[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10691]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME: ERIC HOFFER ON 
                            ISRAEL, IN 1968

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 2002

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I recently came across an article by the 
American social philosopher Eric Hoffer, about the double standard to 
which the world holds Israel. The sad irony is that this extraordinary 
piece was written 34 years ago, and it is just as relevant today as it 
was then. Mr. Hoffer's insightful analysis was published in the Los 
Angeles Times on May 26, 1968.
  Eric Hoffer was an American social philosopher, author of nine books 
and a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His first book, The 
True Believer, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic.
  This article, which as I mentioned appeared in 1968, describes the 
trend of international scorn focusing solely on Israel; whether it is 
the status of refugees, fighting in self-defense, or ending armed 
conflict, Israel is consistently held to a standard that is different 
from that which is applied to the rest of the world. Put simply, what 
other nations freely do, Israel cannot.
  Although he was not Jewish, Mr. Hoffer championed a strong United 
States-Israel relationship and understood the geopolitical importance 
of Israel. Furthermore, Mr. Hoffer recognized the moral responsibility 
of the international community to support the world's only Jewish state 
in light of worldwide inaction and indifference to the Holocaust, which 
had occurred just 23 years before this article was written.

               [From the Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1968]

                       Israel's Peculiar Position

                            (By Eric Hoffer)

       The Jews are a peculiar people; things permitted to other 
     nations are forbidden to the Jews.
       Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people 
     and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it; Poland and 
     Czechoslovakia did it; Turkey threw out a million Greeks, and 
     Algeria a million Frenchmen. Indonesia threw out heavens 
     knows how many Chinese--and no one says a word about 
     refugees. But in the case of Israel the displaced Arabs have 
     become eternal refugees. Everyone insists Israel must take 
     back every single Arab. Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement 
     of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the 
     Nazis.
       Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate 
     peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for 
     peace.
       Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in 
     this world. Other nations when they are defeated survive and 
     recover, but should Israel be defeated, it would be 
     destroyed. Had Nasser triumphed last June he would have wiped 
     Israel off the map, and no one would have lifted a finger to 
     save the Jews. No commitment to the Jews by any government, 
     including our own, is worth the paper it is written on.
       There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people 
     die in Vietnam or when two people are executed in Rhodesia. 
     But when Hitler slaughtered Jews, no one remonstrated with 
     him. The Swedes, who are ready to break diplomatic ties with 
     America because of what we do in Vietnam, did not let out a 
     peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews. They sent Hitler 
     choice iron ore and ball bearings, and serviced his troop 
     trains to Norway.
       The Jews are alone in the world. If Israel survives, it 
     will be solely because of Jewish efforts and Jewish 
     resources. Yet at this moment Israel is our only reliable and 
     unconditional ally. We can rely more on Israel than Israel 
     can rely on us. And one has only to imagine what would have 
     happened last summer had the Arabs and their Russian backers 
     won the war to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to 
     America and the West in general.
       I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes 
     with Israel so it will go with all of us. Should Israel 
     perish, the holocaust will be upon us.

     

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