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What Did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Actually Say About
Anti-Zionism And Anti-Semitism?
By Fred
Taub
May 20, 2004
 An email has been circulating containing an
alleged speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boycott Watch has investigated
the origin of the speech, and we have concluded it is a forgery. The forged
speech was, however, based on an actual one sentence quote by King, and then
later combined with the cadence of the I Have a Dream speech.
The speech claims to be published twice. Boycott
Watch checked the two sources, and discovered that they do not
exist.
King was, however, quoted by Dr. Seymour Martin
Lipset, who is currently the Hazel Professor of Public Policy of George Mason
University and a professor at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.
The noted sociologist and political analyst wrote the article "The Socialism of
Fools: The Left, the Jews and Israel" which was published in the December, 1969
(page 24) edition of Encounter magazine, and was reprinted in other
publications.
The article states: "Shortly before he
was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr., was in Boston on a fund-raising
mission, and I had the good fortune to attend a dinner which was given for him
in Cambridge...One of the young men present happened to make some remark
against the Zionists. Dr. King snapped at him and said, "Don't talk like that!
When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism!"
Dr. King clearly linked anti-Zionism to
anti-Semitism, but the speech as quoted is not accurate.
--- Start
of Forged Speech ---
Martin Luther King on Zionism
"... You declare, my friend; that you do not hate the
Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist'. And I say, let the truth ring forth from
the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth:
When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews -- this is God's own truth."
"Anti-Semitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has
been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full
agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently anti-Semitic, and ever
will be so."
"Why is this? You know that Zionism is
nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in
their own land. The Jewish people, the Scriptures tell us, once enjoyed a
flourishing Commonwealth in the Holy Land. From this they were expelled by the
Roman tyrant, the same Romans who cruelly murdered our L-rd. Driven from their
homeland, their nation in ashes, forced to wander the globe, the Jewish people
time and again suffered the lash of whichever tyrant happened to rule over
them."
"The Negro people, my friend, know what it is
to suffer the torment of tyranny under rulers not of our choosing. Our brothers
in Africa have begged, pleaded, requested -- DEMANDED -- the recognition and
realization of our inborn right to live in peace under our own sovereignty in
our own country."
"How easy it should be, for anyone
who holds dear this inalienable right of all mankind, to understand and support
the right of the Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel. All men
of good will exult in the fulfillment of God's promise, that His people should
return in joy to rebuild their plundered land. This is Zionism, nothing more,
nothing less."
"And what is anti-Zionist? It is the
denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the
people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is
discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is
anti-Semitism."
"The anti-Semite rejoices at any
opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West,
to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the anti-Semite
must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in
the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just 'anti-Zionist'!"
"My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate
anti-Semitism. I know you feel, as I do, a deep love of truth and justice and
revulsion for racism, prejudice, and discrimination. But I know you have been
misled -- as others have been -- into thinking you can be 'anti-Zionist' and
yet remain true to those heartfelt principles that you and I share. Let my
words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean
Jews -- make no mistake about it."
From M.L. King
Jr., "Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend," Saturday Review XLVII (August 1967),
pg. 76 Reprinted in M.L. King Jr., "This I Believe: Selections from the
Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
--- End of Forged Speech
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