“Though everybody knows me, there are very few people who really know me,” Albert Einstein said towards the end of his life. In disentangling himself from his look-alike media-myth, Einstein – the real Einstein – spoke and wrote frequently and eloquently to explain and advocate his views on what he considered the critical issues in society as well as in science -- including hundreds of pages of letters, articles, essays and interviews, both published and unpublished, on Zionism and Israel.
Those who have heard or read anything at all about Einstein’s politics probably know that Einstein was asked to become President of Israel in 1952 after the death of Chaim Weizmann, the country’s first president. Israel’s offer was widely publicized then – and since then. But very few people know that when Einstein turned down the Presidency, he said, “I would have to say to the Israeli people things they would not like to hear.” Nor have they heard the statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion: “Tell me what to do if he says yes! I’ve had to offer him the post because it was impossible not to, but if he accepts we are in for trouble.”
Einstein on Israel and Zionism focuses on correcting a widely accepted story – that Einstein was a major supporter, a “champion” of the state of Israel – a story told and retold primarily by the mainstream media.
While Einstein was a secular Jew, had mixed feelings about Zionism, and supported the goal of a Jewish “homeland” within Palestine, he never wavered from arguing forcefully for equal rights and equal power for the Arabs -- whom he called “kinfolk” of the Jews. His nationalism had no room for any kind of aggressiveness or chauvinism. For him, the domination of Jew over Arab in Palestine, or the perpetuation of a state of mutual hostility between the two peoples would mean the failure of Zionism.
Einstein’s essays and letters which appear here and cover the years from 1919 to 1955, have in some cases never been translated or published. Fred Jerome takes a close look at these materials, presents them objectively, and puts some of the more obscure references into context. This is an important historical document, one that is sure to stimulate discussion. It is surprising, timely, and brings one of the greatest men of the 20th century brilliantly to life.
Fred Jerome is also the author of The Einstein File and the co-author of Einstein on Race and Racism. A veteran journalist and science writer, his articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in dozens of publications, including Newsweek and The New York Times. As a reporter in the South during the early 1960s, he covered the exploding civil rights movement, and, more recently, has taught at Columbia Journalism School, NYU and numerous other New York–area universities. Jerome lives in New York City. Visit his Web site at www.theeinsteinfile.com.
”The first and most important necessity is the creation of a modus vivendi with the Arab people.
The greatest danger in the present situation is that blind chauvinism may gain ground in our ranks.”
- Einstein (About Zionism, 1930)
It would seem that men always need some…fiction in the name of which they can hate one another. Once it was religion. Now it is the State.
- Einstein to Hendrik A. Lorentz, 1915
I should much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state. …the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power….I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain – especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks…
- Einstein speech in New York, April 17, 1938.
The state idea is not according to my heart. I cannot understand why it is needed. It is connected with many difficulties and narrow-mindedness. I believe it is bad.
- From Einstein’s statement to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine, Jan. 11, 1946
Did it not come to your mind that the “Pilgrims” [who] came from England to colonize this country came to realize a plan very similar to your own? Do you also know how tyrannical, intolerant and aggressive these people became after a short while? Being baptized in Jewish water is no protection either.
- Einstein to a Zionist (Louis Rabinowitz) in Brooklyn, March 17, 1952
The most important aspect of our policy must be our ever-present, manifest desire to institute complete equality for the Arab citizens living in our midst….The attitude we adopt toward the Arab minority will provide the real test of our moral standards as a people.
- Einstein to Zvi Lurie, January 4, 1955
We had great hopes for Israel at first. We thought it might be better than other nations, but it is no better.
- Einstein to Dorothy Schiff, publisher of the NY Post(in her “Dear Reader” column, March 13, 1955)
