ANTI-SEMITIC PAMPHLET
It was inevitable that there would be an international scandal over the pamphlet Unvarnished Judaism which was published at Kiev under the auspices of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences as part of a sampaign against religion, Both the oontent and the illustrations are unquestionably anti-Semitic, The caricatures in particular are indistinguishable from those that appeared under Goebbels,
In France, protests first arose among Jewish circles and organizations devoted to the struggle against racism and anti-Semitism, some of which are strongly influenced by the French Communist party.
A strong objection appeared in the Paris Yiddish-language daily Naie Press whose progressivism in general closely reflects the policies of the French Communist party [por].
The leaders of the PGF found themselves in an embarrassing position. They had so ofter., denounced the charges about anti-Semitism in the USSR as nothing but anti-Communist propagandal If they remained silwnt, it would mean coming into conflict with.circles close to the party -- and at a time when no one will swallow Stalinist plots like the one in 1952 about the doctors. On the other hand, it is not the custom of the PCF leaders to criticize. what goes‘on in the USSR,
Finally, they translated and published in L'Humanité the text of the article that appeared in Naie Press, But not a Single French leader, not a single editorial writer, wrote a Line under his own Signature,
In the Light of the press: campaign, the Soviet agency Novosti, issued a statement that did not help much to quiet things. The communigué said that "the author [of the anti-Semitic pamphlet] is not a representative of the government of the USSR nor a spokesman of the opinions of the government." It did not at all disavow the pamphlet itself,
No one has the slightest illusions about freedom of speech in the USSR today. The Naie Press lodged a protest over the communiqué; and, once again, 1'Humanité reprinted extracts as well as declarations by sewish war veterans affirming | their friendship for the Soviet Union, |
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. - Never have the leaders. of the PCF faced such difficulties, They need the "progressives," this petty-bourgeois and bourgeois fringe of such service in their efforts to maintain openings in the. bourgeois or Social Democratic ‘political world, They are particu. larly in need of this avenue at present,
But at the same time they are afraid to ‘eriticize ‘happenings in the Soviet Union, After all, they have never criticized anything except what the Soviet leaders themselves have seen fit to criticize,
ON. 'SPEOKS OF DUST" . oo
‘In Mexico, de Gaulle sought to dazzle people by murdering some ©
Spanish phrases learned by heart and.by pretending to be the big brother of the Third World, .But he soon showed what all this was worth when he went to Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guiana. No more about the Third: World there, no more about. peoples to decolonize, These are three "French departments," with everything that is char-: acteristio of a French department, above all if its population has” grievances ~- namely, police, gendarmes and well-trained Judges.
Despite the. expensive stage scenery ‘that is shifted with- all. of de Gaulle's entries and exits, the reality found ways of breaking through, first in Guadeloupe where autonomist placards were hoisted during one of his speeches, then in Martinique, the most important of the Antilles under control of: French imperialism. .
In Martinique ‘the: poverty. is so grinding that the main export is the inhabitants themselves.-. There are more Martiniquais outside the island than in it. Most of them live in France. It should be noted that since Algeria conquered independence, French capitalism, looking ahead to a decline in Algerian laborers, has begun to encourage immigration from the Antilles and from Africa. oo
Besides this, despite an. ‘ola’ tradition: of electoral ‘frauds, the rise in political consciousness in Martinique has even been registered at the ballot box, Communists have been elected. The main figure in the island, who is also the mayor of Fort-de-France, the deputy and well-known poet Aimé Césaire, is a champion of self-rule for Martinique, Hd was recently in Paris as a witness at a trial in which young Mar~ tiniquais were accused of violating the integrity of the territory because they had demanded independence for. their country. - ° | ‘
It should be added that the position of the Communist party of Martinique has remained equivocal on this point. At first the party condemned the line these youth were following. Then it supported them without resolutely. coming out for independence,
As the mayor of Fort-de-France, Aimé Césaire was de Gaullets
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host, In moderate terms, he appealed to de Gaulle himself to con- ~ sider the question of self-rule within the framework of France, De Gaulle was not slew in replying. France has her duty; her course is correct; Martinique's only. hope is France; and so on and so forth,
After this take off, he had a private interview a few hours later with members of the parliament. He expressed his mind in even cruder terms. Between Europe and the Americas there is only the ocean and some "specks of dust," You cantt construct a state with "specks of dust." Africa used to have its own civilization; Martinique is nothing but a melting pot of people of various origins who all speak - French,
“Specks of dust"? But how many of these specks of aust, inolua~
ing those in the Caribbean Sea, now constitute states? And the aspiration to form a federation of these territories is taking on Life, _.
As for the argument about a "melting pot" in contrast to a preexisting civilization, how many similar cases’ can be cited where © nationalities and states have appeared! But for de Gaulle, such arguments, as always, are tossed off only for momentary effect. It is | certain that he will say more or less the opposite when it. comes to the question of keeping that "speck of French dust" known as Djibouti against the demands of the Somali people.
It is olear that despite the s tinging defeat suffered in Algeria, French imperialism is not ready to recognize the right of peoples to determine their own fate as long as they are not strong enough to impose that right. Up until then they are only’ “specks of dust," But Frenoh imperialism will yet discover that it is possible to suffo~ cate in a dust-storm,
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