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Albert Einstein said his “life is divided between equations and politics.” Yet his views on Israel and Zionism were concealed and distorted for decades. Einstein on Israel and Zionism corrects the widely accepted story that Einstein was a major supporter and “champion” of the State of Israel––a fabrication told and retold primarily in the mainstream media.

Einstein was a secular Jew, but he had mixed feelings about Zionism. Though he supported the goal of a Jewish “homeland” within Palestine, he never wavered from arguing forcefully for equal rights and equal power for the Arabs, whom he called “kinfolk” of the Jews. His nationalism had no room for aggressiveness or chauvinism. For him, the domination of Jew over Arab in Palestine, and the perpetuation of a state of mutual hostility between the two peoples, would mean the failure of Zionism.

Drawing exhaustively from letters and statements, some of which had never before appeared in English, Fred Jerome presents and contextualizes Einstein’s writings on Palestine from 1919 until his death in 1955.

Had the warnings of one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers been heeded, generations of death and destruction in Palestine might have been avoided.

Also in the New Edition

Fred Jerome’s article “The 1948 Killing of UN Mediator Count Bernadotte” reveals how, why, and by whom the UN peacemaker sent by the Security Council to “promote a peaceful adjustment of the future situation in Palestine” was assassinated. The article was first published in The Link

Fred Jerome (1939-2020) was a journalist, science writer, activist, and author of several books including The Einstein File, The FBI’s Secret War on the World’s Most Famous Scientist (Baraka Books, 2018) and Einstein on Race and Racism. His investigative reports or op-ed pieces appeared in dozens of publications including Newsweek, The New York Times and The Link. As a reporter in the South during the early 1960s, he covered the explosive civil rights movement. He also taught at Columbia Journalism School, NYU and numerous other New York-area Universities.

Reviews and Praise

“Einstein on Israel and Zionism proves to be an important counteragent to the politically-motivated, overly-simplistic and, often, racially-motivated messaging we hear from prominent figures in Western media. [The book]allows readers to see step-by-step how the political machinations of Britain poisoned chances to build a peaceful binational state, which had been Einstein’s dream. Einstein’s letters and Fred Jerome’s notes and research provide much-needed context to today’s headlines.” Jeff Dupuis, The Miramichi Reader

Einstein opposed Zionist colonisation of Palestine and predicted the current catastrophe

“… Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are being accused of antisemitism or fired from their jobs because they dare to criticize the State of Israel, call it an apartheid state, and denounce the genocide of the Palestinians. May they rest assured: they are in good company, because if Einstein were alive today he would be on the front lines demonstrating with them.”
Robin Philpot, Read the complete article in The Canadian Dimension

“Adds a new . . . how do they say it . . . dimension to Einstein’s character.” Thomas Pynchon

“Fred Jerome’s Einstein on Israel and Zionism is a valuable and timely contribution. Einstein’s views of Zionisme were prescient.” Sivan S. Schweber, Author of Einstein and Oppenheimer and In the Shadow of the Bomb

“Reading the newly revealed correspondence in Fred Jerome’s book makes it clear that Einstein was a social commentator and humanitarian with a worldview worthy of his scientific genius. It’s a pity that the Zionist movement as embodied in the State of Israel took a direction so divergent from the path advocated by the Jewish people’s greatest intellect.” Michael Palumbo, author of The Palestinian Catastrophe and Imperial Israel

“Albert Einstein is all-too often depicted as a naïf about politics; he was anything but that. He followed international and national politics assiduously, corresponded with leaders and ordinary people, and brought a passionate moral stance to the whole, fighting antisemitism, racism, fascism, and nationalism. In this volume, Fred Jerome has assembled a myriad of documents bearing on Einstein’s views of Zionism. Telegrams, letters, magazine articles, interviews, all contribute to a dense and heartfelt analysis of what it would mean to avoid the pitfalls of dogmatic nationalism, and to create a Jewish homeland utterly respectful of Palestinian rights and equality. Of course, Einstein’s physics speaks to us still; astonishingly, we can still learn from his moral-political reflections.” Peter Galison, author of Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps and Image and Logic

“Einstein on Israel and Zionism is a welcome and necessary contribution to the discussions about the Middle East crisis. You do not have to be a genius in order to understand the gravity of the situation, but it is essential to listen to one, especially if his name was Einstein. His thoughts make for fascinating reading, allow us new insights into the mind of one of the 20th centurys greatest thinkers and remind us that it is never too late.” Avraham Burg, author of The Holocaust is Over; We Must Rise From Its Ashes

*ABOUT THE FIRST EDITION

St. Martin’s Press published the first edition of Einstein on Israel and Zionism. Soon out of print, it was never reprinted and never made into an ebook. As a result, it is very hard to find. Baraka Books is thrilled to bring out this new enriched edition and is very grateful to Fred Jerome’s widow, Jocelyn Jerome, who granted us the right to bring out a new edition.