Hilaire Belloc, the Catholic publicist, believes that the Communist movement is Jewish-directed, that the Nazis have failed to solve the Jewish problem and that the Jewish position in Palestine cannot be permanently maintained.
His views are given in an introductory chapter, dated August, 1937, to the third edition of his book, “The Jews,” which originally appeared in 1922. The book is being published here by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, on Jan. 25.
The volume, which bears on its title page the Hebrew inscription, “Sholom L’Yisroel” (Peace to Israel), is declared by the author to be an “attempt at justice” to the Jews, and he asserts that the future will be occupied with “the problem of settling the Jewish question in justice and peace.”
The Jewish question, he declares, has been accentuated, first, by the advance of the European revolution, second, by the Nazi reaction to the revolution with its persecution of Jews, and, third, the maturing of the Zionist experiment in Palestine.
“Jews as such are not Communists,” he says, “but the modern Communist movement was inspired and directed by Jews. That is why the term ‘Jewish Communism’ is heard everywhere in conversation, though not in the press; the Revolution now advancing in Europe is a part of the Jewish problem.”
The Nazi attack on the Jews, Belloc contends, was sincere, but neither a practicable nor a just solution to the Jewish problem, although he holds it had the beneficial effect in that it “cleared the air” and focussed attention on the Jewish question.
In Palestine, Belloc declares, while the Jews have aided the country economically, they have aroused Arab hatred and can only be maintained by British force. This, he indicates, cannot be permanently accomplished, particularly since Britain does not control Damascus, which he deems the key city of the Near East. He terms “lamentable nonsense” statements regarding the strategic importance of Palestine.
The only “solution,” he asserts, is to arrange things “as best it can be arranged to our future advantage,” perhaps to defend the Jews against the Mohammedans, but “a full immediate solution of the problem remains impossible.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
