Ralph Schoenman
Encyclopedia
Ralph Schoenman is an American left-wing activist who was a personal secretary to Bertrand Russell
and became general secretary of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation
. He was involved in a number of projects supported by Russell, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CND), the Committee of 100 and an unofficial war crime
s tribunal to try American leaders for their conduct in the Vietnam War
. Shortly before his own death in 1970, Russell publicly broke with Schoenman.
, Schoenman was educated at Princeton University
but then left the U.S. for Britain in 1958. He was involved in various protest activities during his student days and became active in the CND after arriving in Britain. This brought him into contact with Russell, for whom Schoenman began working in 1960. Bernard Levin
wrote critically of Schoenman's influence on the aged philosopher, painting Schoenman as partly responsible for Russell's virulent anti-Americanism, in contrast to his earlier pronouncements against communism
. Russell said of Schoenman, "You know he is a rather rash young man, and I have to restrain him." .
In 1963, Schoenman participated as Russell's secretary in attempts to mediate a solution for the Sino-Indian border conflict
, after China declared a ceasefire the previous year. For visiting communist China, the U.S. embassy in London
put him under a travel restriction, stamping his passport
as only valid to return to the U.S.
Schoenman was an organizer and member of the Russell Tribunal
, an International War Crimes Tribunal which visited North Vietnam and Cambodia
in 1966-1967. In addition to the group's own camera crews, Schoenman tried to negotiate network television
coverage from NBC
and CBS
for the tribunal's visit to Hanoi
, but was turned down in a dispute over the conditions. The networks charged that they had been asked to pay for the privilege and also felt that the restrictions proposed to them, including submitting footage for censorship, would imperil their objectivity. CBS News president Richard Salant said, "They are out to prove a point with investigations and they have an ax to grind". Schoenman denied the allegations that fees or censorship had been requested, while noting that the networks would pay to acquire footage from others, as ABC
had done to obtain film from one of the tribunal's cameramen.
After making these visits, Schoenman argued in a hearing of the tribunal that the U.S. had committed genocide
in Vietnam. He argued, "It is not possible to drop four million pounds of bombs every day on a country the size of New York and Pennsylvania without exterminating the civilian population".
During the course of the tribunal, the U.S. government revoked Schoenman's passport because of unauthorized visits to North Vietnam. In November 1967, he was deported back to the U.S. by Bolivia
n authorities when he traveled there to attend the trial of Régis Debray
. As a result, he was prevented from attending the tribunal's proceedings in Copenhagen
later that month because Danish
authorities refused to allow him to enter without a passport. This led to a sequence in which Schoenman shuttled between several European countries, none of which would admit him, before illegally entering Britain, where he remained for 10 days until being deported in June 1968.
Russell publicly repudiated his relationship with Schoenman in December 1969 and had him removed from the board of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. Schoenman then renamed the American branch of the foundation the American Foundation for Social Justice and continued to promote hearings into alleged American atrocities in Vietnam.
Later, Schoenman settled in Princeton, New Jersey
, but was again able to travel, visiting Iran
during the waning days of the Shah
's regime to raise awareness of atrocities by the U.S.-backed government. After the government fell, he circulated claims of a counterrevolutionary conspiracy in support of American interests that sought to eliminate communist forces. However, the new Provisional Revolutionary Government expelled him in March 1979.
to an Internet webcast.
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
and became general secretary of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation
Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation
The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation was established in 1963. The foundation aims to continue the work of the philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell in the areas of peace, social justice, and human rights, with a specific focus on the dangers of nuclear war...
. He was involved in a number of projects supported by Russell, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
(CND), the Committee of 100 and an unofficial war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s tribunal to try American leaders for their conduct in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Shortly before his own death in 1970, Russell publicly broke with Schoenman.
Life
Born in Brooklyn, New YorkBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Schoenman was educated at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
but then left the U.S. for Britain in 1958. He was involved in various protest activities during his student days and became active in the CND after arriving in Britain. This brought him into contact with Russell, for whom Schoenman began working in 1960. Bernard Levin
Bernard Levin
Henry Bernard Levin CBE was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by The Times as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship to the independent school Christ's Hospital and went on to the London School of Economics,...
wrote critically of Schoenman's influence on the aged philosopher, painting Schoenman as partly responsible for Russell's virulent anti-Americanism, in contrast to his earlier pronouncements against communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Russell said of Schoenman, "You know he is a rather rash young man, and I have to restrain him." .
In 1963, Schoenman participated as Russell's secretary in attempts to mediate a solution for the Sino-Indian border conflict
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...
, after China declared a ceasefire the previous year. For visiting communist China, the U.S. embassy in London
Embassy of the United States in London
The Embassy of the United States of America to the Court of St. James's has been located since 1960 in the American Embassy London Chancery Building, in Grosvenor Square, Westminster, London...
put him under a travel restriction, stamping his passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
as only valid to return to the U.S.
Schoenman was an organizer and member of the Russell Tribunal
Russell Tribunal
The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal or Russell-Sartre Tribunal, was a public body organized by British philosopher Bertrand Russell and hosted by French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre...
, an International War Crimes Tribunal which visited North Vietnam and Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
in 1966-1967. In addition to the group's own camera crews, Schoenman tried to negotiate network television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
coverage from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for the tribunal's visit to Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
, but was turned down in a dispute over the conditions. The networks charged that they had been asked to pay for the privilege and also felt that the restrictions proposed to them, including submitting footage for censorship, would imperil their objectivity. CBS News president Richard Salant said, "They are out to prove a point with investigations and they have an ax to grind". Schoenman denied the allegations that fees or censorship had been requested, while noting that the networks would pay to acquire footage from others, as ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
had done to obtain film from one of the tribunal's cameramen.
After making these visits, Schoenman argued in a hearing of the tribunal that the U.S. had committed genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
in Vietnam. He argued, "It is not possible to drop four million pounds of bombs every day on a country the size of New York and Pennsylvania without exterminating the civilian population".
During the course of the tribunal, the U.S. government revoked Schoenman's passport because of unauthorized visits to North Vietnam. In November 1967, he was deported back to the U.S. by Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n authorities when he traveled there to attend the trial of Régis Debray
Régis Debray
Jules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
. As a result, he was prevented from attending the tribunal's proceedings in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
later that month because Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
authorities refused to allow him to enter without a passport. This led to a sequence in which Schoenman shuttled between several European countries, none of which would admit him, before illegally entering Britain, where he remained for 10 days until being deported in June 1968.
Russell publicly repudiated his relationship with Schoenman in December 1969 and had him removed from the board of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. Schoenman then renamed the American branch of the foundation the American Foundation for Social Justice and continued to promote hearings into alleged American atrocities in Vietnam.
Later, Schoenman settled in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, but was again able to travel, visiting Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
during the waning days of the Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
's regime to raise awareness of atrocities by the U.S.-backed government. After the government fell, he circulated claims of a counterrevolutionary conspiracy in support of American interests that sought to eliminate communist forces. However, the new Provisional Revolutionary Government expelled him in March 1979.
Current Activity
Since 2002, he has been working with documentary filmmaker, Mya Shone, providing commentary for radio stations in many parts of the United States and Canada, and producing the "Taking Aim" radio show, billed as "Uncompromising, fact intensive exposés of the hidden workings of a capitalist system addicted to permanent war". In about 2009 they moved from broadcasting over WBAIWBAI
WBAI, a part of the Pacifica Radio Network, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, broadcasting at 99.5 FM in New York City.Its programming is leftist/progressive, and a mixture of political news and opinion from a leftist perspective, tinged with aspects of its complex and varied...
to an Internet webcast.
Writings
- Death and Pillage in the Congo: A Study of Western Rule, 1965,
- A glimpse of American crimes in Vietnam, 1967,
- Bertrand Russell: Philosopher of the Century, 1968,
- The Hidden History of Zionism, 1988, ISBN 978-0929675015
- Iraq and Kuwait: A History Suppressed , 1998, ISBN 9780929675053
External links
- Taking Aim - radio program hosted by Ralph Schoenman and Mya Shone
- Private Memorandum Concerning Ralph Schoenman, by Bertrand Russell
- Irish parliamentary debate from May 1968 on the question of whether to admit Schoenman