From: AR.VXF@forsythe.stanford.edu (Victor Filler)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast
Subject: Re: WHY IS ARENS AFRAID TO ANSWER
Date: 19 Jul 90 23:53:21 GMT
Distribution: usa


OK, here's the complete text of King's remark, along with some
material that puts it in context:

".  .  .  You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you
are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth
from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of
God's green earth:  When people criticize Zionism, they mean
Jews--this is God's own truth.

"Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains
a blot on the soul of mankind.  In this we are in full agreement.
So know also this:  anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic, and ever
will be so.

"Why is this?  You know that Zionism is nothing less than the dream
and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land.
The Jewish people, the Scriptures tell us, once enjoyed a
flourishing Commonwealth in the Holy Land.  From this they were
expelled by the Roman tyrant, the same Romans who cruelly murdered
Our Lord.  Driven from their homeland, their nation in ashes, forced
to wander the globe, the Jewish people time and again suffered the
lash of whichever tyrant happened to rule over them.

"The Negro people, my friend, know what it is to suffer the torment
of tyranny under rulers not of our choosing.  Our brothers in Africa
have begged, pleaded, requested--DEMANDED the recognition and
realization of our inborn right to live in peace under our own
sovereignty in our own country.

"How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable
right of all mankind, to understand and support the right of the
Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel.  All men of
good will exult in the fulfilment of God's promise, that his People
should return in joy to rebuild their plundered land.  This is
Zionism, nothing more, nothing less.

"And what is anti-Zionism?  It is the denial to the Jewish people of
a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa
and freely accord all other nations of the Globe.  It is
discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews.  In
short, it is antisemitism.

"The antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice.  The
times have made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a
hatred of the Jews.  This being the case, the antisemite must
constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison.  How he must
revel in the new masquerade!  He does not hate the Jews, he is just
'anti-Zionist'!

"My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate antisemitism.  I know
you feel, as I do, a deep love of truth and justice and a revulsion
for racism, prejudice, and discrimination.  But I know you have
been misled--as others have been--into thinking you can be
'anti-Zionist' and yet remain true to these heartfelt principles
that you and I share.  Let my words echo in the depths of your soul:
When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews--make no mistake about
it."

 (From M.L. King Jr., "Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend," _Saturday
Review_XLVII (Aug.  1967), p. 76.  Reprinted in M.L. King Jr.,
_This I Believe:  Selections from the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr._ (New York, 1971), pp. 234-235.)

Vic
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