Nixon: If only the Jews would behave….
Another release of Richard Nixon tapes, another recording of the former president saying negative things about Jews. So what else is new?
Tuesday's batch of 150 hours of recordings included a 20-minute February 21, 1973 conversation between Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham, an unappealing sequel of sorts to a conversation they'd had the previous year about Jewish control of the media.
This time, they're primarily talking about Jewish opposition to Christian evangelical efforts, which they both agreed would make Americans turn against the Jewish community. Nixon seems to believe that if the Jews simply "behaved" themselves, there wouldn't be any problems.
"Deep down in this country there is a lot of anti-Semitism. All this is going to do is stir it up," said Nixon.
Graham agrees, responding that anti-Semitism in America is "right under the surface" and that this will bring it "right to the top."
Nixon continues, "Anti-Semitism is stronger than we think. You know, it’s unfortunate. But this has happened to the Jews. It happened in Spain, it happened in Germany, it’s happening — and now it’s going to happen in America if these people don’t start behaving."
A little later in the 20-minute conversation, Nixon says there's nothing he wants to do more than to be a friend of both Israel and American Jews, but says that he will "have to turn back a terrible tide here if they don't get a hold of it themselves."
"They better understand it quick, because there are elements in this country, not just the Birchers, but a lot of reasonable people that are getting awfully sick of it." The term Birchers is an reference to members of the extreme right-wing John Birch Society.
When Graham talks of how many leaders "in the church are shaken by this" because they have "been the most pro-Israel" and are now "being attacked," Nixon says about Jews that "it may be they have a death wish. You know that's been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries."
Graham then starts discussing how "so many" Jewish young people "are turning away from Judaism" and that's "scaring" Jews "to death." He specifically cites "Jews for Jesus" efforts on campus as "frightening" Jewish leaders and leading to an overreaction.
The most distrurbing portion of the conversation comes when Graham appears to blame Jews for pornography.
During one of their exchanges about the need for Jews to behave, Graham interjects, "The Bible talks about two kinds of Jews. One is called the synagogue of Satan, they're the ones putting out pornographic literature, they're the ones putting out these obscene films." Nixon then interrupts to talk about articles in Time and Newsweek magazines that he apparently believed to be inappropriate.
The conversation came shortly after Israel had shot down a civilian Libyan airliner that had mistakenly ventured into Israeli airspace over the Sinai. Nixon calls it "worse than what they did at the Olympics," referring to the 1972 Black September terrorist attack that killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team, and Graham discusses with Nixon the embarrassment that then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir would face over the incident when she came to Washington the following week..
To listen to the entire conversation, click here.
Also released yesterday was a National Security Council document discussing whether the U.S. should pressure Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and what arguments it might use for that purpose. The document recommends that the president write a letter to the prime minister stressing its hope Israel would sign.
Share
Facebook
5 Comments
Comments RSS Feed Reader Comments
I think Nixon and the so-called Rev. Billy Graham, an uneducated street tent preacher are discusting. As far as Israel signing NNPT-Hell NO WAY!!! Israel cannot give in to this one. The US is bullying Israel-Israel must say no to this one. Billy Graham fooled alot of Christians. And he is no real Christian in my opinion. Christians are commanded to love and support the Jewish people and Israel, it is a commandment from G_D. I believe there is alot more support for Israel in the US than the government wants to admit-and trys to give false impressions about this because it goes against the Obama administration’s goals.
I listened to these tapes (thanks to JTA for the link) - all twenty minutes, six seconds and I must say that there exists nothing in them which even remotely makes Nixon out as an anti-semite.
The person calling the tune over the course of this recorded phone conversation - utzing, if you will - is the Reverend Graham who is playing to Nixon’s insecurities and paranoia to the point of eliciting certain comments which look very bad as a matter of historical record (and may even be revealing as to certain deep seated prejudices which Nixon harbored). However, it pays to remember that when the chips were down, some nine or ten months later, Nixon put his foot down directly against the grain of the Pentagon and ordered a massive resupply of munitions to Israel in a manner which allowed her to turn the tide against our enemies.
As for the description of the Reverend Graham as “an uneducated street tent preacher”, I think that amounts to a pitch perfect description - except for leaving out, or eliding his dangerous talent for demagoguery. Thankfully, that latter element seems to have passed even before the right Reverend has met his physical demise..
Enough of the myth that Nixon “saved” Israel. He was content to let Israel be destroyed. Only when he realized that the Soviet-backed Arabs winning would give the Soviets hegemony over the region, did he decide to send aid to Israel. Go through other portions of his tapes--the man was a rabid, paranoid anti-Semite.
Since Dr.Billy Graham’s circa 1970 observation of a general antisemitism “deep down in this country”, it has emerged, but not generally; rather specifically: in a transmogrified and most virulent form possible -in the proposed and stated policies of mainline Protestant denominations, who, along with their North American & European cohorts and umbrella organizations, continue (as recently as June 9, 2009 ) to seek to de-legitimize and demonize that unique religio-historical, Torah-based reality of People=Land, Israel. This dark, new “Christian” antisemitic reality, but less than sixty years after the Holocaust, behooves the Church universal (yet again!), the TRUE Church , to monitor, report on, expose and denounce it for what it is. Otherwise, silence will be construed as consent. Yet again!
Leave a Comment
To leave a comment, you must first be logged in to JTA. If you are not registered, please click here.
Already a JTA member?
Need to know? Get JTA's free e-newsletters!
Nelson Magedman
06/24/09 05:14 PM
If only Nixon would have behaved, he would have remained in the Presidency until his time would have been up. However, he was an impulsive bad little boy and got exactly what was do to him. The old proverb of “look who was calling the kettle black”, he got the black greasepaint all over his body, let alone his face.