The Jewish Onslaught: Dispatches from the Wellesley Battlefront

by Tony Martin

An essay on Black-Jewish relations, primarily in the United States, by a professor of African American History who became embroiled in controversy over his classroom use of a book detailing the well- documented Jewish role in the Atlantic slave trade. The Jewish Onslaught discusses, among other things, the increasing attacks of Jewish organizations on Black leaders and scholars, the alleged halcyon period of a Black-Jewish alliance, the Jewish role in the slave trade and the Jewish attack on Afrocentrism.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 1993

About the author

Tony Martin (February 21, 1942 – January 17, 2013) was a Trinidad-born professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. He retired in June 2007 as professor emeritus after 34 years teaching at the Africana Studies Department, where he was a founding member.

He was a lecturer and author of scholarly articles about Black History. His written works about the plagiarism by the Greeks of African philosophy, and statements regarding Jewish involvement in the American slave trade have both been a source of ongoing controversy.

In October 1991, a Wellesley student, Michelle Plantec, while on hall duty, claimed that she saw Martin wandering in a female dorm in a restricted area, in violation of a rule requiring male guests to be escorted. When she asked him about his escort, Martin, she claims, responded using profanity, accused her of racism and bigotry, and positioned himself so as to physically intimidate her. Martin denied all these claims, and declared that a group of women "accosted him rudely, despite circumstances that in his view made the legitimacy of his presence obvious."

In an interview with a campus newspaper, Plantec said: "I stopped him and said, 'Excuse me, sir, who are you with?' He looked at me and said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'What Wellesley student are you with?' and at that point he exploded and called me a fucking bitch, a racist, and a bigot, among other things. ...After all this, he went back into his meeting and said the only reason I had stopped him was because he was black.

Out of this grew Martin's most famous book, The Jewish Onslaught: Despatches from the Wellesley Battlefront. The Chair of Martin's department at Wellesley, Selwyn R. Cudjoe, labelled Martin's book "Gangsta history, meant to demean and to defame others and to bring them into disrepute, rather than to enlighten and to lead us to a more complex and sophisticated understanding of social phenomena. It ought to be labeled anti-Semitic." The majority of the Wellesley faculty signed a statement condemning Martin's work "for its racial and ethnic stereotyping and for its anti-Semitism."

Martin's book was also criticized in a statement by the president of Wellesley College:
[The book] gratuitously attacks individuals and groups at Wellesley College through innuendo and the application of racial and religious stereotype.... Despite Professor Martin's incendiary words, and his attempt to portray Wellesley College as a repressive institution bent on silencing him, we will continue to recognize his right to express himself.

In June 2002, Martin presented a talk entitled Tactics of Organized Jewry in Suppressing Free Speech at the 14th IHR Conference sponsored by the Institute for Historical Review. The Institute for Historical Review is devoted to anti-Semitic literature and especially Holocaust denial and has been linked to neo-Nazi groups. since 1995 it has been headed by a member of the white supremacist National Alliance.

Wikipedia

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 1 out of 5]

"The paradox of anti-Semitism is that it is invariably up to the Jews to explain away the charges. The anti-Semite simply has to make them." - Jack Bruce.

***

I have put this book on my Fiction shelf because that's what it is, but you, dear reader, if you are one who peers around corners, sees prophecy in myth and has a little mirror mounted on your monitor in the office, you might disagree.

The book is an anti-semitic, conspiracy theory that will appeal to neo-Nazis, KKK, Nation of Islam and those who think that the Professors Texe Marrs, K MacDonald et al are correct in their pseudo-factual diatribes that Jews are indeed responsible for just about all the ills in the world and have plans to take it over! If you firmly believe that the famously fake Protocols of the Elders is up there with the Bible and that the history of the Holocaust has been greatly exaggerated if not entirely made up; if you 5 star Mein Kampf without even reading it; if like David Icke you believe that Jews might really be alien giant lizards with evil global domination plans, then order it quickly, this book is for you.

If you really aren't that sort of person and prefer to view life through a clear glass lens, then instead you might really enjoy, not to mention find informative, Jon Ronson's investigative, but humorous debunking of conspiracy theorists, religious fundamentalists of many stripes and colours and world-domination power groups.

I wish there was a bomb rating, something lower than a 1-star anyway.

I read this book in Dec. 1993, that was a while ago! I am not necessarily current with my reviews ;-)

[James Paul Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

When money, power and influence are used to revise history by erasing ugly truths, the world needs courageous and informed truth-tellers like professor Tony Martin to correct the record, by every means necessary, even if it endangers his life, career and reputation. This was an eye-opener for me, regarding the ruthless, high-stakes world of political lobbying. #TRUTHMATTERS

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the longest and most eloquent rants I've ever had the pleasure of reading. God speed Professor Martin.

[Kimberley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Factually it ... well isn't, factual that is. Very little in this book can be backed up in any way and what portion can be the takeaway is so skewed that it promotes a headache. The book is a work of fiction sold as fact and an informed perspective.

I jumped forward to find references to history that would support the perspective being put forward by Dr. Martin and... well there wasn't any, not factually anyway. On top of that, it promotes harmful stereotypes.

This book is nothing more than anti-sematic hate speech, trying to pit one subjugated people against another in modern America by re-writing history.

[Maddie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed most of this for a class, but I thought it was very interesting to read, especially the section of letters and emails written to or about Tony Martin. Will maybe read this more thoroughly soon.

[Qareem Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Truth will prevail.