The recent death of Fred Uhlman at the age or eighty-four is of more far-reaching significance than it might appear; for, quite apart from the sadness felt by those who knew him personally, it reminds one that a whole generation of central European emigres who came to this country in the 1930s and contributed so … Read more
HERITAGE: Civilization and the Jews was televised in the summer on Channel 4. Why is it that a particular programme is made? Why does it get shown? The answers to these questions are at present embedded in acrimonious debate in the United States. The programme’s producers approached the New York Public Television Station, WNET, with … Read more
DESPITE the erroneous impression that American Jews were part and parcel of the neoconservative camp, last year’s US presidential elections showed that they remain liberals at heart. Two thirds of US Jewry voted for Mondale, with almost 75 per cent of New York City’s Jews rejecting President Reagan. Another instance of the liberal conscience is … Read more
JEWISH opposition to apartheid is not necessarily related to political or religious affiliation. This was well-proven by an Orthodox rabbi and supporter of Herut who died last year: Louis Isaac Rabinowitz. A leading figure in the Orthodox rabbinate and considered by many as Chief Rabbi material, Rabinowitz served from 1944-1961 as Chief Minister of the … Read more
What happened? Did Marianne take John Bull to an unknown rendezvous? Did Marianne say to John Bull that there was a forest fire going to start, and did John Bull then say, “We ought to put it out”, but Marianne said, “No, let us warm our hands by it. It is a nice … Read more
Soviet Psychiatric Abuse: The Shadow Over World Psychiatry. By Sidney Bloch and Peter Reddaway. Gollancz £10.95. “Anti-Soviet convictions simply cannot exist. Anti-Soviet statements or opinions are the result, either of mental disturbance or of cynicism or of ignorance.” Not the trite jibe of a seasoned apparatchik, but the considered professional opinion of Dr Stanislav Korolev … Read more
Review of Karpov’s Brain by Gerald Green (Bantam 1984) 523pp. Gerald Green is perhaps best known as the author of the television drama Holocaust. This was viewed by 500 million people world-wide and certainly no one can dispute the educational value of such an exercise. Yet for many who viewed Holocaust from another level, its over-simplification … Read more
Israel’s Lebanon War. By Zeev Schiff and Ehud Ya’ari. Allen & Unwin 12.95. As Israel, in the midst of renewed conflict and violence, painfully attempts to disengage itself from the Lebanese maelstrom, the publication of this book is ironically timely. Written by two of Israel’s leading journalists, it is an objective description of how democratic … Read more
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is a traditional animal. It is a creature of great longevity and the respectable backbone of Anglo-Jewry. It defends Jewish interests and is regarded by the outside world as the legitimate voice of the Jewish community. Despite its hard work and manifest good intentions, there is still … Read more
THE FIGURE OF Ilya Ehrenburg evokes passionate controversy. Some regard him as an opportunist and a sophisticated Stalinist hack. Others see him as an entrenched liberal, courageously but stealthily ordering the waves of reaction to retreat. Anyone who has witnessed and tried to comprehend the traumatic events of the twentieth century cannot ignore the miraculous … Read more