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This had an enlightening summary of anti-Semitism in Europe up to the mid-20th century, followed by a sociopolitical analysis of the then contemporary (1938) position of Jews globally, increasingly overshadowed by Naziism and the far right, a sadly over-optimistic section on the possibility of peaceful coexistence of Jews and "Arabs" in Palestine, and a sadly prescient warning of what might be in the immediate future if Hitler remained in power.⬇️

"The addition to any country of a body of young, strong, active and industrious immigrants with the probability of a long life before them (as the [Jewish] refugees from Germany and Austria in the main are) is clearly an asset, particularly to a land which, like England, is faced with an imminent fall in population. As workers and consumers, moreover, they must add to its economic activity, rather than compete (as is generally imagined) in... ⬇️

"In the long run, persecution must harm its perpetrators more than it does its victims."

I'm really feeling Golding's compassion & humanity in his examination of anti-Semitism and fascism. I'm up to the section in which, having summarised the history of European anti-Semitism, Golding has turned to the burning issue of '38 Nazi Germany. Interesting to see his use of "Holocaust" to describe the wave of Jewish suicides caused by pre-War oppression.

"In entitling the first chapter of this book "The Gentile Problem," let me state at once that in my view this would have been a more accurate title for the whole book than the one it bears."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

"Poor immigrants, be they eighteenth-century Huguenots or nineteenth-century Irish, are always accused of overcrowding, disease-breeding, and competing against the native-born workman in the labour-market; and, of course, this was the case at the time of the Jewish influx in the early years of the twentieth century."

And, in the early twenty-first century...

Ok, I'm five pages in and Golding has introduced ideas currently criticized by the right-wing as being modern "Wokerati" concepts:
- It's not the responsibility of oppressed people to stop oppression; oppressors must take responsibility for that;
- Intersectionality (he doesn't use the word) makes oppression worse;
- Ethnic minorities (he uses the term) exist, but the term "race" has a "non-existent scientific authenticity" (direct quote).
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It seems a sadly opportune time to read this book I bought in January. As I did then I'll clarify that Golding was a British Jew writing in '38 to highlight the history of European anti-Semitism that was being murderously re-enacted by Hitler's nazi state.
"The Problem" of the title is an inversion of the racist ideology that led to the fascist Final Solution (still in Golding's future), Golding stating it as the problem Jews have with persecution