- Below is a 'copy' in its entirety of a very
important letter to the New York Times from Jewish intellectuals
including Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, and Sidney Hook that
appeared on December 4, 1948 While it is quoted from in brief on
several web sites, it appears nowhere in its entirety, and it deserves
to be disseminated as it originally appears.
-
- -- John Wheat Gibson
-
-
- Letters to The Times New York Times December 4,
1948
-
- New Palestine Party Visit of Menachem Begin and Aims
of Political Movement Discussed
-
- TO THE EDITORS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES:
-
- Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our
times is the emergence in the newly created state of Israel of the
"Freedom Party" (Tnuat Haherut), a political party closely akin in its
organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the
Nazi and Fascist parties. It was formed out of the membership and
following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, a terrorist, right-wing,
chauvinist organization in Palestine.
-
-
- The current visit of Menachem Begin, leader of this
party, to the United States is obviously calculated to give the
impression of American support for his party in the coming Israeli
elections, and to cement political ties with conservative Zionist
elements in the United States. Several Americans of national repute
have lent their names to welcome his visit. It is inconceivable that
those who oppose fascism throughout the world, if correctly informed
as to Mr. Begin's political record and perspectives, could add their
names and support to the movement he represents.
-
-
- Before irreparable damage is done by way of
financial contributions, public manifestations in Begin's behalf, and
the creation in Palestine of the impression that a large segment of
America supports Fascist elements in Israel, the American public must
be informed as to the record and objectives of Mr. Begin and his
movement.
-
-
- The public avowals of Begin's party are no guide
whatever to its actual character. Today they speak of freedom,
democracy and anti-imperialism, whereas until recently they openly
preached the doctrine of the Fascist state. It is in its actions that
the terrorist party betrays its real character; from its past actions
we can judge what it may be expected to do in the future.
-
-
- Attack on Arab Village
-
- A shocking example was their behavior in the Arab
village of Deir Yassin. This village, off the main roads and
surrounded by Jewish lands, had taken no part in the war, and had even
fought off Arab bands who wanted to use the village as their base. On
April 9 (THE NEW YORK TIMES), terrorist bands attacked this peaceful
village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed
most of its inhabitants-240 men, women, and children-and kept a few of
them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem.
Most of the Jewish community was horrified at the deed, and the Jewish
Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan.
But the terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of
this massacre, publicized it widely, and invited all the foreign
correspondents present in the country to view the heaped corpses and
the general havoc at Deir Yassin.
-
-
- The Deir Yassin incident exemplifies the character
and actions of the Freedom Party.
-
-
- Within the Jewish community they have preached an
admixture of ultranationalism, religious mysticism, and racial
superiority. Like other Fascist parties they have been used to break
strikes, and have themselves pressed for the destruction of free trade
unions. In their stead they have proposed corporate unions on the
Italian Fascist model. During the last years of sporadic anti-British
violence, the IZL and Stern groups inaugurated a reign of terror in
the Palestine Jewish community. Teachers were beaten up for speaking
against them, adults were shot for not letting their children join
them. By gangster methods, beatings, window-smashing, and wide-spread
robberies, the terrorists intimidated the population and exacted a
heavy tribute. The people of the Freedom Party have had no part in the
constructive achievements in Palestine. They have reclaimed no land,
built no settlements, and only detracted from the Jewish defense
activity. Their much-publicized immigration endeavors were minute, and
devoted mainly to bringing in Fascist compatriots.
-
-
- Discrepancies Seen
-
- The discrepancies between the bold claims now being
made by Begin and his party, and their record of past performance in
Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the
unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against
Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and
a "Leader State" is the goal.
-
-
- In the light of the foregoing considerations, it is
imperative that the truth about Mr. Begin and his movement be made
known in this country. It is all the more tragic that the top
leadership of American Zionism has refused to campaign against Begin's
efforts, or even to expose to its own constituents the dangers to
Israel from support to Begin. The undersigned therefore take this
means of publicly presenting a few salient facts concerning Begin and
his party; and of urging all concerned not to support this latest
manifestation of fascism.
-
- (signed)
-
- ISIDORE ABRAMOWITZ, HANNAH ARENDT, ABRAHAM BRICK,
RABBI JESSURUN CARDOZO, ALBERT EINSTEIN, HERMAN EISEN, M.D., HAYIM
FINEMAN, M. GALLEN, M.D., H.H. HARRIS, ZELIG S. HARRIS, SIDNEY HOOK,
FRED KARUSH, BRURIA KAUFMAN, IRMA L. LINDHEIM, NACHMAN MAISEL, SEYMOUR
MELMAN, MYER D. MENDELSON, M.D., HARRY M. OSLINSKY, SAMUEL PITLICK,
FRITZ ROHRLICH, LOUIS P. ROCKER, RUTH SAGIS, ITZHAK SANKOWSKY, I.J.
SHOENBERG, SAMUEL SHUMAN, M. SINGER, IRMA WOLFE, STEFAN WOLFE.
-
- New York, Dec. 2, 1948
-
-
- Source notes: Laura Nader gave a copy of the
microfilmed NYT to Anne Lipow in April. (Nader has been using it in
her class at UC). The copy was illegible in parts and the first column
was cut off; Laura's original was the same. Anne and UC Anthropology
Librarian Suzanne Calpestri then tried to retrieve an electronic
version of the letter. It appears nowhere in its entirety on the
Internet, and is not in any NYT electronic archive accessible to UC
Librarians (i.e., it doesn't exist). Suzanne made another copy from a
different microfilm; it solved the mystery of the missing first column
but this copy was also "dirty" in other areas. Neither copy was
scannable using OCR,so I typed it in by hand exactly the way it
appeared in the original, and have proofed it carefully. However, the
spelling of some of the signatories was unclear in the microfilmed
originals, so there may be a few errors in this rendition. It would be
nice if someone were to annotate the list of signatories, so that
those less-familiar names could be placed in context. At any rate,
this clearly belongs IN FULL TEXT on the web for distribution to as
many people as possible. Please circulate this among anyone you think
may be interested; I think it especially belongs in the hands of those
friends and family members who are still reluctant to criticize the
Israeli government.
-
- Source info:
- Jenny Lipow Berkeley, CA
- <jennylipow@netscape.net>
-
- John Wheat
Gibson
|
