Obviously reacting to strong criticism by Communists here against the anti-Semitic book, “Judaism Without Embellishment,” published by the Ukrainian Academy of Science at Kiev, the French Communist Party today opened a public discussion of that book and of charges of anti-Semitism leveled against the USSR.
An article in the party’s official weekly, France Nouvelle, by Victor Michault, a member of the French party’s central committee, was seen here as going out of its way to imply that the “Judaism” book was merely an attack against Israel. But, at the same time, M. Michault did concede that all anti-Semitism has not yet been eliminated in the Soviet Union, declaring that such racialism cannot be tolerated in a Socialist state.
Overlooking the fact that the offensive book had touched on Israel only incidentally, M. Michault declared in his article: “One cannot be branded as an anti-Semite because one disapproves of the policy of Israel’s Government. It is far too easy to claim anti-Semitic motives whenever Judaism as a religion, Israel as a state, and Zionism as an ideology are questioned. Although we are determinedly against racism, we defend our right to call a spade a spade–Zionism, nationalism and any religion are not scientific ideology.”
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.
