WINSTON CHURCHILL, THE JEWS AND ZIONISM (1 November 2016, 30 Tishrei, 5777)
[Adapted from an article by Yair Davidiy first published in BRIT-AM Truth No. 10, ca. 2008] [Part of this article relies heavily (though definitely NOT exclusively) on the work, "Churchill and the Jews" by Martin Gilbert, 2007, Great Britain. Martin Gilbert is Jewish, a well-known historian, and the official biographer of Sir Winston.]
Contents:
1. Introduction. Churchill as a Prototype of Ephraim.
2. Ancestry: John Churchill.
3. Winston. African Ancestry? Amerindian?
4. Early Life and Character.
5. Churchill and Conspiracy Theories
(a) Protocols
(b) Nesta Webster
6. Churchill after the Balfour Declaration
7.Churchill Creates the State of Jordan
8. Churchill Administers "Palestine": Arab Population Increase
9. Churchill in "Jewish Pay"?
10. The Later Interwar Years
11. World War Two
12. After World War Two
13. Dreams, Disraeli, and the Suez Canal
14. Later Years
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1. Introduction. Churchill as a Prototype of Ephraim.
The present article gives a brief account of the attitude or variations in attitude of Winston Churchill (1875-1965) towards the Jews. The life of Churchill spans an important period in the history of Great Britain, Churchill himself was a major national leader during a period of crisis and national self-realization.
Wikipedia tells us that:
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874 -1965) was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a non-academic historian, a writer (as Winston S. Churchill), and an artist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, lifetime body of work. In 1963, he was the first of only eight people to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.
We know Churchill as the man who rallied the British People to resist the menace of Germany during World War 2 and who led the Free World to victory. Churchill was the Leader who made speeches that expressed the spirit of Britain. When everything else seemed to fail and be on the verge of collapse the words of Churchill asserted the truth that kept the British going. Behind the words there were actions. The present article shows that Churchill was a true friend of the Jewish People, an Israelite, and in many ways epitomized what EPHRAIM really is.
The attitude of Churchill towards the Jews etc has an importance beyond mere biographical detail. It reflects something about Great Britain itself. A great Rabbinical philosopher, The Maharal of Prague (1526-1609), is reported to have said that nations should be judged not according to the individuals amongst them but as to how they behave in the aggregate and the character of their leaders. After the Battle of Britain Churchill said that in the future it would be said of the British People that this was "their finest hour". “And so in a sense it was and it is at least partly due to Churchill that they achieved it. A study of Churchill is therefore a study of the British People themselves.
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It is worth reminding ourselves of who Churchill was. Winston Churchill was a member of the British aristocracy, very conscious of his ancestry, and of history in general. He was descended from John Churchill (1650-1722) a man of obscure beginnings. Arabella, the sister of John Churchill, became the mistress of James Stuart and the future King James- II. “At that time the reigning monarch was King Charles-II, brother of James Sturat. John Churchill himself at the beginning appears to have serviced important women and in terms of today would have been considered a kind of gigolo. Charles-II allegedly caught him consorting with the king's mistress and remarked, "You are a rascal but I forgive you because you do it to get your bread."
Through his connection with James Stuart, John received a commission in the English Army later becoming the head of it having advanced in rank due to repeated acts of bravery. He suppressed rebellions in England and Ireland. He later helped depose James-II and went on to defeat the armies of Louis-XIV of France. In the opinion of some historians he was "without doubt the greatest British commander in history" (David Chandler). He founded a dynasty of Statesmen and soldiers one of whom was Colonel Charles Henry Churchill (1807-1869) who in 1840 helped protect the Jews of Damascus who had been falsely accused of ritually murdering a Christian. Colonel Charles Henry Churchill was an early Zionist or Restorationist. He urged the Jews to take the initiative to resettle their ancient land and that European Powers assist them. He wrote "Mount Lebanon" advocating that Britain establish a presence in Syria (which then included "Palestine") and Egypt part of the purpose being to protect the Jews in those regions (see Barbara W. Tuchman, "Bible and Sword. England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour", 1956).
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3. Winston. African Ancestry? Amerindian?
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and descended from John Churchill.
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (1849-1895), the father of Winston, had been a prominent Statesman and politician. Lord Randolph had many Jewish associates. Lord Randolph spoke strongly against anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia in the 1880s and 1890s.
Once at a social event a leading noble asked,
"What, Lord Randolph, you've not brought your Jewish friends?"
Randolph answered:
"No, I do not think they would be very amused by the company."
As far as is known, Winston Churchill had no Jewish ancestry. The mother of Winston was an American named Jenny Jerome and descended from Huguenots. She was somewhat darkish and sultry in appearance. Churchill liked to suggest that he may have had an Amerindian forebear. He also believed that he had some Afro-American blood. [quoted from Elisabeth Kehoe, Fortune's Daughters: The Extravagant Lives of the Jerome Sisters (2004), p.4, see: Churchill's Jewish Ancestry - Not! http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/churchills-jewish-ancestry-not_08.php ]
Roger Peyrefitte, "The Jews", 1965, and others have claimed that the mother of Churchill was the offspring of a Jewish "Jacobson" family. There is no proof of this. It seems unlikely and she herself appears to have been unaware of it.
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Churchill as a young man had a very serious lisp which some say is an inherited trait of Ephraim who were unable to say "Shiboleth" but instead said "Sibboleth" (Judges 12:6). Churchill began his adult life as a soldier and war correspondent. He saw action in several wars actively seeking it out. He was a champion at sword-play (fencing) and at polo. In his youth on a trip to the USA one of his hosts claimed that Winston had an insatiable appetite for red-headed prostitutes. Whatever the case, after marriage he remained faithful to his spouse. He enjoyed alcohol in regular but moderate quantities as well as cigars. Churchill liked gambling, conversation, dinners, and being the guest of wealthy people, both in Britain and overseas, especially France. His pastimes included brick-laying and oil painting at which he was quite accomplished. Churchill memorized a great deal of poetry, was an intellectual who kept abreast of developments in current thought, political philosophy, historical research, and scientific achievement. In later life he received a Nobel Prize in Literature for his historical writings. Churchill believed in Divine Providence and in the Bible though there was a stage in his youth of doubt and disbelief.
# Churchill had always urged the Jews to be good citizens, while retaining their faith and culture. His advice to his Manchester Jewish constituents in 1907 was: Be good Jews. He explained that he did not believe a Jew could be a good Englishman unless he is a good Jew. #
Source: # Churchill was too fond of the Jews.' #
"It's nonsense to allege that the war leader was anti-Semitic,"
by Martin Gilbert
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2007/03/churchill-was-too-fond-of-the-jews/
The grandson (also called "Winston") of Winston Churchill wrote an account of Israel and the Six Day War in which in the opening lines he mentions the belief that the British were descended from the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Sir Winston himself may also have entertained such a notion. Churchill was brave, sensitive, intellectual, aggressive, and a politician. Churchill was always attuned to the latest trends of opinion. He was prepared to stand up for his principles and go against the majority yet he had a sense of survival and when necessary accommodation. This helps explain various changes of position (usually on marginal points) that he was to hold. Throughout his life he was fanatically anti-Communist. This on some occasions may have lead to misjudgments. He is also quoted as having been in favor of eugenics and other now discredited conceptions but at the time such ideas were socially acceptable and held by many leading intellectuals and public figures. Churchill was a politician and a socializing individual naturally attuned to contemporary thinking.
Churchill Early Period
In his earlier years Winston served as a soldier, military correspondent, and well-known author of contemporary history. He seems to have always been pro-Jewish. Winston Churchill would admonish those around him not to make anti-Semitic remarks. Churchill visited France in 1898 at the time of the Dreyfus scandal. Captain Alfred Dreyfus (possibly a remote relation of Yair Davidiy through his mother) had been falsely accused of spying for Germany. Dreyfus was Jewish and the accusation was promoted by anti-Semites. Emile Zola, a leading novelist, helped to expose the framing of Dreyfus. Churchill enthusiastically supported Zola and Dreyfus. [Churchill spoke passable French, loved France, and in 1939 proposed that France and Britain become one country]. Throughout his life Churchill had Jewish friends and supporters.
Winston entered parliament in 1900 and in 1904 did much to defeat the proposed Aliens Bill whose purpose would have been to restrict the immigration of Jews to Britain. At that time Jews were being persecuted in Russia and the Jews sought a place of refuge.
In 1910 Churchill became Home Secretary i.e. Minister of the Interior. In 1911 a series of attacks by crowds against Jewish property took place in South Wales. Churchill ensured that the offenders were punished and the disturbances put down. In 1914 the First World War began. Churchill enabled Hans Hertzl, the son of the Zionist leader Theodor Hertzl, to become a British citizen even though he had been born in Austro- Hungary which was at war with Britain. Churchill was made First Lord of the Admiralty, in charge of the Navy. The British Navy needed to find another source of a chemical, acetone, for its ammunition. Chaim Weizman (Zionist leader and future president of Israel) was a chemist and found a solution. Weizman and Churchill developed a life-long friendship.
The First World War ended in 1918. The Russian Revolution had taken place in 1917. Russian Counter ("White")-Revolutionaries, under General Denikin, aided by contingents from Western Powers including British ones fought against the Communists. The Forces of Denikin in Russia viciously attacked Jewish communities. In the Ukraine, between 1918-1920 more than 60,000 Jews were massacred with many more raped and injured. Churchill, though a supporter of Denikin, attempted to prevent these pogroms but with limited successes. Anti-Jewish propaganda relied heavily on distribution of "The Protocols of Zion". [Incidentally, Henry Ford in the USA subsidized distribution of "The Protocols" in America and overseas and had long excerpts from them published in his own newspaper, "The Dearborn Independent." Ford went on to become an early supporter of Adolf Hitler.]
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5. Churchill and Conspiracy Theories
"The Protocols of Zion" purported to describe a plot by the Jews and Freemasons to undermine the traditional foundations of society, crate anarchy and licentiousness, and then take over the World. The Protocols originally evolved from works of fiction and political satire in France and Germany that described secret organizations plotting to corrupt society. Later they were republished, Jews included amongst the villains, and presented as fact. The Prussian Secret Service adapted these earlier works and came up with the Protocols as we now know them. The secret service of Czarist Russia helped spread them. When the Protocols were first published in their "World Jewish-Plot" permutation it was a period of upheavals and revolutions that appeared to fit the "master plan" outlined by them. "The Times" newspaper in England at first tended to consider the Protocols as genuine but later published articles by Philip Graves that exposed them as a forgery. Philip Graves used information provided by Lucien Wolf in 1921. Modern Conspiracy Theory to some degree is a development of "The Protocols". The Jesuits along with the Secret Services of Prussia and Russia helped spread the Protocols and/or similar literature in an attempt to counter reform movements in Europe.
[Belief in the Protocols has been recently revived by Arabs and Conspiracy Freaks including Jewish ones such as Barry Chamish and Marvin Antelman. Even otherwise God-fearing, intelligent, well-informed, nationalist, patriotic supporters of Zionism have been taken in by such scallywags. Their presumed justification is that there are "bad" Jews and "good" Jews with the "bad" ones being responsible for the "Conspiracy" plots! Written ca. 2007-2008]
In a speech in 1920 Churchill described Bolshevist-Communism as a "Jewish movement". Churchill however was always careful to distinguish between Jews loyal to their countries and tradition and bad ones. A month later Churchill made a speech in which he urged the Jews to reject Communism and to choose Zionism. Churchill described the Jews as, "The most formidable and the most remarkable race which has ever appeared in the world". It should be noted that a few weeks before making the speech Churchill had received a copy of "The Protocols". It is not certain whether or not Churchill believed they were genuine. For a short period it was widely accepted that the Protocols might be genuine and the product of a maverick Jewish group. Later the invention of the Protocols by anti-Semitic European agencies was proven beyond all shadow of doubt. Nevertheless, the trend of thought exemplified by "The Protocols" continued to be fashionably accepted and respectable in many circles and it still is.
The Russian Revolution took place in 1917. The Revolution was against the Czar, ruling aristocracy, and secret police forces that had been exploiting and oppressing the Russian people as well as the numerous subject populations under Russian rule. The leadership of the Revolution was at first headed by Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970) who was a moderate socialist democrat. Kerensky was ousted by a coup and the Bolshevik Communists under Lenin and Trotsky took over. This occurred during World War-I while Russia under Kerensky was continuing to fight as an ally of the West. Lenin had substantial funds provided by the German military who wished to take Russia out of the War and Lenin obliged. The majority of Jews in Russia had supported Kerensky whose father was Jewish. The Jews on the whole were overwhelmingly not communist. Jews had been oppressed by the Czar and the Jewish religion hounded and suppressed. This resulted in many Jewish intellectuals losing their faith. At the very beginning and for a realtively short while Jews though only about 4% of the population provided 40% of the Bolshevik officials. To many it seemed as if most of the leading Communists were renegade Jewish atheists. This in the eyes of foreign observers seemed to affirm the scenario described in The Protocols.
In Britain, Nesta Helen Webster (1876-1960) in 1920 wrote "The Jewish Peril" based on "The Protocols". Churchill wrote an article in the "Illustrated Sunday Herald", February 8, 1920 in which he on the one hand praises the Jews but on the other refers favorably to Nesta Webster. This article was actually written by a ghost writer in the employ of Churchill. Winston is also often by anti-Semites quoted as delivering a speech of like nature, along the lines of the article. Churchill later denied having made the speech and threatened to sue those who said he had. At all events, he never returned to the subject. He may (like many, many others) have been temporarily deluded by Conspiracy Theory and after realizing his error preferred to ignore it. It should be noted that Nesta Webster was involved in the occult, You shall not suffer a witch to live (Exodus 20:18).
At that time, there was a school of devil worshippers and Hindu aficionados popular in intellectual circles. It was headed by Aleister Crowley (1874-1947) but included Irish Nationalists and leading anti-Semites amongst the British Upper Classes. A few members of this circle became early supporters of the Nazis in Germany. Quite a few leading anti-Semites all over Europe were involved with occultic (witchcraft) practices. They were the ones who propagated The Protocols and Conspiracy Theory. They themselves could do with some examining.
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6. Churchill after the Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration in 1917 had announced the intention of the British Government to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish Home in Palestine.
In 1919 Churchill wrote:
"¦there are the Jews, whom we are pledged to introduce into Palestine and who take it for granted that the local population will be cleared out to suit their convenience ."
At that time Britain ruled over 20 million Muslims in India as well as millions more in Egypt, the rest of Africa and the Middle East.
In 1921 Prime Minister Lloyd George (a Welshman and a very strong sympathizer of the Jews) appointed Churchill as Secretary of State for the Colonies.
The introduction of Zionism and Jewish Settlements had caused serious disturbances in the Middle East. The British had promised a portion of the Arabs independence from foreign rule. The British did not give it to all of them but instead (together with the French in Syria) ruled over them and in Palestine encouraged Jewish colonization. This was a cause of fiction.
In 1921 Churchill visited Palestine. He was accompanied by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Sir Herbert Samuel. Lawrence in World War One had lead the Arab Revolt against the Turks but on this occasion spoke depreciatively of the Arabs and praised the Zionist projects. Lawrence persistently tried to placate the Arabs and told them that they would have to accept the presence of the Jews.
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7. Churchill Creates the State of Jordan
Churchill separated the area east of the Jordan ("Transjordan", -The Kingdom of "Jordan" of today) from Palestine and gave it to Abdullah Hussein to whom the British were obligated. There were some Jews who welcomed this step since the family of Abdullah had been the traditional rulers of Mecca and had influence with the Arabs and claims to suzerainty over them. Giving him "Transjordan" closed Abdullah out of the region of Jewish settlement. At that time there were no Jews living east of the Jordan though the Zionists had hoped to eventually colonize it and had made some attempts in that direction. According to the Bible a good portion (and perhaps all, depending on which opinion one agrees with) of the region of Jordan is part of the Promised Land and should belong to Israel (Joshua 1:4). Nevertheless, legally for what it is worth, the area of Transjordan may technically never been intended as part of the Balfour Declaration. It had first been ear-marked for the French and then by default fell to the British. The British requested from the League of Nations the right to administer the Transjordan area as part of the Mandate. This permission was granted but that did not necessarily make the region an intrinsic part of the original Mandate territory.
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8. Churchill Administers "Palestine": Arab Population Increase
Churchill was against giving the Palestinians any representative rights since the Jews were too much in the minority and the Arabs were constantly trying to halt Jewish immigration. He did however approve a suggestion from Sir Herbert Samuel (the Jewish High Commissioner for Palestine 1920-25) to restrict Jewish immigration according to the economic capacity of Palestine to absorb newcomers. 400,000 new Jewish immigrants were to arrive from 1922-1939. The Arab population also more than doubled or trebled due to immigration attracted by the increased prosperity occasioned by British administration and Zionist enterprise. The Arabs came from other parts of the Muslim world as far apart as from Bosnia and Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east.
Joan Peters, "From Time Immemorial. The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine", 1984, describes the process of Arab increase. Peters gives a factual account but almost exclusively blames the British for the growth in Arab "Palestinian" population and attributes it to the anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist sentiments of British officials. This is not really fair since the Jews benefited from Arab labor and Jewish capitalists and even Zionist enterprises appeared to support the phenomenon. At all events the Arab increase in numbers was mentioned often by Churchill in government mementoes, speeches and articles defending the Zionist enterprise.
During this period Churchill was pressured by Arab unrest, threats, and violence along with the exhortations of foreign Heads of State and British politicians to abandon the Balfour Declaration. Churchill adamantly refused. In 1922 the Lloyd George Government of which Churchill was a member was voted out of office.
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Churchill was often accused of being in the pay of the Jews. This was not true. Churchill however was not independently wealthy. An Hungarian Jew, Emery Reeves, successfully syndicated internationally the articles of Churchill and became a lifelong friend. Churchill also received assistance for his own investments along with political support from Jews. On the whole Jews were supportive of Churchill. There were however exceptions. "People of Means" (usually not Jewish) felt privileged to be involved with someone like Churchill who all his life was regarded by friend and foe as "larger than life". Churchill once lost a very large sum of money gambling in France. The owner of the Casino requested a signed check which he never cashed but had framed and hung in his office.
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In 1931 Churchill wrote an article, "Moses", in which he affirmed his belief in the Bible and historicity of Moses. [In 1961 Churchill gave a copy of this essay to the Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion.]
In July 1932 Adolf Hitler took control of Germany. That same year Churchill visited Germany in connection with research for a book about his ancestor, the Duke of Marloborough, i.e. John Churchill. It was arranged for Churchill to meet Hitler but the meeting was canceled apparently because Churchill in the meantime had condemned the attitude of Hitler to the Jews. Shortly afterwards Churchill in the House of Commons warned against the danger of Germany. Henceforth Churchill became the leader of British opposition to the Nazis who nevertheless had some support in right-wing and even liberal intellectual circles. The speeches of Churchill against the Nazis emphasized the wickedness of the German anti-Jewish practices and the danger of Germany to the Western World. It is worth noting that Churchill had an assistant, Professor Frederick Lindemann who was a German and advised Churchill on German and scientific matters. As early as 1933 Churchill had sent Lindemann to Germany to seek out Jewish scientists and encourage them to move to Britain. Professor Lindemann was non-Jewish and an anti-Nazi. He stayed by the side of Churchill throughout the Second World War.
In 1936 the 22 year old daughter of Churchill, Sarah, married Vic Oliver who was an Austrian Jew. Oliver was 38 years old and twice-divorced. Churchill opposed the marriage at first, but later said he was pleased with it. Also, in 1936 there were Arab riots in Palestine and Churchill suggested limiting Jewish immigration.
In 1937 Churchill gave evidence to the Palestine Royal Commission in which he in effect declared that the British understanding was that eventually there would be an independent state in which Jews would be the majority. He also declared that British policy had been to bring in as many Jews as possible. Again, in 1937 the Peel Commission recommended the partition of Palestine. Churchill was against partition saying that it was too early and that not enough land would be apportioned to the Jews. In the eyes of Churchill the projected Jewish State should by rights stretch from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. The Zionist activist, Chaim Weiseman, was for partition but wished a greater portion than that proposed and Churchill agreed to do what he could. There was to be a vote in Parliament on the question. Zeev Jabotinsky head of the Revisionists nationalist Zionist group met with Churchill and persuaded him to speak against partition, which he did, and the decision was deferred.
In 1938 Germany took over Austria. Churchill called on the German military to overthrow Hitler, and Hitler did not like that. In that same year Churchill asked that more Jews be aloud to enter Palestine. During this period Churchill was the head of the British anti-German pro-armament party. At that time Churchill was considered a war-mongering fanatic, but later would be remembered as the one who had foreseen the dire consequences of appeasement and had given the warning against Hitler.
From 1936 to 1939, 5,000 Arabs in Palestine who were against the Zionist presence were killed by British soldiers. Another 500 were killed by fellow Arabs because they were pro-Jewish.
In 1939 Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain, in the light of the International crisis said that it was imperative that the Muslim World not be antagonized. If a choice had to be made between the Jew and the Arab, said Chamberlain, then the Arab would be chosen. Britain was under pressure from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, and its Muslim subjects in general, who were much affected by Nazi propaganda. Consequently, the Palestine White Paper against which Winston had spoken vehemently restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine. Churchill would continue to speak against the White Paper at every opportunity.
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In September 1939 Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany.
Churchill at first was made First Lord of the Admiralty in charge of the Navy.
Churchill attempted to have the restriction on Jewish immigration removed but was unsuccessful. He also acted to stop British ships from enforcing the restrictive immigration policy against ships bearing Jewish refugees headed for Palestine. Throughout the war Churchill attempted to remove the restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine. He was only partly successful in doing so. He was constantly opposed in his pro-Jewish aims by other members of the Cabinet and by senior officials.
In May 1940 it was decided to replace Chamberlain as Prime Minister. Churchill was considered and eventually chosen for the post even though the fact that he was known to be pro-Zionist was held against him. From the beginning Churchill urged that the Jews of Palestine be given arms to defend themselves and that Jewish units under the Zionist flag be formed in the British Army. Only after some serious delays would this wish be partially fulfilled.
The Germans conquered Poland, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and France.
Churchill made a speech to the British people after the evacuation of the British Army from France at Dunkirk. At that stage Britain was alone in the world against the then-victorious Nazis. Britain faced the prospect of invasion. Churchill said that Britain would never give in and would fight everywhere and in every way possible until Victory was gained no matter how long it would take. His speech was a turning-point. Ben-Gurion described it as embodying "rebellious England" and as "a guarantee for better days". Churchill, in another speech, said that the Allies' science was superior to that of the Nazis due to the presence in Britain of Jewish scientists who had fled from the Germans.
In 1940 Adolph Eichmann in order to embarrass the British Government sent 3,600 Jewish refugees aboard three ships from Romania to Palestine. The British transferred 1,972 of the refugees to a ship named "Patria" intending to send them to Mauritius.
The semi-official Jewish defense organization, "Haganah" blew the ship up by miscalculation having intended only to prevent it from sailing. 267 were killed. Churchill insisted that all the remaining refugees be allowed to stay in Palestine. Jewish refugees who arrived illegally either remained in Palestine or were sent to Mauritius.
In 1942 the Germans under Rommel seemed likely to overrun the Allies and conquer Egypt and Palestine. In response, the British created a Palestinian Regiment in which three quarters were Jewish and a quarter Arab. Rommel was eventually defeated by British forces in which at first the Australian and later the New Zealand contingents played a prominent role. Churchill suggested that the Jews be allowed self-government in Palestine and that they also be given the former Italian colonies of Eritrea (facing the Red Sea) and Tripolitania (a province of present-day Libya) on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa.
During 1942 reports of massacres of Jewish civilians in Europe grew in intensity. The British Government attempted to evacuate 29,000 Jewish children and some civilians from south-east Europe through Turkey. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini prevailed upon the Germans to stop the project. Churchill warned the Nazis with retribution. He wished to make the official warnings as emphatic as possible but was told that the result was liable to be counter productive. The Nazi anti-Semitic policy was effective and received popular support in Eastern Europe. In North Africa the Vichy French authorities had co-operated with the Nazis and enacted anti-Jewish laws. After the Allies liberated North Africa the anti-Semitic enactments had remained in force for three months until brought to the attention of Churchill who immediately annulled them.
In 1943 the Spanish closed the border between Spain and France to Jews who were fleeing from the Nazis and considered turning Jews back to the Germans. Churchill threatened Spain, the border was opened, and Jews who reached Spain were allowed to stay. After May 1943 Britain allowed all Jews who reached Spain to cross via Gibraltar to North Africa which was then under Allied control. The USA opposed this step but Churchill personally intervened with President Roosevelt to make it happen. Bernard Baruch was an important Jew in the US administration and an anti-Zionist. Churchill unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to support the Zionist cause. Every American serviceman who arrived in Britain was shown a captured film depicting Nazi atrocities against Jews and others.
It should be realized that Churchill was waging a war of survival and had enormous responsibilities. His national pro-Jewish sympathies encountered resistance from all around him. The position of Churchill was officially recorded thusly:
"Of every fifty officers who came back from the Middle East only one spoke favorably of the Jews - but that has merely gone to convince him that he was right."
Randolph Churchill, the son of Winston, throughout the war was active on behalf of the Jews. Randolph parachuted behind the German lines in Yugoslavia where he helped save Jews and liaisoned with Jewish agents sent by the Haganah in Palestine.
In Palestine towards the end of World War Two Jewish paramilitary organization, the Irgun and Stern Gang, had began attacking British forces who they considered to be siding with the Arabs. Amongst other acts, a friend of Churchill, Lord Moyne, in Egypt was assassinated. Moyne had been the governor of Egypt and consiotently vigorously taken an anti-Jewish attitude. The culprits (members of the Stern Gang) were found guilty and sentenced to death. Churchill insisted that the sentence be carried out.
From March 1944 any Jew reaching Istanbul in Turkey was sent straight on to Palestine regardless of certificates or quotas. Later, Churchill was to describe the Holocaust as, "probably the greatest and most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world".
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At the end of the war President Roosevelt met with Ibn Saud of Arabia. After this meeting Roosevelt appeared to adopt a pro-Arab position. Churchill met with Ibn Saud and tried to persuade him to accept the Zionist presence.
Shortly afterwards the party of Churchill lost the elections and Churchill became the Leader of the Opposition. The new Prime Minister was Clement Atlee and the new Foreign Minister (responsible for Palestine) was Ernest Bevin. There followed a period of increasing antagonism and occasional violence between the British authorities and the Jews in Palestine. Churchill persistently spoke in favor of the Jews even at the worst of moments.
A series of Jewish terrorist attacks culminated in the blowing up of the King David Hotel and the loss of many lives including 17 Jews. This resulted in Churchill suggesting that Britain turn the Mandate over to the USA or to the UN. The attitude of Churchill was roughly that Britain should either help the Jews as required, according to his understanding, by the obligations that Britain had undertaken or get out.
On the 14th of May 1948 the State of Israel declared its Independence. The new Jewish state was immediately under attack by Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Transjordan. The army of Transjordan (present-day "Jordan") was the Arab Legion which in the words of Churchill was, "led by 40 British officers, armed with British equipment and financed by British subsidy". Churchill protested but was somewhat placated when hearing that British officers had been withdrawn before the attack on Jerusalem which the Arab Legion conquered. In 1949 there was an incident in which three British Spitfire planes possibly on reconnaissance for Egypt were shot down by Israelis. Churchill strongly criticized the ruling British Labour Government and accused it of anti-Semitism.
Truth to be told, Churchill was not anti-Arab but rather concerned for them and believed that they had benefited greatly from the Zionist presence and could do so in the future by coming to an accommodation with Israel.
In October 1951 Churchill became Prime Minister again, until 1954. While Prime Minister he rebuked a claim by Iraq that Israel be made to relinquish the Negev and refused to send more British troops to Jordan which was at loggerheads with Israel. Nevertheless after an Israeli reprisal attack on Jordan, Churchill acquiesced with his Foreign Minister, Anthony Eden, in sending a warning to Israel noting that Britain was under an obligation to defend Jordan. There was even a contingency plan for Britain to invade Israel. Field-Marshal Sir William Slim, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, was sent to Egypt on official maters. Churchill said to him before he left:
"Field-Marshal, I'm sending you to Egypt and I want to make one point clear. I am Zionist and I want you to act accordingly".
Similarly in 1954 Churchill told journalists,
"I am a Zionist, let me make this clear. I am one of the original ones after the Balfour Declaration and I have worked faithfully for it."
Churchill turned 80 in 1954 and the State of Israel sent him a floral arrangement in the shape of a cigar. Churchill praised Jewish contributions to Civilization, scientific achievements, and greatly helping the Allies win two world wars. He was in favor of Israel joining the British Commonwealth and receiving possession of Jerusalem.
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13. Dreams, Disraeli, and the Suez Canal
Churchill claimed that occasionally he had dreams and visions in which his deceased father would talk to him. On one occasion during World War Two, Lord Randolph warned him of terrible crimes being committed against the Jews. Another time his father praised Benjamin Disraeli, the British Prime Minister of Jewish decent who had given the right to vote to the working classes:
"I always believed in Dizzy, that old Jew. He saw into the future. We had to bring the English working man into the center of the picture".
Benjamin Disraeli also deserves credit for acquiring for Britain the Suez Canal (1875) which links the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. In 1956 Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal and attempted to block the access of Israel to the Red Sea. It was planned for Israel to invade the Sinai while Britain and France would seize the Suez Canal on the pretext of keeping the peace and ensuring a ceasefire.
At the time Churchill confided to a friend about the Israelis:
"I wish them well, and how I wish I were young again, to go to help them".
Churchill also made a public statement justifying Israel as acting out of self defense.
The upshot of the whole affair however, was that the USA forced Britain, France, and Israel to retreat.
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In 1961 Churchill met Ben-Gurion in London and told him:
"You are a brave leader of a great nation".
In 1962 Churchill wished to visit Israel but was prevented from doing so.
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill died in 1965.
Churchill was not Jewish. He was a human being living very much in the world around him and being influenced by it. In the course of his long life there were occasions on which he could say or write things or allow positions to be taken concerning the Jews that lack a degree of sensitivity.
Nevertheless, Churchill was a friend of the Jewish people.
During a discussion of Jewish terrorism in Palestine Churchill had said:
"The Jewish people know well enough that I am their friend".
This sentence sums it up.
They say you can tell a man by his friends.