Prince Charles Expressed Concern About The ‘Jewish Lobby’ In 1986 Letter To A Friend

The Independent: “Prince Charles blames ‘foreign Jews’ for Middle East turmoil in 1986 letter”

Comments on the Frame Game thread:

* There are days when I can hardly imagine life as a red-blooded Gentile because of how maddening it must be to watch such obvious truths be so sloppily & cavalierly discounted to zero by institutionally powerful Jewish groups.

How could it NOT engender anti-Semitism!?!

* We’re not even allowed to say “Jewish lobby” now. What, is AIPAC ecumenical now? It’s so ridiculous. God damn.

* Why would the neutral term “Jewish lobby” be considered anti-Semitic, unless it’s “pro-Semitic” to lurk in the shadows?

* It’s maddening they think we are not bright enough to look behind the veil. Thank you for showing us not all jews loath us. Besides we’re too cute and funny to go to a gulag.

* I mean, does AIPAC and the ADL do anything other than shout “anti-Semite” when someone connects the dots?

* Can you help us understand the split between many Israeli nationalists and the open borders zealots of the diaspora elites?

Joe* says:

Its interesting that he wrote to Laurens van der Post. Van der Post is one of those men who led a fascinating life although his biographer thinks at least some of it was made up. What we do know about him is that he was born in South Africa, traveled to Japan along with William Plomer in the late 1920’s, was one of the original members of the South Africans who created the magazine Voorslag, worked on South African Newspapers, emigrated to England, fought in WWII and was captured early in the conflict in what is now either Indonesia or Malaysia and spent the remainder of the war in a Japanese POW camp. The men who served under him in the camp (he was an officer) speak highly of him maintaining morale, along with other prisoners instituting educational classes, and his knowledge of Japanese proved invaluable.

After the war he dumped his first (South African wife) for Ingaret Giffard a lay Jungian therapist, did much exploratory work in British colonies in southern Africa in what is now Malawi and Botswana, and became a defender of the Bushmen, a stone age group of persons, different from the other native Africans. He produced a film about them which was aired on the BBC. He also someone or other ingratiated himself with Margaret Thatcher and with Prince Charles. One of the stories is that Charles brought a collection of van der Post’s writings with him on his honeymoon for Princess Diana to read. Some of Van der Post’s books are accessible, others are not so easily understood.

Van der Post himself had some familiarity with Palestine. In his book, the Seed and the Sower, an important scene of the book takes place in Palestine. Before he went to the Dutch or British East Indies, he had been sent by the British Army to help be a camel wrangler to support the anti Italian forces in Ethiopia.

Van der Post was a keen observer of international affairs, although he developed his own stereotypes about nations (as an example that the Japanese are very influenced by the moon) and many of his predictions about post apartheid South Africa have come to pass (although he was an ardent opponent of Apartheid, he was a strong supporter of Buthelezi and the Zulus and a staunch opponent of the ANC and considered Mandela a terrorist since he had been convicted of that and did not consider him a political prisoner/freedom fighter/ moral conscience, although Mandela himself was much more gracious to Van der Post in the messages he wrote upon van der Post’s death.

He did consider the founding of the state of Israel and the British promise (if that is how the Balfour Declaration is construed) to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine a mistake and a wrong done to the Palestinians who lived there. He believed that although the Jews had suffered in WWII that it was morally wrong to impose a new state for the Jews on an existing area that had been predominantly Arab. It seems that Charles’ letter to Van der Post makes a crucial distinction that most Jews are unwilling to look at. Although in many of the Arab (and Islamic) countries from Morocco to Iran to Yemen, the Jews were not treated well, in many of those countries, they were well integrated into the communities where they lived and thrived and prospered there. The creation of Israel had the unintended effect of leading to anti Jewish sentiments in many of these countries where they either had been close to non existent, or at a very low level. I think this the reason that Charles is singling out the European Jews as causing the friction with the Palestinian Arabs. Because he looked at it historically when the Ottoman Empire gave refuge to the Jews expelled from Catholic Countries in 1492 and after.

Jews do not like to think that the introduction of Jews to Palestine in the post Herzl Zionist era, and then in the aftermath of WW II was in any way colonialist. That is why it is so important for Jews to promote the idea that Israel is the homeland of the Jews, as if the 25,000 Ashkenazi Jews in the 13th Century which grew into something like 10 to 12 million at the outset of WWII (including European Jews who had emigrated to America) had any sort of actual historic claim to Israel.

Van der Post who was quite familiar with the Dutch and English colonization of South Africa in particular, recognized this for what it was and I am sure this the reason Charles was willing to confide in him in this letter which I am sure he never thought would be made public.

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
This entry was posted in Jews. Bookmark the permalink.