Was Einstein a Zionist?: Dr. Farooq's response to Dr. Colin Shindler

Einstein the Zionist?

Letter to the Editor
sent to The Independent on October 12, 2005.
It was REFUSED publication because, the paper said, I sent it
months after the accusation by Dr. Shindler was printed.
Of no consequence did it seem that neither Dr Shindler,
not the paper had the courtesy to notify me of its printing,
which contributed directly to the time lapse.

In response to Dr. Colin Shindler

In a letter in The Independent [January 11, 2005], Dr. Colin Shindler, a lecturer in Israeli and Modern Jewish Studies and Chair, Centre for Jewish Studies at University of London, accused me of distorting the history about the relationship between Einstein and Zionism. He wrote: "He (Einstein) never renounced his Zionism."

The fact is nowhere on my essay did I state, or imply, that Einstein had renounced Zionism. Indeed, Einstein said many positive things about Zionism and even provided valuable support for Zionist causes. However, in an internet presentation "Einstein, Zionism and Israel: Setting the Record Straight", I raised concern over Einstein being called a Zionist (emphasis of call, political Zionist). It’s unfortunate that a scholar of his stature, Dr. Shindler, resorted to such unscholarly and deceptive approach on the topic. My field is not Einstein, Zionism, Israel or Jewish Studies. Dr. Shindler's is. Clearly he is assumed to be much better informed about these issues than I. Hence it is quite disappointing, though not surprising, that he used information selectively to support of his accusation of distortion against me.

Let me share some specific information from leading Zionist sources. Abraham Pais was a renowned theoretical physicist and scientific historian. He was also involved in the Zionist movement. In an award-winning biography of Einstein, Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein (Oxford University Press, 1982), he writes:

"There was one person who more than anyone else contributed to Einstein's awakening: Kurt Blumenfeld, from 1910 to 1914 secretary general of the Executive of World Zionist Organizations, which then had its seat in Berlin, and from 1924 to 1933 president of the Union of German Zionists. Ben Gurion called him the greatest moral revolutionary in the Zionist movement. He belonged to the seventh generation of emancipated German Jewry. In a beautiful essay, Blumenfeld has written of his discussions with Einstein in 1919, of his efforts 'to try to get out of a man what is hidden in him, and never to try to instill in a man what is not in his nature' [B3] It was Blumenfeld whom Einstein often entrusted in later years with the preparation of statements in his name on Zionist issues. It was also Blumenfeld who was able to convince Einstein that he ought to join Weizmann on a visit to the United States (April 2 - May 30, 1921) in order to raise funds for the planned Hebrew University. Blumenfeld understood the man he was dealing with. After having convinced Einstein, he wrote to Weizmann, 'As you know, Einstein is no Zionist, and I beg you not to make any attempt to prevail on him to join our organization. ... I heard ... that you expect Einstein to give speeches. Please be quite careful with that. Einstein ... often says things out of naiveté which are unwelcome by us' [B4]."* [p. 315]

Might Dr. Shindler accuse Kurt Blumenfeld of distortion of history, because he said "Einstein is no Zionist"? Or, does Dr. Shindler have any other corroborated research that Blumenfeld changed his assessment of Einstein being a Zionist?

Quite interestingly, in 1929 Einstein participated in the Sixteenth Zionist Congress. In a booklet World Zionist Organization: The National Institutions, Structure and Functions [published by Zionist General Council in designating 1996-1997 as the "Year of Zionism"] has this revealing information.

The Sixteenth Zionist Congress (1929) decided on the establishment of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which would be a joint body of the World Zionist Organization and those known as "non-Zionists" in the belief that all Jews wished to participate in building the National Home. Upon conclusion of the Congress, Board of the Jewish Agency convened. Of its 224 members, 112 were Zionists (members of the World Zionist Organization) including Prof. Chaim Weizmann who was elected as President of the Jewish Agency, Nahum Sokolow, Menahem Ussishkin, Shemaryahu Levin, David Ben-Gurion, Rabbi Uziel; the 112 "non-Zionist" members included Louis Marshall, Shalom Asch, Albert Einstein, Leon Blum, and members of the Rothschild family. [emphases are mine. However, "non-Zionists" within quotation marks is from the original document.

Notably, Zionist General Council is the supreme institution of the Zionist movement and the booklet was published during 1996-1997 period.

Dr. Shindler then uses a circular argument: "If Einstein wasn't a Zionist, it was a bit odd of Ben-Gurion to ask him to stand as second President of Israel in 1952." It projects shades of a sound argument only by hiding its circular conclusion, which would have been something like: “Therefore, Einstein was a Zionist.” However, in Albert Einstein: A Biography (Viking, 1997), Albrecht Folsing shares the following revelation about the offer to Einstein to become Israel's president: "While Ben-Gurion was awaiting Einstein's decision, he asked his assistant, the future president Yitzak Navon, over a cup of coffee: 'Tell me what to do if he says yes! I have had to offer the post to him because it's impossible not to. But if he accepts we're in for trouble.'" [p. 735]

Interesting indeed. I wonder if Dr. Shindler didn’t know about the suspicion by Ben Gurion, or did he simply choose to ignore it?

I have further updated and expanded my original write-up on Einstein. Regardless, a scholar like Dr. Shindler should do better homework, before falsely accusing others of distorting history.

Dr. MOHAMMAD OMAR FAROOQ

Associate Professor of Economics and Finance

Upper Iowa University

Fayette, IA 52142, USA

563-425-5255

http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm

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