Alfred Lilienthal
Encyclopedia
Alfred M. Lilienthal was an American Jew, who was a prominent critic of Zionism
and the state of Israel
.
, with whom he spent many hours debating the virtues of Babe Ruth
and Lou Gehrig
. Lilienthal studied at both Cornell and Columbia Universities and, graduating from the latter in 1938 with a law degree, was admitted to the bar. In 1940 he acted as president of the Republican First Voters League, and became Fusion Party candidate for the New York City Council
in 1941. During the Second World War, he worked for the State Department
(1942–1943, Division of Defense Materials, and again 1945–1948) and served in the U.S. Army in the Middle East (1943–1945). While based in Egypt Lilienthal made his first visit to the Holy Land, and was struck by the multi-racial composition of Jerusalem's citizens at that time.
at San Francisco. He used this knowledge of the inner workings of the U.N.
in his later critical writings on the formation of the state of Israel
. From 1947 to 1952 he was counsel to the Washington Chapter of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
.
and Israel. When Reader's Digest
hosted a debate on the Zionist movement, his article "Israel's Flag is Not Mine" warned against charges of dual loyalty that American Jews might receive as a result of Zionism. The specter of the Holocaust also loomed large among Zionists of the time, but Lilienthal wrote this article with an eye toward the Cold War. Anti-Communism
was then at its height and Israel's socialist politics, for better or worse, may have been one implied object of his criticism. The publication of the Digest article led to an irreparable split with Wouk, who privately condemned Lilienthal for making his criticism of the Zionist movement public.
. Soon after its publication, Lilienthal traveled to the Middle East and discovered that he had become a celebrity through a pirated Arabic-language edition. Although he never received royalties from its publication, the Arabic edition soon gained Lilienthal access to the leaders of the Arab world; among other contacts, he was the first person of the Jewish faith allowed to travel in Saudi Arabia, and was invited to a private meeting with King Ibn Saud. Lilienthal enjoyed cordial relations with many Arab leaders; knowing that many of whom were anti-Isarelien, he still felt it important to give them a glimpse of a different side of Judaism, one that did not have territorial or nationalist designs in their region. Naturally, these friendships further damaged Lilienthal's relations with the mainstream Jewish community in both Israel and the United States.
Lilienthal continued to speak throughout the United States on Middle East issues, and some of his speeches were anthologized in mainstream journals dedicated to political rhetoric. In 1956, he founded and chaired the National Committee for Security and Justice in the Middle East and in 1960 the American Arab Association for Commerce and Industry. In 1969, he was awarded the Juris Doctor degree by Columbia University.
Other publications by Alfred Lilienthal include There Goes the Middle East (1957), The Other Side of the Coin (1965), The Zionist Connection: What Price Peace? (1978) and The Zionist Connection II: What Price Peace? (1982). He was a lecturer, TV and Radio commentator, author of magazine articles and syndicated news pieces as well as columnist with the Nashville Banner and the Arizona Daily Star. He even assisted in the photography and editing of a 16mm documentary film, The Turbulent Middle East, for his lecture use.
Over time, Lilienthal's criticism of Israel grew harsher; he created a self-published newsletter to protest Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, and the vehemence of his language would earn him more enemies. In 1965 Senator Jacob Javits described Lilienthal as "a lecturer and journalist whose vehemently anti-Israel views are well known." Lilienthal has also written for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
.
Radio Islam
describes him as one of "Israel's harshest-ever critics", among other vociferous Jewish dissenters from the Zionist mainstream, including Noam Chomsky
, Israel Shahak
, Rabbi Elmer Berger
, Moshe Menuhin
, Yehudi Menuhin
, Lenni Brenner
, and Norman Finkelstein
.
According to Oscar Kraines, "Despite its unsubtle partisanship and unrestrained vitriol, [What Price Israel] is a serious, 'angry, provocative' book. It lacks, however, the degree of objectivity which a book should have if it is to be a valuable contribution to the literature on Middle Eastern affairs."
Lilienthal maintained that the creation of the State of Israel has dealt great harm to the Jewish people because statehood gives anti-Semites justification for charging Jews with dual loyalty. Lilienthal denied that Israel is democratic, and asserts that if the foreign aid now given to Israel were given instead to Arab countries they would rapidly become democratic societies. He demanded that Zionists renounce their claim on world Jewry, so that the state of Israel can stand on its own.
Alan T. Davies
describes Lilienthal as "useful" to anti-Semites because he is Jewish and "opposes the State of Israel on principle."
Manfred Gerstenfeld
describes Lilienthal as a "hard core extremists" among anti-Israel activists. In the introduction to his book, The Zionist Connection, Lilienthal praised the UN resolution which equated Zionism with racism and racial discrimination.
Tariq Majeed praises Lilienthal for following in the footsteps of Henry Ford
who "sounded the alarm in the 1920s on the accumulation and subversive use of political power by the Jews and the threats it posed to the American nation. Ford's book, The International Jew, is a classic in this sphere. Among the others, who followed Ford in this field, the names of Professor Alfred Lilienthal and Congressman Paul Findley
stand out." [This paragraph needs a better reference.]
Former Louisiana State Representative and white nationalist
David Duke
praises Lilienthal for daring to "expose the truth" about "Jewish supremicism."
Lilienthal, along with Noam Chomsky
and 500 others, signed a controversial petition
supporting French Holocaust denier
Robert Faurisson
's right to academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Lilienthal believed that it is an "anthropological fact" that "many Christians may have much more Hebrew-Israelite blood in their veins than most of their Jewish neighbors."
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Early life
As a schoolboy he counted among his friends the future novelist and playwright Herman WoukHerman Wouk
Herman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.-Biography:...
, with whom he spent many hours debating the virtues of Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
and Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
. Lilienthal studied at both Cornell and Columbia Universities and, graduating from the latter in 1938 with a law degree, was admitted to the bar. In 1940 he acted as president of the Republican First Voters League, and became Fusion Party candidate for the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
in 1941. During the Second World War, he worked for the State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
(1942–1943, Division of Defense Materials, and again 1945–1948) and served in the U.S. Army in the Middle East (1943–1945). While based in Egypt Lilienthal made his first visit to the Holy Land, and was struck by the multi-racial composition of Jerusalem's citizens at that time.
Foreign policy career
In 1945 he was consultant to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Conference on International OrganizationUnited Nations Conference on International Organization
The United Nations Conference on International Organization was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, California. At this convention, the delegates reviewed and rewrote the Dumbarton Oaks agreements...
at San Francisco. He used this knowledge of the inner workings of the U.N.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in his later critical writings on the formation of the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. From 1947 to 1952 he was counsel to the Washington Chapter of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
American Council for Judaism
The American Council for Judaism is an organization of American Jews committed to the proposition that Jews are not a nationality but merely a religious group, adhering to the original stated principles of Reform Judaism, as articulated in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform.The ACJ was founded in June...
.
Israel criticism and related controversies
Lilienthal first came to prominence in the early 1950s as a Jewish critic of ZionismZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and Israel. When Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
hosted a debate on the Zionist movement, his article "Israel's Flag is Not Mine" warned against charges of dual loyalty that American Jews might receive as a result of Zionism. The specter of the Holocaust also loomed large among Zionists of the time, but Lilienthal wrote this article with an eye toward the Cold War. Anti-Communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
was then at its height and Israel's socialist politics, for better or worse, may have been one implied object of his criticism. The publication of the Digest article led to an irreparable split with Wouk, who privately condemned Lilienthal for making his criticism of the Zionist movement public.
Publications
The first of Dr. Lilienthal's books on Zionism and the Palestinian question was What Price Israel? (1953), which was published by the Henry Regnery Company with some controversy in the mainstream press. The book offered a brief history of the Zionist movement in Europe and the United States, and provided a sober analysis of the political machinations behind the U.N.'s initial vote on the partition of PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. Soon after its publication, Lilienthal traveled to the Middle East and discovered that he had become a celebrity through a pirated Arabic-language edition. Although he never received royalties from its publication, the Arabic edition soon gained Lilienthal access to the leaders of the Arab world; among other contacts, he was the first person of the Jewish faith allowed to travel in Saudi Arabia, and was invited to a private meeting with King Ibn Saud. Lilienthal enjoyed cordial relations with many Arab leaders; knowing that many of whom were anti-Isarelien, he still felt it important to give them a glimpse of a different side of Judaism, one that did not have territorial or nationalist designs in their region. Naturally, these friendships further damaged Lilienthal's relations with the mainstream Jewish community in both Israel and the United States.
Lilienthal continued to speak throughout the United States on Middle East issues, and some of his speeches were anthologized in mainstream journals dedicated to political rhetoric. In 1956, he founded and chaired the National Committee for Security and Justice in the Middle East and in 1960 the American Arab Association for Commerce and Industry. In 1969, he was awarded the Juris Doctor degree by Columbia University.
Other publications by Alfred Lilienthal include There Goes the Middle East (1957), The Other Side of the Coin (1965), The Zionist Connection: What Price Peace? (1978) and The Zionist Connection II: What Price Peace? (1982). He was a lecturer, TV and Radio commentator, author of magazine articles and syndicated news pieces as well as columnist with the Nashville Banner and the Arizona Daily Star. He even assisted in the photography and editing of a 16mm documentary film, The Turbulent Middle East, for his lecture use.
Over time, Lilienthal's criticism of Israel grew harsher; he created a self-published newsletter to protest Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, and the vehemence of his language would earn him more enemies. In 1965 Senator Jacob Javits described Lilienthal as "a lecturer and journalist whose vehemently anti-Israel views are well known." Lilienthal has also written for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, published nine times per year in Washington, D.C., focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S...
.
Radio Islam
Radio Islam
Radio Islam was a Swedish radio channel, now a website, which is dedicated to "the liberation struggle of the Palestinian people against Israel". The EU's racism monitoring organization has called it "one of the most radical right wing antisemitic homepages on the net"...
describes him as one of "Israel's harshest-ever critics", among other vociferous Jewish dissenters from the Zionist mainstream, including Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, Israel Shahak
Israel Shahak
Israel Shahak was a Polish-born Israeli professor of chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, known especially as a radical political thinker, author, and civil rights activist. Between 1970-1990, he was president of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights and was an outspoken critic...
, Rabbi Elmer Berger
Elmer Berger (rabbi)
Elmer Berger was a Jewish Reform rabbi widely known for his anti-Zionism. He was the executive director of the American Council for Judaism from its founding in 1942 until 1955...
, Moshe Menuhin
Moshe Menuhin
Moshe Menuhin was born in Gomel to a distinguished, religious Jewish family. He was the great great grandson of Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hassidism...
, Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
, Lenni Brenner
Lenni Brenner
Lenni Brenner is an American Marxist Trotskyist writer. In the 1960s, Brenner was a prominent civil rights activist and a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War....
, and Norman Finkelstein
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein is an American political scientist, activist and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a graduate of Binghamton University and received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University...
.
According to Oscar Kraines, "Despite its unsubtle partisanship and unrestrained vitriol, [What Price Israel] is a serious, 'angry, provocative' book. It lacks, however, the degree of objectivity which a book should have if it is to be a valuable contribution to the literature on Middle Eastern affairs."
Lilienthal maintained that the creation of the State of Israel has dealt great harm to the Jewish people because statehood gives anti-Semites justification for charging Jews with dual loyalty. Lilienthal denied that Israel is democratic, and asserts that if the foreign aid now given to Israel were given instead to Arab countries they would rapidly become democratic societies. He demanded that Zionists renounce their claim on world Jewry, so that the state of Israel can stand on its own.
Alan T. Davies
Alan T. Davies
Alan T. Davies is an emeritus professor of religion at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is also an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada.-Notes:...
describes Lilienthal as "useful" to anti-Semites because he is Jewish and "opposes the State of Israel on principle."
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Manfred Gerstenfeld is an Austrian-born Israeli author and political activist.-Biography:Manfred Gerstenfeld was born in Vienna, grew up in Amsterdam and moved to Israel in 1968. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Gerstenfeld was a board member of the Israel...
describes Lilienthal as a "hard core extremists" among anti-Israel activists. In the introduction to his book, The Zionist Connection, Lilienthal praised the UN resolution which equated Zionism with racism and racial discrimination.
Tariq Majeed praises Lilienthal for following in the footsteps of Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
who "sounded the alarm in the 1920s on the accumulation and subversive use of political power by the Jews and the threats it posed to the American nation. Ford's book, The International Jew, is a classic in this sphere. Among the others, who followed Ford in this field, the names of Professor Alfred Lilienthal and Congressman Paul Findley
Paul Findley
Paul Findley is a former United States Representative from Illinois, representing its 20th District. A Republican, he was first elected in 1961. Findley lost his seat in 1982 to current United States Senator Dick Durbin. Findley attended Illinois College and is a member of Phi Alpha Literary Society...
stand out." [This paragraph needs a better reference.]
Former Louisiana State Representative and white nationalist
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
praises Lilienthal for daring to "expose the truth" about "Jewish supremicism."
Lilienthal, along with Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
and 500 others, signed a controversial petition
Faurisson affair
The Faurisson affair is a term given to an academic controversy in the wake of a book by Robert Faurisson, a Holocaust denier. The scandal largely dealt with the inclusion of an essay by Noam Chomsky, entitled Some Elementary Comments on the Rights of Freedom of Expression, as an introduction to...
supporting French Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson is a French academic who is a Holocaust denier. Faurisson generated much controversy with a number of articles, published in the Journal of Historical Review and elsewhere, as well as various letters he has sent to French newspapers , which deny various aspects of the Holocaust,...
's right to academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Lilienthal believed that it is an "anthropological fact" that "many Christians may have much more Hebrew-Israelite blood in their veins than most of their Jewish neighbors."
External links
- An archive of his home page, formerly at www.alfredlilienthal.com
- Memorial article by Allan C. Brownfeld, in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
- The Alfred M. Lilienthal Papers, 1936-1997 at the Hoover Institution Archives.