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. |
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| --- Start of Forged Speech --- |
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| Martin Luther King on Zionism
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"... 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." |
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| --- End of Forged Speech --- |
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