumann graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English and History from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1968, and in 1975 was awarded his Ph.D. in philosophy by the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
Neumann has taught at Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
since 1975, becoming a full Professor in 2003. His current interests at Trent University include ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, political philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
, formal logic
Formal logic
Classical or traditional system of determining the validity or invalidity of a conclusion deduced from two or more statements...
, philosophy of logic
Philosophy of logic
Following the developments in Formal logic with symbolic logic in the late nineteenth century and mathematical logic in the twentieth, topics traditionally treated by logic not being part of formal logic have tended to be termed either philosophy of logic or philosophical logic if no longer simply...
, and metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
. He has also published papers on utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
and rationality
Rationality
In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action...
. He is a faculty member of the university's Centre for the Study of Global Power and Politics.
Neumann is the author of What's Left? Radical Politics and the Radical Psyche (1988) and The Rule of Law: Politicizing Ethics (2002). He is a frequent contributor to the CounterPunch
Counterpunch
Counterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
newsletter edited by Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Claud Cockburn is an American political journalist. Cockburn was brought up in Ireland but has lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch...
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Jeffrey St. Clair
Jeffrey St. Clair is an investigative journalist, writer and editor. He is the co-editor, with Alexander Cockburn, of the political newsletter CounterPunch, and a contributing editor to the monthly magazine In These Times. He has also written for The Washington Post, San Francisco Examiner, The...
, and contributed to their 2003 edited collection The Politics of Anti-Semitism
The Politics of Anti-Semitism
The Politics of Anti-Semitism is a book edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair and published by AK Press in 2003.Contributors include former U.S...
. In 2005 he published The Case Against Israel, a response to Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
's The Case for Israel
The Case for Israel
The Case for Israel is a New York Times bestseller by Alan Dershowitz, a law professor at Harvard University. The book responds to common criticisms of Israel....
.
Israel-Palestine conflict and antisemitism
Neumann has written on antisemitism and the Israel-Palestine conflict in several essays published by the CounterPunchCounterpunch
Counterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
website/newsletter.
Neumann warns against the dangers of abusing the charge of antisemitism to deflect any criticism of Israeli government policies. Strategies that attempt to conflate a political and humanistic critique of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's policies towards the Palestinian people
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
with the vice of antisemitic prejudice devalue a potent term that should be reserved for those who show real animosity against Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, as a group and as individuals, wherever they live:-
Inflating the meaning of 'antisemitism' to include anything politically damaging to Israel is a double-edged sword. It may be handy for smiting your enemies, but the problem is that definitional inflation, like any inflation, cheapens the currency. The more things get to count as antisemitic, the less awful antisemitism is going to sound. This happens because, while no one can stop you from inflating definitions, you still don't control the facts. In particular, no definition of 'antisemitism' is going to eradicate the substantially pro-Palestinian version of the facts which I espouse, as do most people in Europe, a great many Israelis, and a growing number of North Americans. ‘
In the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Neumann holds that it is dangerous to label as anti-Semitic the conclusion that "Jews, generally, had some responsibility for war crimes and human rights violations." He writes:-
The best way to reserve anti-Semitism as a term of condemnation is to define it as hatred of Jews, not for what they do but for what they are. It is to hate them just because they belong to a certain ethnic group. Foxman is right to suggest that you can be an anti-Semite without expressing any racist sentiments: Many anti-Semites confine themselves to expounding false claims about Jewish control. But you can also, without harboring anti-Semitic hate, criticize Israel and even the Jewish community for its failures.'
In his essay 'What is antisemitism?' he argues that, given the earlier distinction he made, one should treat lightly accusations of antisemitism in the specific context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:-
'We should almost never take antisemitism seriously, and maybe we should have some fun with it. I think it is particularly unimportant to the Israel-Palestine conflict, except perhaps as a diversion from the real issues."
He then states that Israel's goal is the extinction of the Palestinian people, adding:-
'True, Israel has enough PR-savvy to eliminate them with an American rather than a Hitlerian level of violence. This is a kinder, gentler genocide that portrays its perpetrators as victims.'
Thus Neumann discounts Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
antisemitism as a significant issue in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict:
"Undoubtedly there is genuine antisemitism in the Arab world: the distribution of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the myths about stealing the blood of gentile babies. This is utterly inexcusable. So was your failure to answer Aunt Bee's last letter.'
He concludes:
'In short, the real scandal today is not antisemitism but the importance it is given. Israel has committed war crimes. It has implicated Jews generally in these crimes, and Jews generally have hastened to implicate themselves. This has provoked hatred against Jews. Why not? Some of this hatred is racist, some isn't, but who cares?"
Neumann takes the position, not substantially different from that of John Mearsheimer
John Mearsheimer
John J. Mearsheimer is an American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is an international relations theorist. Known for his book on offensive realism, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, more recently Mearsheimer has attracted attention for co-authoring and publishing...
and Stephen Walt
Stephen Walt
Stephen Martin Walt is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Among his most prominent works are and . He coauthored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy with John Mearsheimer.-Education and career:In 1983, he received a Ph.D. in...
, that support of Israel in the Israel-Palestinian conflict is against US interests. He also considers it a primary cause of violence against the US:
'Just imagine if the US stopped backing Israel and gave even moderate support to the Palestinians. Suddenly Islam and America would be on the same side. The war on terror would become a cakewalk. The credibility of American democracy would skyrocket in the Middle East.'
And again:-
‘America does not at all want what Israel wants, and it never did. America never had the slightest desire to kill Palestinians, take their land and homes, drive them to despair. America tolerated these outrages as a mob boss might tolerated the sadistic, deviant sexual tastes of an underling. But, also like the mob boss, it did not share these tastes.’
Neumann favors an eventual one-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, preceded for practical reasons by a two-state solution.
Neumann's position has been attacked both by spokesmen for Jewish communities and by antisemites, from diametrically opposed positions.
Responding in part to some of these essays, the Canadian Jewish Congress
Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress was one of the main lobby groups for the Jewish community in the country, although it often competed with the more conservative B'nai Brith Canada in that regard. At its dissolution, the president of the CJC was Mark Freiman. Its past co-presidents were Sylvain Abitbol...
(CJC) wrote a letter of complaint to the president of Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
.
Equally, antisemites have also attacked Neumann's classical and nuanced stance precisely because of the distinction he has made between a political critique of Israel and hostility to Jews per se on racist grounds. According to this extremist view, there is no such distinction to be made:-
‘Neumann's approach is . . . a double-edged sword since it reinforces the notion that Israel/Zionism -- not Jews/Judaism -- is the source of the problems facing the Mid-East.’
Jewish Tribal Review controversy
Jewish Tribal Review (JTR) is a website which claims to "document Jewish and Zionist influence on popular culture, economics and politics." JTR became interested in Michael Neumann's writing, and in late 2002 started an email dialogue with him. JTR asked for Neumann's participation in their activities, but Neumann, who considers JTR antisemitic, refused to participate, explaining his position as follows:-"My sole concern is indeed to help the Palestinians, and I try to play for keeps. I am not interested in the truth, or justice, or understanding, or anything else, except so far as it serves that purpose. This means, among other things, that if talking about Jewish power doesn't fit my strategy, I won't talk about it."
Subsequently JTR created a page publishing their alleged email exchange http://jewishtribalreview.org/neumann2.htm without Neumann's permission. This email got widespread attention in August 2003 when the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
published one of Neumann's most passionate passages about Jews and Israel. In particular, Neumann was quoted as writing:
"If an effective strategy means that some truths about the Jews don't come to light, I don't care. If an effective strategy [of helping the Palestinians] means encouraging reasonable anti-Semitism, or reasonable hostility to Jews, I also don't care. If it means encouraging vicious, racist anti-Semitism, or the destruction of the state of Israel, I still don't care."
In the ensuing controversy, Neumann clarified exactly what he intended by this statement:-
'I will not self-censor my writings because they may be
misused by antisemites, and it is only in this very particular and
limited sense that I 'don't care' about encouraging antisemitism.
Antisemites misuse all sorts of materials, including the statements
of committed Zionists and of Mahatma Gandhi. It would be futile and
impossible for me to tailor my writings to avoid such misuse.'
Nonetheless, the publication prompted complaints from the Canadian Jewish Congress
Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress was one of the main lobby groups for the Jewish community in the country, although it often competed with the more conservative B'nai Brith Canada in that regard. At its dissolution, the president of the CJC was Mark Freiman. Its past co-presidents were Sylvain Abitbol...
. In September, 2003, Neumann sent a letter of regret to the CJC. According to the Peterborough Examiner
Peterborough Examiner
The Peterborough Examiner is a newspaper that services Peterborough, Ontario and area. The paper started circulation in 1847, and is currently owned by the Sun Media, division of Quebecor Media. At one time, it was edited by Canadian man of letters Robertson Davies. It is the only daily newspaper...
, "Congress chairman Ed Morgan, who accepted the letter of regret from Neumann, told The Examiner he wants the letter to close the matter." On his Israel-Palestine page http://members.tripod.com/~mneumann/mnisrael.htm, Neumann includes a detailed "reply to the Canadian Jewish Congress concerning objections to material which appeared on the Jewish Tribal Review web site".
Support for boycott of Israeli professors
In January 2009, Neumann expressed support for a proposed resolution by Canadian Union of Public EmployeesCanadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
(CUPE) to ban Israeli professors from working in Ontario Universities. Neumann stated that "If people believe these are extreme circumstances and it will do some good, then I think it's reasonable and perhaps justified." He argued that a boycott is not anti-semitic, stating that "It targets Israeli, not Jewish, professors." He further stated that "People may always have bad motives underlying good motives. And it's not absolutely impossible that some of these people have anti-Semitic feelings deep down, but do I think that plays a large part? No, I certainly do not."
Request to remove his grandmother’s name from the Wall at Yad Vashem
In February 2009, Neumann and his brother Osha Neumann asked the Israeli president to remove their grandmother’s name from the Yad VashemYad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
because of the 2008-2009 Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Neumann wrote that
I do not believe that the Jewish people, in whose name you [i.e the israeli president] have committed so many crimes with such outrageous complacency, can ever rid itself of the shame you have brought upon us. Nazi propaganda, for all its calumnies, never disgraced and corrupted the Jews; you have succeeded in this...you blacken our names not only by your acts, but by the lies, the coy evasions, the smirking arrogance and the infantile self-righteousness with which you embroider our history... You will never pay for your crimes and you will continue to preen yourself, to bask in your illusions of moral ascendancy.
The Israeli government has taken no action in relation to the request.
Invitation to speak in Parliament and subsequent controversy
In April 2009, the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Association invited Neumann to speak at a committee session on Parliament HillParliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
, although it declined to comment as to why he was invited. The invitation immediately became a controversy. The Conservative Party announced that none of their Members of Parliament will attend the speech. A spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Minister
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (Canada)
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government department responsible for immigration, refugee and citizenship issues, Citizenship and Immigration Canada...
, Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney
Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....
, stated that "Mr. Neumann has the right to air his noxious views. The corollary, of course, is that we can and must criticize them. Neumann’s farrago of cant, conspiracy theory and hate are completely repugnant to our government." Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
, the Liberal Party's foreign affairs critic, stated that Neumann was entitled to his opinions but that he was “surprised and disappointed” that the parliamentary group thought Mr. Neumann had something positive to contribute.