| The Jewish Establishment |
65 |
bcan Jew, produced a study of the 1964 Black riots and found
bthat “Blacks as a group tend to be less anti-Semitic than
bwhites.” To the great relief of every Jewish merchant in
bHarlem and Jews who lived in racially mixed neighbor-
bhoods, it showed that “anti-Jewish statements by Blacks
boften reflect anti-white feelings, not anti-Semitism.” In
bshort, Blacks did not single out Jews and really disliked them
bless than did whites. This was typical of the Jewish Estab-
blishment, whose problem was not so much stupidity but an
bunwillingness to believe that Jew-hatred exists anywhere in
bserious form as well as a refusal to want to believe that
bcherished liberal axioms and beliefs of decades are totally
bfalse.
bAnd so they ignored every single clear manifestation. In
b1966 Clifford Brown, head of the Mt. Vernon, New York,
bchapter of CORE, rose and shouted about Hitler not killing
benough Jews. The Jews grew excited and demanded a re-
btraction, but everyone hastened to assure everyone else that
bit was an isolated case. Even a Pete Hamill of the New York
bPost could write in July, 1966: “Hatred and distrust of Jews
bhave been around places like Harlem for a long time now, of
bcourse; they were no doubt taught by white men in the first
bplace. But in recent years the language has become broader
band more virulent and the targets more specific.” No one in
bB’nai B’rith was listening. The Black nationalist magazine
bLiberator in April 1966 wrote that “Black people have for
byears been ruthlessly exploited by the Jewish
bcommunity. . . . The realization of the political, economic,
band social tyranny induced by Zionist influence has stilled
bthe voices of many stout Black hearts—but nevermore.”
bThe ADL was busy smiling at its poll.
bAt the National New Politics Convention in Chicago in
bSeptember 1967, Dick Gregory said: “Every Jew in America
bover thirty years old knows another Jew that hates Negroes
band if we hate Jews, that’s just even, baby.” The convention
bunder Black pressure, went on to condemn the Six Day War
bas “the imperialistic Zionist war.” The same year, SNCC
bblasted Israel for its “aggression” against the Arabs while in
ba totally unrelated development, former NAACP Philadel-
b