The Weekly Sam: An Open Letter to American Jews by Sam Blumenfeld
(The following is from the Sam Blumenfeld Archives. It was written in 1960 during the Kennedy-Nixon Campaign, but if he were alive today, he could have written a letter warning Jews and Americans of the anti-Semitic polices of Kamala Harris. Sam was the founder of American Friends of Algeria.)
Recently. three prominent Jewish leaders protested to Vice President Nixon because his press secretary had brought to their attention an editorial in an Israeli newspaper urging American Jews to vote for Nixon. The Jewish leaders were somewhat shocked because they were appealed to as Jews and not simply as Americans, and in their protest, they termed the press secretary’s action as Han insult to our faith.” This protest, the Jewish leaders asserted. was a personal action on their part and did not represent the opinions of the membership of their organizations. However, the protest as carried and reported in the press gave readers the impression that these leaders were speaking for the entire Jewish community. It is for this reason that I feel compelled to address this letter to ~ coreligionists who are somewhat dismayed and confused by this whole incident and who suspect that in all of this smoke there may be some fire.
As an American Jew I do not consider it an insult to my faith to be informed of opinion in security-sensitive Israel concerning our Presidential candidates and their policies. The Israeli newspaper, in its awkward way, was trying to say what a great many Americans of all faiths firmly believe that Kennedy’s foreign policy does represent a line of appeasement which could ultimately lead to the destruction of Israel and the West. Do I speak as a biased Republican? No, for I am a registered Democrat who this November will be voting Republican for the first time. Am I making groundless assertions or distorting Senator Kennedy’s words? Again, no. for the record is there for everyone who wants to see it in a. collection of the Senator’s ‘speeches entitled Strategy for Peace, and the Senator has not repudiated one word of it. Take, for example, the matter of Algeria–whose fate in a geopolitical sense has a very direct bearing on the future security of Israeli
The Senator has made his views quite clear on Algeria. In a startling Senate speech in 1957 strongly echoing the line of the. American Friends of the Middle East–an organization dedicated to the advancement of Arab nationalism and the. destruction of Israel–Senator Kennedy urged the United States to betray its major ally France in favor of the FLN terrorists who seek to establish their dictatorship over all of Algeria. Now, Algeria is not a purely Moslem country. It is, in fact. a multi-religious community which has been for the last 100 years a legal part of the French Republic and whose inhabitants are French citizens. The Moslem terrorists who seek to separate Algeria from France do not have the popular. support of their own people. They are a minority faction using terror. extortion and assassination as the means to achieve domination. Until now they have murdered and injured over 30.0000! their fellow Moslem civilians. This has made their cause anything but popular with the inhabitants of Algeria. Yet, this is the· group to which Senator Kennedy urged the United States to lend its support jeopardizing our military alliance with France as well as a close association and friendship which goes back to the days of Washington and Jefferson.
Now. you may ask, what bearing does this have on Israel or American Jews? The answer is this: Should Senator Kennedy’s policy be adopted after his election and should it succeed~ it would mean the expulsion of France from Algeria, the consolidation of Nasser’s Pan-Arab empire in North Africa, the inevitable destruction of French Algerian Jewry, and the enlistment of Algeria in the economic blockade against Israel. It should be noted that the Algerian rebels have taken part in all of the Arab League conferences dealing with Israel and are in full accord with general Arab aim of destroying Israel. Now, in what way would an independent” Algeria hasten the destruction. of Israel. One, it would add Algeria and its vast resources to the strength of the Arab block. Two, it would free Arab energies .to concentrate on the ultimate goal of destroying Israel; three, it would deprive Israel of France~ a military ally. Algerian France would no longer find it necessary to come to the aid of Israel in case of an attack from Nasser. France, it should be remembered, supplied. Israel with the Jets and tanks which made a victory in Sinai possible; four, it would add Algeria to the Arab bloc in the United Nations and enlist her in the general Arab campaign to spread anti-Semitism throughout Africa and the rest .of the world.
These are only the more direct effects which Kennedy’s policy, if successful, would have on the security of Israel. But what would this policy mean in the greater world picture to betray France would not only serve to aggravate and weaken our ally, but also to cause a serious rift in the Western alliance, which is exactly what the communists have been trying to achieve since the formation of NATO. As for anti-Semitism, there is no doubt that it would increase dangerously in France where, for some strange self-destructive reasons, such distinguished Jews as Mendes-France and Servan-Schreiber have openly espoused the cause of the Algerian nationalists, despite the glaring fact that the vast majority of Algerians of all religious communities have in two massive referendums expressed their determination to remain French.
This is just a brief outline of the effects which only one of Senator Kennedy’s future actions might have in the realm of foreign policy. Several indications. however, become very clear in the various remarks and speeches the Senator has made in his first decade for example, he has an almost obsessive hostility toward France, which does not augur well for the Western alliance. This hostility has manifested itself in the many anti-French statements the Senator has made concerning Indochina. Algeria and NATO. In one speech Sen. Kennedy made the amazing remark that the French atomic bomb was aimed at Washington and not Moscow. This would lead one to conclude that the Senator considers France a greater menace then Russia.
Now, what does this mean for Americans, particularly those who area1~o Jews1 Jews should be reminded that France is Israel’s only military friend and should therefore be given as much support as possible by them. Kennedy’s anti-French policy is, indirectly. an anti-Israel policy, for in effect it accomplishes the same thing: it strengthens Arab nationalism and weakens Israel’s defense position. Kennedy’s anti-French policy also weakens the West in general and strengthens the communist hand in Western Europe and North Africa.
It is no secret that the communists have been supporting the Algerian nationalists since the beginning of the rebellion and hope to reap the benefits of an FLN victory. As the reader will notice I have not had to mention Quemoy or Matsu in criticizing Senator Kennedy’s policy of appeasement. The Israelis, on the other hand, have found reason to be wary of the Senator. They see their security position from a world view, and it is quite understandable for them to want to influence their fellow Jews in voting for a President whose policies will have a very direct bearing on their future security. Now, of course, Jews as Americans are free to vote for whomever they please and for whatever reasons they see fit. However, if history has taught the Jews any lesson, it is that they cannot afford the luxury of a homegrown isolationism which, in a national election, shuts off everything from view but local party loyalty. It is clear to anyone who follows international developments that the security of Israel will not be strengthened by a Kennedy victory. In fact, the opposite will be the result.
It is incumbent upon the Jews of America that they be properly informed before they vote on November 8th. I have written this letter because I have felt it a duty to bring these views to the attention of my coreligionists who, through a coalition of deceitful forces, are being prevented from seeing the true facts of the world situation.
October 26,1960 SAMUEL L BLUMENFELD
The Blumenfeld Archives