Jewish Problem

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 201, 26 August 1939, Page 10

Jewish Problem

ANOTHER book on the Jewish problem comes from Allen and Unwin—"The Shortest Way With the Jews," by Peter Harlow. The opening chapter is devoted to a discussion on Aryans and non-Aryans. In the chapters immediately following he points out what lie calls myths about the Jews, and here he says some things that will

come as a surprise to many of his readers, including Jews themselves. He maintains, for example, that they are not a distinct race any more than any other people of to-day, that, owing to inter-marriage in the course of the centuries, they are not cemented by common descent, the one real distinction between them and their neighbours being their religion. A considerable part of the book its devoted to a dissection of anti-Semitism, leading up to a discussion of the folly of it. The economic plight of (Jerinany, as he shows, has been aggravated by her persecution and expulsion of them, such industries as those of clothing and chemicals having suffered severely. He considers that democratic countries like Britain would be justified in imposing economic sanctions oil the countries that are sending the Jews adrift. He does not, seem to realise tlie unwisdom of such a step. His long-term solution is more sensible- universal tolerance of the Jews, in the belief that it would lead ultimately to their absorption. This might or might not happen. Time alone would tell. But, short of universal tolerance, there does seem to be no solution to the problem.