Not a credible source

Letters

Editor: Regarding the letter to the editor from Alain David Hashimoto ("Where to find the facts," Bulletin, April 4), I am astounded that in attempting to disparage Deborah Campbell, Mr. Hashimoto cites Joan Peters' From Time Immemorial as a credible source of information on the Arab-Israel conflict.

Perhaps he is not aware that Peters' book has long since been debunked.
Praised by pro-Israel advocates when first published, Peters' book soon became known as "Lies Immemorial" following analysis by renowned Middle East scholars such as Yehoshua Porath of Hebrew University and Norman Finkelstein of New York University.

Dr. Porath, Israel's leading historical demographer, called the book "a forgery [that] was almost universally dismissed [in Israel] as sheer rubbish, except maybe as a propaganda weapon." (New York Times, Nov. 28, 1985) Rabbi Arthur Herzberg, vice-president of the World Jewish Congress agreed: "I think she has cooked the statistics.... The scholarship is phoney and tendentious. I do not believe she has read the Arabic sources that she quotes." (ibid)

Peters' errors are blatant and numerous. Apart from ignoring the population figures for Palestine carefully calculated by expert demographers during the 19th century, she fails to note the meticulous censuses taken during the British mandate.

From Time Immemorial is also riddled with contradictions, easily detected misrepresentations of documented history and invalid data taken from a discredited source (Ernst Frankenstein). The general consensus among experts is that Peters did not write the book herself, but served as a front for others whose motives are obvious.

A thorough rebuke of Peters' thesis can be found in Prof. Norman Finkelstein's book Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict.

Dr. Rafeh Hulays
Director, Adala, Canadian-Arab Justice Committee
Vancouver

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