2 Friday, May 22,.11
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
By Philip
Slomovitz
Revival of Old Benjamin Franklin Canard Reveals
Deplorable in Sick-Mindedness of Hate-Mongerers
Writers, Artists Voice Protest on Israel Threat
Revival of an Old Canard: Sick Minds at Work Spreading Fake Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
Sick minds are at work again. They are not satisfied with the libelous against Jews,
with the faked Protocols, with distortions about Israelis. They are reviving the old
canard: an attribution of an anti-Semitic statement to Benjamin Franklin.
The revived anti-Semitic tactic necessitates reprinting an item from Purely Corn-
mentary, The Jewish News, June 23, 1967, about the outrageous repetition of hate-
spreading:
* * *
The Revival of the Vilest Lies
The vilest lies that have ever been uttered against the Jewish people are being
incorporated in speeches by Soviet and Arab spokesmen at the United Nations and
wherever they can find a platform.
Most amazing is a revelation that comes from Rabat, Morocco. A report from the
Moroccan capital to the New York Times reveals that anti-Jewish articles in Arabic and
French newspapers — Ai Alam and L'Opinion — which also carried anti-American
propaganda, revived an old canard. The Times correspondent stated in his story that the
two newspapers were seized by the Moroccan government, thus reflecting the Moroccan
attitude of friendship for the Jewish people, his report stating: "The regime of King
Hassan II has always been careful to avoid equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism."
The correspondent from Rabat stated in his report:
The seized issues of both papers published the text of an anti-Jewish
declaration attributed to Benjamin Franklin, which first appeared in
Europe in the 1930s and is alleged to have been inspired by Nazi propagan-
dists."
It's amazing! A libel of the 1930s finds an echo now in Morocco! It's exactly the type of
propaganda that is being revived now by the Russians and Arabs at the UN!
In the interest of historical accuracy, let us reproduce here a news release that was
dated July 7, 1938. That release from the Anti-Nazi League that was headed by the late
Samuel Untermyer stated:
The anti-Semitism attributed to Benjamin Franklin by American Nazis
was revealed as a deliberate lie by the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League of 20
W. 47th St., New York City, following communications with Alfred Rigling,_
librarian of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, Pa.
"Dr. Franklin never uttered the sentiments which are attributed to him
in the supposed journal or diary of Charles Pinckney," Mr. Rigling told the
league. In fact, no such diary has ever been found. There is moreover
positive evidence that Franklin held Jews in high esteem."
The Non-Sectarian League contacted Mr. Rigling immediately after
the appearance of an anti-Semitic handbill in New York City on June 11
which quoted Benjamin Franklin as having said "Jews are a menace to thiS
country if permitted entrance and should be excluded." The handbill bore
the name, and insignia, of the German-American Vocational League, Inc.,
of 21 E. 75th St., New York City, which immediately denied connection with
the publication and asked for an investigation by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
Approximately 5,000 copies of the handbill were distributed in New
York City and vicinity, the Non-Sectarian League believes. "Certain
grammatical errors made in the handbill are synonymous with errors con-
sistently used by writers for an organization close to the German-American
Volksbund," directors of the league said. "It is natural that these individu-
als would use the name of another organization to cover up their lies. The
Bund used another subsidiary to publicize its Ford-for-President campaign
of which Henry Ford had no knowledge. The Non-Sectarian League spiked
that move and is lending all its efforts to nip other American Nazi tricks in
the bud."
The full statement of the Franklin Institute follows:
"Within the past month Franklin's mythical speech full of animadever-
sions against the Jews, which he is supposed to have delivered before the
The Voice of Cultural America
Heard Loudly in Protest Against
Arming Enemies of Israel
A feeling that indignities should never be ignored, that
threats to people in danger should be treated seriously, are
often accompanied by a sense of great concern because the
very responsible in American society do not speak, do not
protest, are not heard in behalf of the afflicted.
There is cause for rejoicing over an expression of cour-
age that has just been heard from the community of artists
and authors in this country.
The threat to Israel in the excessive arms sales to her
enemies aroused such a protest.
It appears in a letter published by the New York
Times. It made these declarations:
If Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Saudi Arabia's
powerful oil minister, is to be believed when he
protests that the true threat to his nation is Israel
— as opposed to the merely "potential" threat of
the Soviet Union — then the Reagan Administra-
tion's primary rationale cannot stand.
That the Saudis have cast their demand for our
most advanced weaponry in the form of "a test of
American friendship," and that the President
does not hesitate to capitulate, calls to mind two
charged words: blackmail and appeasement. Are
we to understand that our leadership has adopted
a policy of allowing unstable and untested foreign
nations to dictate our military-aid determina-
tions, no matter that an ally's fate is in the bal-
ance?
While the Reagan Administration calls for an
end to world terrorism and cautions against
Soviet imperialism, the Saudis persist in supply-
ing the Soviet-trained, Soviet-armed, Soviet-
Constitutional Convention, has reappeared in the daily press. According to
the published account, this speech warned the people of the United States
against the 'vampire' race, and concluded: 'I warn you, gentlemen, if you do
not exclude the Jews forever your children and your children's children
will curse you in their graves.'
"The provenance of these statements has been traced to the February 3,
1934, issue of Liberation, the publication of a Fascist organization which
appeared in Asheville, N.C., in 1933. 'Franklin's Prophecy,' so-called, was
immediately reprinted by papers in Germany and Switzerland and from
thence, recrossing the Atlantic, it turned up in the United States in Sep-
tember 25, 1934, in a pamphlet circulated from New York by Robert Edward
Edmondson.
"The Prophecy,' characterized by Professor Charles A. Beard, in the
Jewish Frontier for March 1935, as a 'barefaced forgery,' was supposed to
be found in a diary kept by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. No such
diary is known to exist nor can anything resembling it be found among any
of the extant Pinckney papers. Furthermore, neither Professor Beard's
examination of Franklin's writings nor careful searches in the available
records 'include the vast collection of Franklinana in Philadelphia' have
produced anything that 'gives the slightest justification for believing that
the Prophecy' is . . . more than a barefaced forgery. Not a word,' wrote
Professor Beard, 'have I discovered in Franklin's letters and papers ex-
pressing such sentiments against the Jews as are ascribed to him by the
Nazis — American and German.' There is, moreover, positive evidence that
Franklin held Jews in high esteem, and when the Hebrew Society of
Philadelphia was trying to raise money for a 'religious house' Franklin not
only signed the petition appealing for contributions to 'Citizens of every
religious denomination,' but he also contributed 5 pounds to the fund.
Finally, it should be remarked that the language of the Prophecy' is neither
of the Eighteenth Century nor in the usual vein of Franklin.
"The history of this document, falsely ascribed to one whose liberal
opinions are so well known as to be almost axiomatic, is typical of the
course of similar pieces of propagandist literature. Originating in some
obscure corner, the story travels and gains credence as it_goes. Exposure
follows in due time, but often not until a wrong impression, difficult to
eradicate, has been created. In this case, it is to be hoped that Professor
Beard's statement will be more than sufficient to prevent any further mis-
understanding of Franklin's attitude towards the Jews."
More of the anti-Semitic propaganda will be heard time and again now, the anti-
Semites working hand-in-hand with Israel's enemies. And the Arabs, claiming immun-
ity as Semites, even go so far as to call Jews the descendants of the Khazars, whose role is
referred to in the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia as follows: "Khazars, a medieval
people, probably related to the Volga Bulgars, whose ruling class adopted Judaism
during the Eighth Century . . ." So: we are'descendants of Russians and not Semites, and
the Arabs are the true Semites and WE are the hated Zionists!
The UN is on trial for many reasons, but it will be even worse off in the future if it will
permit history to be distorted, as it was at the Security Council sessions. But the
Moroccan ruler knew better: he confiscated the papers that carried the Benjamin
Franklin libel.
* * *
The very fact that this demands reprinting is another indictment of the distorted
minds, the corrupt haters, they who are responsible for incitement to terror, for the
brutalities that have caused the attacks on President Reagan, Pope John Paul II and
many others who are serving their nations in many areas of the world.
That which is reflected in disgracing the name of Benjamin Franklin by linking his
name with an anti-Semitic falsification also causes bigotries where hate can be injected
in the sick-minded. The struggle to erase the ignorance and hate, to assure good will
_ among all peoples of all faiths and races appears never-ending.
backed terrorist PLO with over $200 million an-
nually.
The Camp David process, which the U.S. helped
to fashion and which we continue to support as
the best avenue to Mideast peace, is actively op-
posed by the Saudis — is, in fact, condemned as
worthless. Thirty-three years after their armies
joined in attacking the newborn Jewish state, the
Saudis still openly press for the destruction of
Israel, the only stable and reliable ally the U.S.
has in the area. And finally, the Saudis warn us
that if we do not supply the arms they demand,
they will turn to the Soviet Union — to those very
Soviets President Reagan tells us those very arms
are supposed to deter.
The Saudi claim that advanced American
weaponry would be put only to defensive use is
untrue on its face. F-15 "add-ons" — among them
Sidewinder missiles, extra fuel tanks and, of
course, AWACS --are devices designed to
facilitate attack, to target and annihilate from a
distance, and with uncanny accuracy. They could
be used from deep within Saudi territory to spy on
and destroy every plane and tank Israel pos-
sesses, crippling Israel's capacity to defend itself.
. This letter was signed by very eminent people. Ap-
pended to this statement as signatories were Saul Bellow,
E. L. Doctorow, John Kenneth Galbraith, Norman Mailer,
Arthur Miller and Barbara Tuchman.
The New York Times editors added that 21 more mem-
bers of Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East also
signed the statement. This is one of the most heartening
demonstrations in defense of Israel recorded in many
months, perhaps years.
Much more important than the quoted statement is the
list of names appended to it. It serves as an assurance that
the best minds of this country are not forsaking Israel and
the issue involving justice for the Jewish state; that the
most eminent Jews in artistry and authorship are rising up
in defense of Israel. That's a heartening and glorious evi-
dence that decency does not, will not die.
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Avigdor Eskin, a former Moscow unofficial He-
brew and religious studies teacher, wears a skullcap
and stans before posters of prisoner of conscience
Dr. Joseph Begun,- who is in jail awaiting banishment
to Siberia. Eskin is visiting from Israel to spearhead a
campaign for prisoners and unofficial Jewish
teachers in the USSR.