British historian Arnold Toynbee, in the 12th and latest volume of his monumental “Study of History” to be published in May, expressed his dislike of claims by certain races to be “a chosen people” and of certain creeds to be a unique revelation of the truth, it was reported in the press here today.
Discussing Zionism in the book which will be published by the Oxford University Press, Dr. Toynbee declares: “In the Zionist movement, Western Jews have assimilated Gentile Western civilization in the most unfortunate possible form. They have assimilated the West’s nationalism and colonialism. Seizure of houses and lands and property of 900, 000 Palestinian Arabs who are now refugees, is on a moral level with the worst crimes and injustices committed during the last four or five centuries by Gentile West European conquerors and colonists overseas. This is still my judgment of the Zionist movement’s record in Palestine since it first began to resort to violence there.”
Of all the peoples in the world, the British historian adds, “the Jews have had the longest and harshest experience of what it means to be the victim of injustice and cruelty. That any Jews should inflict on a third party some of the very wrongs Jews suffered at Western hands, is a portent that makes one wonder whether there may not be something irredeemably evil, not in Jewish human nature in particular, nor again just in Western human nature, but in the human nature common to all men.”
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.
