Benjamin Franklin and anti-semitism (due Tuesday, November 23)
 

We live in such a tolerant, politically-correct society, yes?
And history books contain the truth, yes?
And when people write things down, they are always true, yes?

There’s a reason why we named the website for FHAO “learn to question.” You’ll see why with this assignment. ___________________________________________________________________________ _____

One of America’s most upstanding citizens, Benjamin Franklin, politician, founding father, scientist, thinker, author, weather forecaster, and—of course—Boston Latin alum!—has long been said to have had some curious ideas about race and the population of the emerging United States of the late 18th century. Indeed, we know that Franklin had some interest in a somewhat homogenized population, ethnically speaking, and he had considerable concerns about the Germans in Pennsylvania (referred to as the Palatinate Boors for the region of German territory from which they came), where he had settled at age 17 after moving from Boston. Franklin, exasperated, wrote in 1737, “Why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of Aliens?” There were many German settlers in the colony of Pennsylvania and Franklin was indeed concerned about their growing numbers.

But for a long time, it has been said that Franklin was anti-semitic and had made anti-Jewish statements in the Continental Congress. So what I would like you to do for this assignment is the following six steps:

1. Go to www.google.com. Search the following: “Benjamin Franklin and Jews”

2. Go to the first site you find! Read through the document, “The Franklin Prophecy.” Note the date when this site was created at the very bottom.

4. Now go to www.adl.org. This is the site of the Anti-Defamation League. Find in the left hand column the subject heading “Anti-semitism.” Click on that and then click on “United States.”. Scroll down the center column a considerable bit until you reach “Exposing Anti-Semitic Myths.” Click on the one for the “Franklin Prophecy.” Read through the text. (You have to read several pages here—click on the NEXT at the lower right of each text.) Come up with answers to the following:
• When was the “Prophecy” actually written?
• Who has participated in disseminating this prophecy?
• What, in your opinion, is the reason for the spread of this myth?

5. Wander around the www.adl.org site. There is some interesting statistical data on what Americans believe, the result of polling done recently. What other examples of anti-semitism can you find documented on this site?

6. Now, in the thread titled “Benjamin Franklin and Anti-semitism,” post your response to what you’ve discovered on this site and through this exercise. How is what you’ve discovered related to what you know of Jews through your own lives/communities/experiences?

The Jewish Problem....
 

Well, it was definitely interesting to see these two articles, considering how contradictory they are. The site that the first came from "Jew Watch,' which vows that that it's "keeping a close watch on Jewish communites & organizations worldwide," would benefit from an document like Franklin's (forged) "Prophecy." If a respected and loved historical figure like Ben Franklin stands up against the Jews, it lends the anti-Semitic cause a sort of historical legitimacy. But far from being delivered in 1787, this speech was falsely created in the 1930s.

It's sort of funny that even though this document is now known to be false, but this doesn't hinder the anti-Semitics. Maybe it's because hatred of the Jews has been the most long-lasting and deeply ingrained. Like the The Protocols of The Learned Elders of Zion is now known to be blatantly untrue, fabricated by a Russian advisor to the king, this "Prophecy" is now known to be false as well. But these documents are still clung to by anti-Semites... why?

Maybe it's the desire to give a historical and logical basis for hatred. Or maybe if there is a legitimate facade for this blantant hate, others will see the "reason," and feel the same way... even though these people are using flase information to convert others. It's scary that people who hate irrationally try to paint over their hate and say that Jews deserve to be hated by everyone for logical reasons.

Also, I clicked around www.jewwatch.com , and apparently, no Jewish people actually died in Auschwitz, though "Gerald Ford, the President of the United States, also paid homage to the lie, as have hundreds of Presidents, Prime Ministers and dignitaries from around the world - for years!" There are also tons of Jewish communists, lurking everywhere. So Jews are both greedy/money-hungry/murderous and they believe in a radical leftist philosophy. There's lots of interesting stuff on this site, I'd really recommend taking a look at this self-proclaimed educational site.

There is a reason why Benjamin's Franklin's forged prophecy can't be found in any history book. There is no historic evidence that it is true and any respectable history source would not use it. The myth was spread a number of ways during the 1930's including chain letters and by being posted at high traffic spots. When a historical document is spread around by a chain letter it is a good sign that the document is probably false. A number of anti-Semitic groups were responsible for its distribution including We the Mothers Mobilize for America. I remember when we were looking at that site of the people who distributed the hate CD's at our school, they had quotes from Benjamin Franklin and his prophecy. When I saw that I was wondering if they were true as I had not heard of the Franklin anti-Semitic myth. This shows that the myth is still believed and in use today.

The prophecy according to the article was published February of 1934. When I was reading the prophecy it was interesting to note that Benjamin Franklin warned that Jews would take over in 200 years. I was wondering if the writer intentionally picked 200 years so that people would feel Jews must be expelled by 1987 which would have been 50 years away.

As to why this myth was spread, I just think it is an attempt by the anti-Semitic groups to have some credibility. If a respectable historical figure like Benjamin Franklin had a reason to hate Jews, then anti-Semitic groups may have felt other people would feel there is a reason to hate Jews.

The founding fathers are always portrayed as these great American heroes, when quite a few of them had some pretty bad flaws [Jefferson, for example], so I wasn’t sure if it was legit or not. If I had gone back and looked at the website that it was on, I probably would have been more skeptical. The “Prophesy” was initially written in 1934, and was published in William Dudley Pelley's publication, Liberation, and was originally spread around using chain letters.

Before it was outed as a forgery, this was probably spread around to convince people that anti-Semitism was something that should be taken seriously. Ben Franklin is a very esteemed individual, and the people who are spreading this most likely thought that more would listen to their message if they had someone as important as Ben Franklin on their side. As for why they still use it… I’m with GraceIsGone on that. I don’t understand how anti-Semites still believe that they’re fighting for such a noble cause, when some of the most important “documents” for their cause have been proved to be forgeries, such as this one.

That ADL site is really thorough, and pretty interesting. Not even a week ago in England, a Jewish cemetery in southern England was vandalized with swastikas and other symbols. Something similar also happened recently in Ireland. I was surprised how much France seemed to outnumber the other countries in which there have been anti-Semitic incidents in the past year. After hearing about the Dreyfus affair, it surprises me perhaps a little bit less, because before I found out about that I would have not have associated anti-Semitism with France, but I never expected there to be such an overwhelming number of incidents from that country. I was never aware that anti-Semitism was still so prevalent in the world. I knew that it was not gone completely, but what surprised me the most was the number of people in this country who are anti-Semitic.

This counterfeit prophecy was first published in February, 1934 so it must have been written in the early 1930s. Since being published, it has been widely circulated throughout the U.S. in the form of fliers, bulletins, chain letters mostly by anti-Semitic groups such as American or German Nazis. I think the reason for the spread of the myth was, since the United States was such a powerful nation, it can be easily construed that the country would have a lot of influence in the thinking of people in other countries. Also, if people become convinced that a country which guaranteed its citizens so many liberties, and was so economically successful actually was founded on anti-Semitic beliefs then the concept may not seem so absurd.

I think it’s crazy that this “prophecy” can still be so readily obtained. I mean, when I did the google search of Benjamin Franklin and Jews, it was the first page! As I read the article, unaware of its completely fabricated nature, I really believed it! It made me think back to the article of Thomas Jefferson and his disparaging attitude towards blacks and I thought, first I find out Jefferson hated blacks and now that Franklin hated Jews, was there a single racially/ethnically tolerant person among the founding fathers of our nation?!

As I wandered through the website, I found all sorts of other forms of anti-Semitism. For example, the incident in Indiana in which someone viciously set a Holocaust museum on fire, which is not surprising considering many of such people deny that the Holocaust ever took place.

I also found the poll used to determine if a person were anti-Semitic.
(True or False)
1 Jews stick together more than other Americans.
2 Jews always like to be at the head of things.
3 Jews are more loyal to Israel than America.
4 Jews have too much power in the U.S. today.
5 Jews have too much control and influence on Wall Street.
6 Jews have too much power in the business world.
7 Jews have a lot of irritating faults.
8 Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want.
9 Jewish businessmen are so shrewd that others don't have a fair chance in competition.
10 Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind
11 Jews are [not] just as honest as other businessmen.

Scoring
Not Anti-Semitic Agree with 0-1 statements 53 %
Middle Agree with 2-5 statements 35 %
Most Anti-Semitic Agree with 6-11 statements 12 %

I thought many of the questions were interesting because they touch on a lot of the issues that were brought up in the last post of why anti-Semitism is so strong such as jealousy of the success of Jewish people and the fear of being subjugated.

Oh, revisionist history.
 

The Prophecy appears to have been written in February, 1934, according to the ADL, and its dissemination has been sponsored various anti-Semitic groups throughout the country. Why? Because anti-Semites believe that having Franklin ‘on their side,’ as it were, will lend some credence to their cause.

Other statistics:
1 in four Americans believe that the Jews killed Jesus.
17% of Americans are strongly anti-Semitic.
No increase in anti-Semitism after 9/11.

All this just from scanning that page.

That last one surprised me a lot – that there was no increase in anti-semitism. I would think that a lot of people would have thought that the reason 9/11 happened was because we are such strong supporters if Israel. I have a few relatives who live in NYC, and one of them told me (this was immediately after it happened) that all he wanted to do was (and I paraphrase) ‘go and kick some Arab a**… not to mention going up to every Jew I see on the street and say, hey, thanks, buddy.’ This, of course, was in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and so he was probably somewhat carried away in the feel of the moment, but still – I’m surprised that there weren’t more reactions like that, especially considering that he’s generally a pretty ‘open-minded’ guy.

How does this relate to my own experience? Does it? I dunno… I honestly feel like I don’t have a whole lot to say on the issue. All I’ve ‘learned’ from doing this is that people will make stuff up to ‘prove’ their points, and that’s something that I already knew. I don’t think I know ANY anti-semitic people – I certainly hope not – and so I’m not sure what I can really say.

One last thing – in response to
The founding fathers are always portrayed as these great American heroes, when quite a few of them had some pretty bad flaws [Jefferson, for example], so I wasn’t sure if it was legit or not. – Popsicle616

This, of course, is very true, but every time someone starts talking about how the Founding Fathers were actually ‘very flawed people’ I get a little upset. It’s not that it’s not true – after all, the Founding Fathers were human, like all of us, and had their flaws, like all of us – but, well, so what? I mean, why do we care so much? Do their flaws somehow diminish what they accomplished? It all seems to come out of almost an ‘I’m-as-good-as-you’ attitude – and, let’s face it, people, as many times as I tell the Founding Fathers, ‘I’m as good as you,’ I’m still not actually going to be as good as they are. Does it really matter? I’m not convinced.

In conclusion, revisionist history is not a good thing.

I think that it is really stupid that people actually believed that the Franklin Prophesy was true. To begin with, it was obvious that it was written in modern times because of the grammar and vocabulary. That is not the way the spoke during that time of history. Also any "historical document that says "Because they are vampires, and vampires do not live on vampires. They cannot live only among themselves," should make you wonder if the article is a hoax or not.

What I don't get is that, even though this has all but been proven false, why people would still quote it. I understand the need for something to back up a hatred for another group of people, but I think by sitting a false source doesn't help whatever "cause" they are striving for. It would even be better to use a quote and twist its meaning to show a dislike for someone.

One thing I found interesting on the site was a article about Project Schoolyard, the group who we looked at earlier this year after those two men gave out the CD's in front of our school. I thought it was interesting to see how everything we've done so far is connected somehow. The reasons for discrimination might not be the same, but it seems like everything connects and progress from one type of hatred to another.

Jew Watch released on 4.30.2004. just this year. unbelievable. this website feels so much like a tabloid. who in their right minds would ever think that it was fact? Come on! BREAKING NEWS! "NJ Governor Resigns over Gay Affair with Possible Jewish Double Agent" "JEW WATCH FEATURE: IS POPE JOHN-PAUL II JEWISH?" antisemitic people that's who! they even have sections like "Jewish Mind Control Mechanisms, Jewish Banking & Financial Manipulations, Jewish Hate Groups"! and they even ask for donations. what a NICE site! it amazes me that even today we have these hate sites that are so accessible to the world.

The Prophecy's real date was February 1934 and apparently almost every anti-semitic group [i.e. Chicago's We The Mothers Mobilize for America] and anti-Semitic propagandists on this planet wants to sprout this seed even though there is proof that this document was forged. In the 1930s, it was spread by chain letters, with copies being placed at public transportations. I'm not shocked by this because how else is one going to spread news? Truthfully, when you see the same type of fliers on a bus, you can't help but let your eye wander to it or you can't help but try to make out a few words. Like the others said, when someone famous for his inventions, ideas and intelligence .. is framed for writing such a piece of work, one can't help but pay close attention to it. And, if he had followers, they could have easily followed his train of thought and made it their own beliefs. Maybe others needed this to prove that they weren't wrong for thinking this way, like "ha! someone as smart at FRANKLIN is antisemitic, so I’m not as crazy as you think!" Another reason is that in the past, people didn’t bother to question or about who really wrote the document, they just assumed it as fact. It has taken them so long to figure out the truth, providing that individuals usually believe everything they hear.

As I read through the recent incidents in the international section, I noticed that anti-Semitics really like to create graffiti on tombstones and bomb synagogues. This shows a great sign of disrespect - how would they feel if someone did that to their family? It’s really sad that, in almost every country, the Jewish are harassed, but doesn’t this type of stuff happen to almost every other race too?

The findings in brief … Strongly anti-Semitic:
17% of Americans
35% of Hispanics
44% of foreign-born Hispanics
20% of Hispanic Americans born in U.S.
35% of African-Americans
3% of U.S. college and university students
I just find it interesting that Hispanics and African Americans really dislike the Jewish. WHY? It there more too it than the money and the belief that they killed Christ?

I also stumbled upon the college students portion on the site. AMAZING . April 17 - At Columbia University, several graduate teaching assistants used departmental e-mail list serves to promote an on-campus anti-Israel rally. Several faculty members cancelled their classes to allow students to attend. One graduate student was sanctioned for misuse of departmental lists and one of the faculty members has since apologized. somehow this sounds REALLY wrong to me. COLLEGES? aren't we suppose to be better than this and Columbia too!!

http://www.adl.org/antisemitism_survey/survey_iii.asp<-- which Americans are most likely to hold antisemitic views. HMM it says that the more educated someone is, the less likely they are to accept anti-Semitic beliefs. I WONDER WHY! this was really interesting and if you have time, you should check this part out, unless you guys have already.
truthfully, I’ve never witnessed any anti-Semitism or have I heard about it until this class so I can't compare it to anything that I’ve experienced throughout my life. It scares me to think that the world isn’t really as good as I thought it to be.

it hurts me to think...
 

After reading all of these articles (which were all extremely contradictary) and then everyone's post before mine i came to realize that yes, some of the stereotypes could possibly be true. however, such is the case with many other stereotypes, they are just exaggerated truths. as long as people stop taking this non-sense seriously then maybe, just maybe, we could all be just that much happier with the world.

I realize that all i was doing right there was preaching, but im sorry, i felt it needed to be said. People these days are too uptight when it comes to just about everything, who cares what these people think as long as they dont get violent, and if they do then thats what prison is for. I also realize that even if they do get violent some of these assumptions anti-semitists have could be cause for no justice, and be that the case, we all have a lot of growing/smartening up to do. we cant just spend the rest of our lives still calling eachother names and then still call ourselves "civilized" and "grown up".

this whole issue makes my head hurt because it seems like it has such a simple answer, but then in the end it is just IMPOSSIBLE and its EVERYONE'S fault.

Coming out of class today I was prepared to be disillustioned about the greatness of another one of our founding fathers. So I was somewhat relieved to realize that Ben Franklin's so called "Prophecy" was fake and written 150 years after his lifetime. The copies of the speech were deliberately placed in places where multitudes would read them and the author's purpose must have been to reach the greatest number of people by passing an outright lie off as historical fact. Perhaps he/she hoped that people, already passively anti-Semetic would see that one of the United State's founding fathers shared their point of view, and would influence them to be more active in their discrimination.

Exploring the Anti-Defamation league's website it was shocking to realize that Anti-Semetism is alive and well in the US. In 2002 violence against Jews increased by 11%, showing that anti-Semetism isn't just verbal, but often physical. I was horrified by the specific acts of violence listed on the site including numerous arsons of Jewish synagogues, a bullet shot through a synagogue window, and even a Swastika burned into front lawn of Jewish-owned senior care home.

In sharp contrast, I then visited www.jewwatch.com, per suggestion of GraceIsGone. There I read that "neurotic Jewish women
founded the women's movement" by "[fighting] for lesbianism worldwide" and "[seeking] to tell straight, moral, loving Christian Women in the Midwest how they were supposed to love their husbands and children by (1) leaving the home daily, (2) taking a job, (3) sending their children to a day care center, and (4) having an abortion on demand without asking her husband first." Wow, it was quite an education. My favorite part of the site was the bit about how Jewish people have the power of mind control. The site was pretty funny to read, but actually very scary. I just can't believe that people actually believe this kind of propaganda. It just shows that even though the The Protocols of The Learned Elders of Zion and the "Franklin Prophecy" were distributed and disproved years ago, the followers of this hateful movement are prevalent in our society today.

This, of course, is very true, but every time someone starts talking about how the Founding Fathers were actually ‘very flawed people’ I get a little upset. It’s not that it’s not true – after all, the Founding Fathers were human, like all of us, and had their flaws, like all of us – but, well, so what?
-Horatio

Of course everyone is flawed; all I meant was that more often than not, it is the positive aspects of what they did that is more well known rather than the negative. Especially because Boston is such an historical city and all, and we're proud of our patriots, we try to keep under wraps that some of them may have supported slavery or were anti-Semitic. If there were things negative things about Benjamin Franklin that we didn't know, I wouldn't have been surprised.

i am disgusted
 

The Franklin Prophecies, actually published in 1934 by William Dudley Pelley (who was later convicted of sedition), was a piece of propaganda promoting anti-Semitism. By showing that such a well respected and idolized individual as Benjamin Franklin spoke out against Jews, these people hoped to enhance the creditability and support of their cause. That just goes to show you cant believe everything you read.

Even today these documents are still floating around the web. At first I was a little confused as to why Ms. Freeman had given us instructions to Google “Benjamin Franklin and Jews”, especially after I found that the entire document was printed on the ADL site. But after having read both documents I think I understand her point. These kinds of papers are out there, and they look plenty credible to the untrained eye. (I think I would have had my doubts if I hadn’t read the thread for the post first…or taken a look around the site which is ridiculous!) How scary is that!?

As others have I took a little tour of the Jew Watch site and discovered what they had to say about the Anti-Defamation League…

“Jewish Hate Groups
Anti-Defamation League
For Many Years, ADL Has Committed Acts of Libel by Accusing Presidents, Congressmen, and Other of False or Poorly Researched Accusations. As such, this is a terror group that uses propaganda and threat against would-be opponents, and its Jewish friends who own almost all of the presses usually print their news releases without questioning their veracity.”

They went on to explain that the ADL stifles free speech and may just be spying on you illegally...

Another link brought me to a page defending the legitimacy of the protocols of the elders of Zion, drawing a parallel to the “Franklin Prophecy”

this would be funny if it werent so scary and insulting! :mad:

After reading through the article on the adl.org site, it is obvious that the “Prophecy” is a false document; there is no concrete evidence supporting its existence or even its creation anywhere. It was actually written some time between 1933-1938 and spread through chain letters and other means. Yet many people today continue to believe in the myth and they continue to spread it. Generally, anti-Semitic and other hate groups are participating in the dissemination of this “prophecy”, obviously because they want it to be true. It supports their rationale for hate, that they believe the “document” to be true, even though there is no real evidence of it.

The people who are spreading this myth probably don’t think of it as a myth at all. I think that their reason for spreading it is to spread their hate and cause, and to show others that even a “Founding Father” denounced Jews. Benjamin Franklin is a generally respected man of history, with many contributions. So if the anti-Semitic hate groups can convince others that even a man as great as Ben Franklin felt this way about Jews, then maybe people would think that these hate groups weren’t so radical or extreme. They are basically just trying to garner more support against Jewish people by providing “historical” context to the situation.

From what I’ve discovered through this exercise, I’ve noticed that Jews have a long, long history continuing into today where they are the victims of brutal discrimination based on irrational hate and falsities. And I really cannot understand it. And from what I know of Jews through my own experiences, they cannot understand why there is such an overwhelming movement of hate against them as well. No one can tell exactly where it is all stemming from, and how it has been able to grow over the years.

As I was browsing through the rest of the site, I was looking at hate crimes against Jews. They were listed by country, and I noticed that the United States was not listed at all. I suppose this is a good thing, so is anti-Semitism not prevalent here in our own country?

Wow. Just wow. I've been looking at the http://libreopinion.com/members/stan...rticles04.html site. This is very starnge, and hard to read if you're a bit sleepy. It was actually the second site that popped up from google because I can't get into jew watch...which was the first thing. It's kind of freaky. They're talking about a Kosher Tax, Jew in the Clinton Administration, and Jewish Media Control. Oh yeah and Ben Franklin. If you're not going blind yet, I think it has some pretty out there stuff if you feel like reading it. I just don't understand what is causing all this. What could possibly sparked all this resentment and hatred? Some of the stuff I'm finding is similar to the Hate.com assignment (that was the name of it right?). It's very disturbing.

It’s not that it’s not true – after all, the Founding Fathers were human, like all of us, and had their flaws, like all of us – but, well, so what? I mean, why do we care so much? Do their flaws somehow diminish what they accomplished? It all seems to come out of almost an ‘I’m-as-good-as-you’ attitude – and, let’s face it, people, as many times as I tell the Founding Fathers, ‘I’m as good as you,’ I’m still not actually going to be as good as they are. Does it really matter? I’m not convinced. Horatio

Why do we care so much? We care because as a whole, I think Americans have a sense of pride of how the USA was founded, how we live in a country that is governed by the people (so we think). How we were able to fight against people who were like bullies and we finally stood up for ourselves. We'd like to think the people who made all of this happen were perfect, obviously not, but like you said we all have our flaws. But it is the fact that these flaws seem to be kinda big ones. We have a man creating one of the most famous written documents that says "all men are created equal" and we find out we owned slaves and actually had a mistress who was a slave. We have one of the most influential men in American history who appears to be anti-sematic. It is a big deal when the people we look up to have such big flaws. What if you lived in a newly formed country and found out that your leader openly hates and dicriminates all Christians? Wouldn't you expect more from the peolpe that are shaping foreign opinion about your country and how it is perceived by others?

anti-semitism still going on
 

The Franklin Prophecy was published in 1934. It spread by means of chain letters and such things. It was spread around by Anti-Semitists. I think people actually believed it because it supposedly came from Ben Franklin, a founding father of this country, so everyone naturally trusts his opinions and ideas he had offered to the country. So maybe the Anti-semitists used franklin's name in order that people would listen. But they didn't seem to think about how it was about 150 years after his time or anything. But the weird thing seems to be that even after it was discovered that the whole thign was false, people still listened to the letter. This doesn't seem right. The worst thing is that those who made this letter up actually BELIEVED what they said. THey believed it was all true? Does something seem a little wrong and sick there to you? I think they did it, once again going back to the idea of jealousy and fear of someone different. People see the Jews as different because they have not assimilated quite like everyone else, which causes fear to some people, and in this case, these people who wrote this fake speech.

I also found out that Jews were behind the destruction of the Columbia space shuttle last year (who knew?). Also, there was a type of log kept of anti-semitic actions. In the year 1999: "On June 18, three synagogues were set afire in the Sacramento, CA, area, resulting in more than $1 million in damage. On the July 4 weekend, a lone gunman went on a shooting rampage in the Midwest, killing two and seriously wounding eight, including six Chicago-area Jews. On August 10, a lone gunman walked into a Los Angeles day care center and opened fire, injuring five people." All this stuff is still going on today. There are between 1600-2000 anti-jewish related incidents every year. This number is too much in a society that should have learned by now.
If you want to look at one messed up person, check out the David Duke article under Extremists, that is one crazy guy, that's all i can say, just sick.

Part of me still doesn't understand why there is still all this anti-semitism today though. I mean, by now, don't you think that everyone would have let that stay behind them? Why are there still those people that jsut want to go that much further? Do they not know that not too many people will back them up? What are they trying to prove? It really makes me mad that these people will not just accept society, but instead they have to fight to have their voices heard. I'm not saying I have a problem with people expressing their opinions, but when it gets to the point that these opinions are so offensive to people who don't deserve it, that's where they've crossed the line.

According to ADL, the prophecy was actually written around the early 1930’s. It has been said that a man by the name of Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. The rumor was going around that Pinckney wrote a journal and within that journal he took note of a conversation during a break in the Convention. During this break Franklin supposedly shared his views on anti-Semitism. In 1934 this alleged William Dudley Pelley published speech. The reason why this myth was spread is because these people might have felt that it would be smart to use great and famous person to project their views of Jewish people. By producing this false speech they might have thought it would help to get more people to become more anti-Semitic.

I must admit when I first heard about this speech in class I was getting nervous. I was nervous because I didn’t want to have to read about another supposedly great man be exposed who he really is. I’m referring to Thomas Jefferson who was supposed to be a founding father and one for equality but the truth is that he supported slavery and when the Haiti revolted against the French and their slavery, he supported the French. I was glad to hear that the speech was false.

After searching through the web site I found text that had to do with the denial of the Holocaust. I couldn’t believe it at first. When I read it all I could think about is how stupid could a person is to say that the holocaust didn’t happen. I mean seriously, we have an infinite amount of evidence, eyewitnesses, and written accounts that tell us what happened… and they’re still going to try and tell me that it didn’t happen??? A man by the name of Bradley Smith heads this argument. He is affiliated with the CODOH ("Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust,"). After reading more and more I came to find out that its not even a debate but more of a group of anti-Semitics who try to get their word out by using such outrageous headlines. They fabricate parts of history to project their ideas of anti-Semitism.

I just cannot understand how someone can hate another group of people so much that they would make up blatant lies just so that people would here what they have to say … Even if it’s wrong.

P.S "I can handle things, I'm smart, not like everybody says. Not dumb, I'm smart, and I want respect!"
Fredo to Michael

Benjamin Franklin's "Prophecy" concerning the Jewish people is a forged document published by William Dudley Pelley in February 1934. (Pelley was the founder of a fascist organization called Silver Shirts, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition in 1942, when the United States was fighting in World War II.) The "Prophecy" was originally spread through chain letters and printed copies which were placed in public places. It was adopted by the Nazis in Germany and the Fascists in Italy and used as propaganda. Today, as we saw from our exercise, it remains widely available on anti-Semitic websites which present it as a legitimate historical document.

Anti-Semitic groups use this document because it provides a “credible” support for their cause. Since Ben Franklin is respected as a founding father of the United States, the publishers of the forged “prophecy” hoped that Americans would decide, from reading the document, that Jews were a danger to the country. Many Americans place great emphasis on respecting the ideals on which this country was founded, and thus this document could be used to suggest that anti-Semitism is a truly “American” idea because it was an idea supported by the founding fathers.

I am not surprised that people can get away with presenting a fake document as truth. Although reading the document on the website alone would not have changed any opinion I hold, I would accept without question that they were indeed Franklin's words. This exercise just shows how easy it is, especially with the widespread use of the Internet, to spread a myth as fact and to convince people of a complete lie. From now on I will question everything I read and never assume anything is true until I have proof!

I was interested by the statistic on the Anti-Defamation League site that showed that while 17% of Americans are categorized by one poll as "Strongly Anti-Semitic," the number increases to 35% among Hispanics, 44% among foreign-born Hispanics, and 35% among African-Americans. One explanation for the percentage of anti-Semitic foreign-born Hispanics, which was dramatically higher than the national percentage, is that Latin American countries are more basically anti-Semitic in their school curriculum. However, there was no explanation for the high percentage of black Americans who are strongly anti-Semitic. I wish they had printed the percentage among caucasion Americans; from my limited math skills, though, I assume it had to be much lower than 35% in order for the national percentage to be 17%. I can't understand. Why would anti-Semitism be so much higher among blacks than among whites and other races?

Another question: did anyone figure out when the site www.jewwatch.com was created? (I believe this question was included in #2 of our exercise) My internet is refusing to connect to the site right now, so I am not able to check.

it's baffling
 

I really don’t understand anti-semitism. Well, I guess I can understand where all these thoughts come from, but they all just seem like hasty judgments made by dogmatic people. And although I really can’t understand the depth of reasoning behind these hate crimes and evil thoughts, how can you rebut them?
I mean, it’s like there’s this quasi/pseudo/superficial-kind-of-a truth in blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus (as in the articles on www.adl.org). But, for those so-called Christians who blame the Jews, didn’t Jesus come to this world for the purpose of dying? Was that not his purpose? Their hatred really makes we question how well they know their doctrine, and what their doctrine is in the first place. It could be these Christian posers trying to spread those kinds of ideas, like the Prophecy. This is why I just feel like all these anti-semites just don’t know what they’re talking about.
It’s almost amusing how well a lot of Jewish people live up to those stereotypes so closely, like the nose thing and the being rich. Nevertheless, how does that lead to “Jews are plotting to take over the world”? I can’t quite make that connection, and I wonder how this kind of thinking can last for decades, even centuries.
About the Prophecy… while I was reading it on the ADL site, I was thinking the whole time that the language and style didn’t even seem like it would come from such an intelligent man as Ben Franklin, not that I really know a whole lot about Ben Franklin’s writing. The fact that someone in the 1930s made this up and tried to cleverly propagate such an already unreasonable idea just strengthens my beliefs that this movement is pathetic. And yet, it has managed to carry into modern times.

William Dudley Pelley, I have to say he was smart in doing this. He knew that if he used Franklin and Washington's name in this propaganda, people are going to look at it. Some people don't know as much as we do about the Holocaust-that these Jews were innocent and were killed for no reason. People who aren't as exposed to the real facts can easily be persuaded by this article. If two very prominent men were aganist Jews, and gave their reasons why and it made sense, then why wouldn't that person be not persuaded. We are fed with facts in high school, never really going into detail about what they did was sooooo wrong, people are prone to believe what they read. Well at least I did for that one second. And when they published this article and ditribute it everywhere, people are going to look at it.

Franklin and Washington are two big time celebrities. If you are going to promote something and if you have a celebrity doing it for you, man, people are bound to stop even if they don't know that celebrity well. The fact that you have someone so famous and so well liked among the whole public, you're gonna be more drawn to that person more so than an ordinary person. Objectively he was smart to have done what he did by putting those names down because then he could sell his ideas but it doesn't mean that I even have one speck of respect for him, because I don't. What he did angers the heck out of me. The fact that he had no respect for these two dead men and using their name to sell something that Franklin and Washington had nothing to do with is fustrating. The fact that he was trying to make people believe that Jews should be killed when they did nothing wrong is...grrrrrr.

I think propagandas like these definitely have killed many of these Jews because many people were thinking that these Jews deserve to die since even our Founding Fathers believe they should too. Propaganda blindfold the world and what the people can only do is trust that person who is leading them. It's scary. Also I think propaganda made people deny that the Holocaust happened because if people can buy into that Jews should be killed, then they can also buy into that teh Holocaust never happened. Or they might be optomist and say SUCH A THING WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN THE WORLD. But then again, if you see many resentment and hatred towards Jews, why did it not cross their mind that just maybe someday something bad will happen to the JEws? I don't know enough to say why some might say the Holocaust never happened, but from what I know and believe is that IT WAS REAL. More people need to realize that.

Let's make up history....
 

As dem05 said, I thought that I was going to go home and find out something that our history teachers didn't tell us. But as Horatio said, people will do anything to "prove" thier point - people like William Dudley Pelley.

My computer wasn't connecting with the jewwatch site either, so I just went to the second one. It didn't have the prophecy really, but had many other Benjamin Franklin quotes. It also had a lot from other people - how amny were actually true? Probably few to none. But they need to prove and propaget their anti-Semitic feeelings. As we learned today, Ford even put The Protocols of The Learned Elders of Zion in his dealerships.

As secretme12 talked about, putting in names like Washington and Franklin is supposed to reel people in. The sad part is that it actually works for some. The so called "facts" are right on the page, historical context is given, and for some who may have had vague anti-semitic feelings, soemthing like this can tip the balance. Too readily people believe that what is on the internet or publishe din books must be true - it is easier to do that then research if it actually is, especially if it supports your views.

In light of Rena Finder's talk, we know that some are denying that the Holocaust never happend. They probably have "facts" like this prophecy that support them. The Holocaust was not that long ago, and it's baffling how already some are denying this. Inthe future, we'll probably see more propaganda and "research" showing that the Holocaust didn't happen - will some kids have to take a class like FHAO to realize the atrocities of the Holocaust in the future?

Pinkshoes mentioned that she remembered the quotes form Benjamin Franklin given on that white supremacy site, of the CD given to Louis earlier in the year. On the ADL homepage they have to links on the Schoolyard Project, and NBC's bit aired a few days ago, on the 19th! It talks about students getting them in the South, but it happened right here! Everything just kind of connected!