[Peace-discuss] Fw: Book Review: Einstein on Israel and Zionism

[unionyes]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <moderator at PORTSIDE.ORG>
To: <PORTSIDE at LISTS.PORTSIDE.ORG>
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 10:55 PM
Subject: Book Review: Einstein on Israel and Zionism


> [A review of Einstein on Zionism and Israel: His Provocative Ideas About 
> the Middle East. By Fred Jerome. St. Martin's Press. May 2009. This book 
> will be released on May 26; it is available for pre-order at
> <http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Israel-Zionism-Provocative-Middle/dp/0312362285>
> The New York Society of Ethical Culture will host a
> reception to celebrate its release on May 28, 6:30 p.m.
> 2 West 64th Street in Manhattan. The event is free.
> -- moderator]
>
> Reclaiming Einstein: New Book Reveals Famed Scientist
> as an Opponent of Israel
>
> By Jaisal Noor
> From the May 15, 2009 issue
> <http://www.indypendent.org/2009/05/14/reclaiming-einstein/>
>
> Countless books and articles have been written about
> the life of the great physicist and thinker Albert
> Einstein, and since his death in 1955, a near consensus
> has existed that Einstein was a staunch supporter of
> the state of Israel.
>
> Veteran journalist Fred Jerome uses hundreds of pages
> of Einstein's own letters, articles and interviews -
> many published for the first time - to refute this
> thesis.
>
> It is well known that Einstein, a German Jew, witnessed
> European anti-Semitism firsthand and spoke out against
> both prejudice and Nazism. These experiences convinced
> Einstein to support Zionism and a Jewish homeland.
> After gaining immense fame for his scientific
> breakthroughs, he was offered the presidency of Israel
> in 1952 after the death of the country's first
> president, Chaim Weizmann.
>
> In reality, while Einstein was sympathetic to the
> Zionist cause, he repeatedly warned that a "narrow
> nationalism" may arise if a Jewish-only state was
> founded and peaceful co-existence with the Palestinians
> was not achieved. Instead, Einstein advocated Cultural
> Zionism - the creation of Jewish cultural and
> educational centers within a bi-national state with
> equal rights for both Arabs and Jews.
>
> When Einstein was offered the Israeli presidency,
> Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion stated, "I've
> had to offer him the post because it was impossible not
> to, but if he accepts we are in for trouble." In a
> letter written in the same year, Einstein compared the
> Zionists' project with that of the Pilgrims, noting,
> "how tyrannical, intolerant and aggressive [they]
> became after a short while." And in Einstein's last
> media interview, which ran in the New York Post a month
> before his death, he stated "We had great hopes for
> Israel at first. We thought it might be better than
> other nations, but it is no better."
>
> Jerome has authored two previous books about Einstein;
> The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against
> the World's Most Famous Scientist and Einstein on Race
> and Racism, co-authored with Rodger Taylor. These books
> are essential to understanding Einstein, a self-
> described "revolutionary," who publicly stated that he
> would use his fame and celebrity status to bring
> attention to the causes important to him. For example,
> Einstein on Race and Racism details for the first time
> Einstein's 20-year friendship with Paul Robeson. While
> the first two books were aimed at filling a large gap
> in the knowledge about Einstein's radical beliefs and
> political activism, Einstein on Zionism and Israel
> seeks to debunk the myth that Einstein was a supporter
> of Israel.
>
> In the process, Jerome reveals much about the nature of
> mainstream propaganda. Einstein's opposition to Israel
> was widely known and reported on during his life. In
> fact, the myth of Einstein's support of Israel was born
> the day after Einstein's death in his obituary in The
> New York Times, which shamelessly wrote that he
> "championed" the establishment of the Jewish state.
> This contradicted decades of reporting from the "Paper
> of Record." Jerome provides some examples, including a
> 1930 article headlined "Einstein attacks British Zion
> Policy," a 1938 article stating Einstein was "Against
> Palestine State" and a 1946 article stating Einstein
> "Bars Jewish State."
>
> The book ends with a quote from author and intellectual
> Gore Vidal, "The only question that really matters:
> Why?" Jerome follows with, "Why have we not known?"
>
> The New York Society of Ethical Culture will host a
> reception to celebrate the release of Einstein on
> Zionism and Israel May 28, 6:30 p.m. 2 West 64th Street
> in Manhattan. The event is free.
>
> The Indypendent's Jaisal Noor sat down with author Fred
> Jerome to discuss why Albert Einstein is remembered for
> his physics and not his politics.
>
> Jaisal Noor: Why did you decide to write this book on
> Einstein and his views on Israel and Zionism?
>
> Fred Jerome: When Einstein met Paul Robeson in 1952,
> Einstein had just turned down the offer to be president
> of Israel. According to Lloyd Brown [who was present at
> that meeting] Einstein told Robeson why he had turned
> down the invitation: He didn't agree with Israel, with
> the nationalism, the establishment of the state of
> Israel, and so on. In both my previous books, there was
> a brief discussion about Israel. In addition, it is so
> clearly one of the central issues of today's world. We
> cannot ignore this issue and pretend to be concerned
> about the world or people in the world. It seemed
> logical to me that if I was going to be concerned about
> what was happening in Israel, particularly the Israeli
> oppression of the Palestinians .. it would be a logical
> step to write more on what Einstein had to say. I
> contacted the Einstein Archives in Jerusalem, and they
> actually thought it would be a good idea and encouraged
> me and said that they could provide information that
> probably had never been published before.
>
> JN: You started with the Einstein Archive in Jerusalem
> - where else did you go?
>
> FJ: Einstein gave all his papers to the Hebrew
> University in Jerusalem because he actually helped to
> found the Hebrew University. As a Cultural Zionist, he
> was in favor of cultural centers, like universities,
> but opposed to a Jewish state or nation. I also tried
> to talk to as many people as possible who talked to
> Einstein, knew Einstein, who remember Einstein. The
> most important was [eminent Egyptian journalist]
> Mohammed Heikel in Cairo. I included this interview,
> which was certainly never mentioned in any of the more
> than 100 books on Einstein.
>
> JN: Could you describe the reaction the press had to
> your previous works on Einstein and the reaction you
> expect from this one?
>
> FJ: The press's reaction to the first book, The
> Einstein File [2002], was one of very significant
> interest, maybe because J. Edgar Hoover had fallen out
> of favor with the media in the past 20 years. And so
> you have a bad guy versus a good guy, Einstein being
> the good guy. He had just been named Person of the
> Century by Time Magazine in the year 2000 when I was
> working on the first book, and I had come up with this
> file that no one else had - the entire file. So it was
> a combination of new information and kind of a sexy
> theme. Then The New York Times devoted a full page of
> its science section when the book first came out - that
> helped get the book covered by lots of other media
> outlets.
>
> When the book Einstein on Race and Racism [2006] came
> out, there was virtually no coverage in the mainstream
> media. There was some coverage in the Black press,
> including the Amsterdam News, some of the websites and
> so on. Publisher's Weekly did a review in which they
> said that it was a good book, was well written, well
> researched, no complaints, no criticisms. Einstein was
> a race man, but so what? Six months after the book came
> out The New York Times finally did do a review of the
> book, a very favorable review of the book, and
> published it only in the New Jersey edition, which has
> very few readers compared to their other editions.
>
> So the contrast was striking. I think primarily because
> the mainstream media in America really don't want to
> write about racism in America and certainly don't want
> to identify Einstein with an antiracist position. The
> other reason the media have ignored this book is that
> part of the book is Einstein's friendship with Paul
> Robeson and while they finally did put Paul Robeson on
> a postage stamp, after much struggle and protest,
> clearly the mainstream media and the corporate
> interests they represent are still afraid of Paul
> Robeson's leftism, his socialism, activism, the
> resistance to them he represented. Outside of the
> mainstream media it has gotten a very positive
> reaction. [Co-author] Rodger Taylor and I are still
> getting invited to speak, five years after the book was
> published, by students and other groups around the
> country. But the media reaction was clearly "don't
> touch it."
>
> And my anticipation for this book is that most of the
> mainstream media will have the same reaction to this
> book, because I think that their attitude on Israel-
> Palestine for the most part is well over 150 percent
> support for Washington's total backing of the Israeli
> government. They have been saying in the mainstream
> media that Einstein was a big supporter of Israel, and
> they have been saying that since the day he died, over
> 60 years ago. They never said it while he was alive.
>
> _____________________________________________
>
> Portside aims to provide material of interest
> to people on the left that will help them to
> interpret the world and to change it.
>
> Submit via email: moderator at portside.org
> Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit
> Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq
> Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe
> Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe
> Account assistance: portside.org/contact
> Search the archives: portside.org/archive
>
>
> -- 
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date: 
> 4/30/2009 5:53 PM
>
>