Jewish influences in American life : $b volume III of the International Jew, the world's foremost problem : being a reprint of a third selection from articles appearing in the Dearborn IndependentFord, Henry
Religion
Jewish influences in American life : $b volume III of the International Jew, the world's foremost problem : being a reprint of a third selection from articles appearing in the Dearborn Independent
Ford, Henry
Antisemitic literature; Jews -- United States; United States -- Ethnic relations
“In Jerusalem one found the extremes of intensely narrow and bitter
orthodoxy, and unbelief with extreme Bolshevik radicalism. Here, too,
aggressive Zionism manifested itself in an attitude of bumptiousness and
aggressiveness. The country was for the Jew. It belonged to him and he
would shortly take possession. One was made to feel that one’s presence
in the land was objected to. The Hebrew press contained angry diatribes
against the existence of Christian schools and missions. The attitude
taken by these Zionists at first alarmed, then aroused and irritated
enormously, the native population, both Christian and Moslem, making the
Jew an object of dread and hatred as he had never been before. I had
opportunities to talk on intimate and friendly terms with leaders in all
camps, albeit I was unable, through language difficulties, to
communicate with the rank and file as freely as I should like to have
done. I myself felt the annoyance and in some places the danger of the
animosity aroused. Under government order I was not permitted to visit
certain sections of the country on account of the raids or uprisings of
the Arabs, partly due to animosity roused by their apprehension of the
Jewish invasion, and partly due to banditry, which took advantage of
that as an occasion. In other parts it was difficult to travel, because
any stranger, unless he could prove the contrary, was suspected of being
an agent of the Zionists, spying out the land for possession by the
Jews. It was difficult to obtain lodgings or food, and there were
sometimes unpleasantly hostile demonstrations on account of these
suspicions. Everywhere it was believed that the Jew by unfair means was
seeking to oust the true owners and to take possession of their land.
“In Jerusalem it was asserted that the Zionist funds, or the Jewish
funds which the Zionists could influence or control, were used to
subsidize Jewish artisans or merchants to underbid Christians and
Moslems and thus oust them by unfair competition, and that similar means
were being used to acquire lands or titles to lands. It was even
believed by many that the English authorities were unduly favoring and
helping the Jews in these endeavors, as is shown by a letter from a
Christian in Jaffa published in the _Atlantic Monthly_:—
“‘We are already feeling that we have a government within a
government. British officers cannot stand on the right side because
they are afraid of being removed from their posts or ticked off.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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