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The Forgotten Ally
The Forgotten Ally is a beautifully written book, as the New York Times review describes it - The expression of one of the most passionately generous hearts in the writing profession.
Van Paassen writes with the power and fervor of a latter-day prophet, without forgetting the need for facts, figures and documentation. - Review of Chicago Sun Times.
Shortly after World War One, Van Paassen started his career as a journalist at The Globe , a Canadian newspaper in Toronto. His next job as a journalist was at the great southern liberal newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution . This is where Van Paassen actively became interested in Jewish affairs after interviewing a Rabbi from New York who had just returned from Mandatory Palestine. From this point on, Van Paassen took a great personal interest in the issues of Palestine and the plight of European Jewry. In 1925, he became the foreign correspondent for the New York Evening World, which placed him in Paris. The stage was being set for World War Two and the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy from which Van Paassen passionately reported.
In 1931, the New York Evening World stopped publishing; Van Paassen remained in France and wrote for The Globe and its competitor the Toronto Star . In 1933, Van Paassen, a fluent German speaker, reported on the Nazis and courageously exposed the doctrines and policies of Hitler's fascist regime. His news reports greatly upset the Nazis, and the Toronto Star became known as atrocity propaganda. The newspaper was banned from Germany and Van Paassen was expelled but not before he was imprisoned by the Nazis for several weeks, which included some physical blows to Van Paassen's own person.
Van Paassen spent quite some time in Palestine and wrote extensively for his newspapers and wrote many books and articles on the subject. When one reads this book today, one notices how profound and ironic it is, that the times which Van Paassen describes of his generation are now repeating themselves, the only differences are the players' names.
Van Paassen writes with the power and fervor of a latter-day prophet, without forgetting the need for facts, figures and documentation. - Review of Chicago Sun Times.
Shortly after World War One, Van Paassen started his career as a journalist at The Globe , a Canadian newspaper in Toronto. His next job as a journalist was at the great southern liberal newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution . This is where Van Paassen actively became interested in Jewish affairs after interviewing a Rabbi from New York who had just returned from Mandatory Palestine. From this point on, Van Paassen took a great personal interest in the issues of Palestine and the plight of European Jewry. In 1925, he became the foreign correspondent for the New York Evening World, which placed him in Paris. The stage was being set for World War Two and the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy from which Van Paassen passionately reported.
In 1931, the New York Evening World stopped publishing; Van Paassen remained in France and wrote for The Globe and its competitor the Toronto Star . In 1933, Van Paassen, a fluent German speaker, reported on the Nazis and courageously exposed the doctrines and policies of Hitler's fascist regime. His news reports greatly upset the Nazis, and the Toronto Star became known as atrocity propaganda. The newspaper was banned from Germany and Van Paassen was expelled but not before he was imprisoned by the Nazis for several weeks, which included some physical blows to Van Paassen's own person.
Van Paassen spent quite some time in Palestine and wrote extensively for his newspapers and wrote many books and articles on the subject. When one reads this book today, one notices how profound and ironic it is, that the times which Van Paassen describes of his generation are now repeating themselves, the only differences are the players' names.
342 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2018
Past Truths For Present Times
One of the more illuminating means of discovering the past is through its contemporary writers. Van Paassen emerges from the same fine tradition of in place investigative reporting as John Gunther, Albert Londres, Edward R. Murrow and[book John Roy Carlson|4613239]. His first hand accounts of the "Grand" Mufti Hajj Amin al Husseini (who tried to have him killed), the British authorities in Palestine and Hassan al Bana, offer incredible insights into the political challenges faced by the Jews of Palestine from the 1930s up unto the first few years of the 2nd World War.
The analysis and details are fascinating. For one, he argues that the Turkish alignment in WW I was a result more of Russian provocation on its borders than German enticements. A socialist at heart, he admires the industry and culture of the young kibbutzim and points out that much of the fear mongering against the Jews comes from feudal bourgeois land owners who's hold on the working class fellahin was threatened by economic modernization brought by the Jews. He also throws cold water on the degree that ibn Saud or the landed class Arabs of Palestine offered the Allies - with the latter it was quite the opposite until Allenby's final advance on Jerusalem in 1918 which consisted of bowing to the inevitable, offering that the myth of Arab support was simply a product of T. E. Lawrence's wishful imagination. On pp295 Van Paassen tells us that Fakri Pasha, distinguished as a mass murderer of Armenians, had assigned Captain Marek Schwartz (seconded from the Austrian Army) with the task of destroying Jerusalem and the Mosque of Omar, should the British enter the city. Rather than carrying it out, Schwartz, a Jew, "spiked his guns and walked into British lines", later remaining in the country and contributing to its prosperity as a businessman. The destruction of Al Aqsa, ordered by a Muslim commander, was saved that day by the actions of a Jew.
There are several episodes of note. One is a meeting with Albert Londres and John Philby (before anyone knew that Philby was a a double agent) about obtaining a visa to Hadhramaut, where Philby's influence peddling was quite apparent. We learn that ibn Saud dismisses Hajj Amin calling him "that dog of an idolater and Satan's spawn whom His [Britannic] Majesty would willingly chase into hell" (pp56) Another is an interview with the head of Al Azhar in Cairo, who regards the Palestinian Mufti as an uneducated fraud and is surprisingly empathetic with the Jews of Palestine as having similar national goals quite similar to his own for Egypt (pp312). The Mufti gloats (pp89) over the large sums donated by the international Muslim communities, ostensibly for the creation of an Arab University and repairs to the Mosque of Omar, but neither project took place. He also describes meeting with High Commissioner Harry. C. Luke in over the British disarming the Jewish settlers of Hulda in June 1929, only to be attacked and destroyed 9 days later by Bedouin marauders. (pp292) He relates some of the less known aspects of the Hebron massacre of 1929 as he was there to witness the results. In particular, despite Luke's protests that the Government was taken unawares, Van Paassen reveals that 10 days earlier it was Luke who had ordered various hospitals, particularly the Rothschild clinic, to have a large number of beds ready for casualties.
Particularly stirring were the acts of sacrifice and daring by the relatively large contingent of Palestinian Jewish volunteers who fought for the Allies not in Europe or Palestine but in North Africa. In the Battle of Mechili a contingent of 500 Jewish engineers tasked with laying out a mine field where surrounded on 3 sides by German troops with no reinforcements arriving from the British. Jewish engineers constructed Montgomery's impregnable forts at Al Amein; By July 1st, 1941 only 45 had survived, but they held out until the French arrival. In June of 1942 the British were trapped in Iraq, needing in short order the construction bridges across the Tigress and the Euphrates to counter the Nazi aligned coup - made possible by the fortuitous appearance of Jewish sheet metal manufacturer who had been a contractor for bridges across the Danube and the Moldau rivers as well as the Berlin subway. Better known was the successful attack on Fort Gourad in Syria led by Moshe Dayan who lost his eye in the battle. Though far more famous later on, Dayan's position at the time of writing was operating a gas station in Hanita.
In addition to the 30,000 Palestinian Jews who volunteered and served with British forces in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Mediterranean patrols many more contributed to the war effort through industrial production of chemicals, precision instruments, spare parts, serums, uniforms and weather analysis (essential to the planning of operations) for the entire Middle East provided by the Meteorological Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He adds that this failure of the Press to acknowledge the contribution of Palestinian Jews to the general war effort was among the best kept secrets of the war (pp172) In this light Van Paassen found it scandalous that the British betrayed the very principles of the Mandate by a policy that appeased Arab political pressure and blocked Jewish immigration into Palestine.
One feels touched by History in a wonderful read which strips away many of the built up myths about the era. Extremely worthwhile as a personal or library acquisition and most highly recommended!!!
One of the more illuminating means of discovering the past is through its contemporary writers. Van Paassen emerges from the same fine tradition of in place investigative reporting as John Gunther, Albert Londres, Edward R. Murrow and[book John Roy Carlson|4613239]. His first hand accounts of the "Grand" Mufti Hajj Amin al Husseini (who tried to have him killed), the British authorities in Palestine and Hassan al Bana, offer incredible insights into the political challenges faced by the Jews of Palestine from the 1930s up unto the first few years of the 2nd World War.
The analysis and details are fascinating. For one, he argues that the Turkish alignment in WW I was a result more of Russian provocation on its borders than German enticements. A socialist at heart, he admires the industry and culture of the young kibbutzim and points out that much of the fear mongering against the Jews comes from feudal bourgeois land owners who's hold on the working class fellahin was threatened by economic modernization brought by the Jews. He also throws cold water on the degree that ibn Saud or the landed class Arabs of Palestine offered the Allies - with the latter it was quite the opposite until Allenby's final advance on Jerusalem in 1918 which consisted of bowing to the inevitable, offering that the myth of Arab support was simply a product of T. E. Lawrence's wishful imagination. On pp295 Van Paassen tells us that Fakri Pasha, distinguished as a mass murderer of Armenians, had assigned Captain Marek Schwartz (seconded from the Austrian Army) with the task of destroying Jerusalem and the Mosque of Omar, should the British enter the city. Rather than carrying it out, Schwartz, a Jew, "spiked his guns and walked into British lines", later remaining in the country and contributing to its prosperity as a businessman. The destruction of Al Aqsa, ordered by a Muslim commander, was saved that day by the actions of a Jew.
There are several episodes of note. One is a meeting with Albert Londres and John Philby (before anyone knew that Philby was a a double agent) about obtaining a visa to Hadhramaut, where Philby's influence peddling was quite apparent. We learn that ibn Saud dismisses Hajj Amin calling him "that dog of an idolater and Satan's spawn whom His [Britannic] Majesty would willingly chase into hell" (pp56) Another is an interview with the head of Al Azhar in Cairo, who regards the Palestinian Mufti as an uneducated fraud and is surprisingly empathetic with the Jews of Palestine as having similar national goals quite similar to his own for Egypt (pp312). The Mufti gloats (pp89) over the large sums donated by the international Muslim communities, ostensibly for the creation of an Arab University and repairs to the Mosque of Omar, but neither project took place. He also describes meeting with High Commissioner Harry. C. Luke in over the British disarming the Jewish settlers of Hulda in June 1929, only to be attacked and destroyed 9 days later by Bedouin marauders. (pp292) He relates some of the less known aspects of the Hebron massacre of 1929 as he was there to witness the results. In particular, despite Luke's protests that the Government was taken unawares, Van Paassen reveals that 10 days earlier it was Luke who had ordered various hospitals, particularly the Rothschild clinic, to have a large number of beds ready for casualties.
Particularly stirring were the acts of sacrifice and daring by the relatively large contingent of Palestinian Jewish volunteers who fought for the Allies not in Europe or Palestine but in North Africa. In the Battle of Mechili a contingent of 500 Jewish engineers tasked with laying out a mine field where surrounded on 3 sides by German troops with no reinforcements arriving from the British. Jewish engineers constructed Montgomery's impregnable forts at Al Amein; By July 1st, 1941 only 45 had survived, but they held out until the French arrival. In June of 1942 the British were trapped in Iraq, needing in short order the construction bridges across the Tigress and the Euphrates to counter the Nazi aligned coup - made possible by the fortuitous appearance of Jewish sheet metal manufacturer who had been a contractor for bridges across the Danube and the Moldau rivers as well as the Berlin subway. Better known was the successful attack on Fort Gourad in Syria led by Moshe Dayan who lost his eye in the battle. Though far more famous later on, Dayan's position at the time of writing was operating a gas station in Hanita.
In addition to the 30,000 Palestinian Jews who volunteered and served with British forces in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Mediterranean patrols many more contributed to the war effort through industrial production of chemicals, precision instruments, spare parts, serums, uniforms and weather analysis (essential to the planning of operations) for the entire Middle East provided by the Meteorological Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He adds that this failure of the Press to acknowledge the contribution of Palestinian Jews to the general war effort was among the best kept secrets of the war (pp172) In this light Van Paassen found it scandalous that the British betrayed the very principles of the Mandate by a policy that appeased Arab political pressure and blocked Jewish immigration into Palestine.
One feels touched by History in a wonderful read which strips away many of the built up myths about the era. Extremely worthwhile as a personal or library acquisition and most highly recommended!!!
April 13, 2020
Written in 1943, Van Paassen details the steps taken by the British Colonial authorities in Palestine to negate the Balfour Declaration and establish Palestine for the Arabs with a very small Jewish minority. Hard to believe but there was a nearly successful effort to derail the establishment of Israel. There was more known in 1943 than modern day revisionists acknowledge as they revise how the Zionist contributed to the winning of WWII in the near East. Interesting and important battles involving Israeli troops were fought resulting in great praise for their role. Worth reading for the insight and foresight. Van Paassen was prophetic in his conclusions. This gem has been in my collection unread for many years. It changes perspective on what happened. Contains a short account of Moshe Dayan's involvement with the Australians in Syria!
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May 5, 2025Journalism as usual
The author is an ENGLISH (including USA as ally) journalist and it's perspective is rule. Authors have that privilege.
Read it. Interesting facts about the time in vast numbers will fill your perspective of the world AT THAT TIME and of morality and ethics (which are prevailing today?).
The author is an ENGLISH (including USA as ally) journalist and it's perspective is rule. Authors have that privilege.
Read it. Interesting facts about the time in vast numbers will fill your perspective of the world AT THAT TIME and of morality and ethics (which are prevailing today?).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews