Customer Reviews

The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem

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Henry Ford published this series of articles in 1920 looking at the role of Jews in the international society of his time, which is to say, after WW1 and pre WW2.

He saw the Jews as a separate group, having maintained their identity over millenia by means of a strong racial awareness, intermarriage laws, religion and tradition. There isn't much to doubt about this, but he moves on to consider how this Jewish group has interacted with the remaining 97% of Gentile society (in 1920 Jews were about 3% of the US population and are a similar proportion today).

He concludes that there are positive and negative effects. On the positive side he shows traditional Jewish commercial activities such as banking becoming centred in the most tolerant countries (in his day and at present the US) providing plentiful Gentile employment which in the modern context would include the media and entertainment industries.

On the negative side is the manipulation of their host legislatures, foreign policy, economy and media channels for their own rather than the national benefit.

Although he doesn't express it in these terms, he is really asking whether Jews and Gentiles have a symbiotic relationship (both sides benefit) or a parasitic relationship (one side benefits) in the countries in which they coexist.
He comes down mostly on the side of a parasitic relationship which he supports by the considerable efforts that Jewish organizations go to to hide their power and shut down any references to it in the media. They label it as anti-Semitic, which it often is, but Ford makes it clear that the Jews themselves have been operating a solid racist policy since at least Roman times so it isn't a surprise that Gentiles sometimes react in the same way.

The book identifies Gentile nationalism and racial identity as a principal Jewish fear, hence their strong support for multiculturalism (for Gentiles) and liberalism (for Gentiles) of the kind promoted in the collapsing late Austro-Hungarian empire and German Weimar republic, both of which they powerfully influenced.

He shows that the the murderous Bolshevik revolutionaries were almost entirely Jewish and the catastrophic result that their revolution had for the Russian and Ukrainian populations, and, should he have written his articles post WW2, he would have added the equally catastrophic German nationalistic reaction against the early 20th century Jewish domination of German society (e.g. in 1912, one out of three high school students in Vienna was a religious Jew, 40% of medical students were Jewish etc. displacing the traditionally German middle class - See Brigitte Hamann )

A hard-hitting, easy-to-read introduction to what the renowned American automaker and industrialist called "the world's foremost problem." This influential and much-discussed collection of essays, packed with facts and insights, is an eye-opening survey of the enduringly vexing "Jewish question." These essays originally appeared 1920-22 in Ford's Dearborn Independent. A sample: "Jewish intolerance today, yesterday and in every age of history where Jews were able to exert influence or power, is indisputable except among people who do not know the record."

[...]
Anyway, all I can say -- if freedom of speech exists -- is that this is an excellent book. It reflects reality as it is today, and it was written in the early 19s. Everybody should read it.

A good book by a great man who knew exactly what he was talking about. Liberals can moan and groan all they want but facts are facts. I strongly recommend this book for any of you who are willing to shed the shackles of poliical correctness.

I first saw this book a few years ago at a "peace rally" in California that was led by Kevin Danaher, whose speaking style was the closest I have seen to Hitler's from the news reels I have seen in years past.
This book was waived at anyone who questioned the rally supporters as "proof" of the guilt of the Jews in bringing forth every ill of mankind. The funny part of this to me was the book was at the "Code Pink" table, where one of the founders of this organization of radical leftists, and un-repentant Communists is Medea (Susan) Benjamin, a Jew, and wife of Kevin Danaher. Ironically, but probably not coincidentally, their table was next to the "Death to Israel" table.

This book is really a compilation of articles ghost written for Henry Ford senior, who bought the Dearborn paper where all of these chapters originally appeared before they were collected into this book.
Each chapter of this book begins with one of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an invention of a propagandist in France before Napoleon III reign, and adopted over many decades by Germans and Tsarist Russians where it was finalized in its present form. The only missing chapter was the recipe for making matzo from the blood of a gentile or Arab youth.
One of the problems with reviewing this book is that it contains some historically accurate facts, such as the enormous influence of the Anti-Defamation League, which was so successful in eradicating the kind of language and argument that Ford used from acceptable public discourse (if not private conversation) in the USA today. But that doesn't mean that this same language and discourse is not fed daily to hundreds of millions all over the globe by politicians, Imams, or even French Ambassadors. It is hateful, and mostly untruthful, but from the vantage of the millions who have grown up in societies where Jews are the reason for every problem besetting their societies, it is the gospel.
All you have to do is open most state-sponsored media in the Middle-East, from Egypt, Libya, Iran, Indonesia, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria and you will find the same, or worse calumnies as you find in this book. The difference is that Ford wrote this book in 1920 and you will find the same charges written every day today in most of the Muslim world.
Ford talked about the control of Hollywood, most American news outlets (before the invention of television but nonetheless applicable to them as well today) theater, "popular culture" and other influences of American society by Jews, and it is hard to dispute this when this remains true today. It is one of the reasons that the US has been vilified for decades since Harry Truman recognized the Jewish State of Israel in 1948. Ford rails about the corrosive effect of attacks on Christianity, religion, marriage, public displays of traditional family values, legislating from the judicial branch of the government and other debates that continue to this day.

If you have read any of the books by the Ayatollah Khomeini, such as "Khomeini and His Movement," published in 1975 but not available in the West, you will find nearly identical language as in Ford's book. I actually suspect that some of the passages from this book were lifted by Khomeini and inserted into his many speeches and writings while in exile in Iraq or France. For those who have forgotten, never knew, or glossed over his rantings, Khomeini attacked the United States and the Shah, not because of the Shah's alleged violations of human rights and his use of his secret police to suppress religious fanatics like Khomeini who had fled to Paris, but because the Shah allowed women into government, did not recognize the Koran and the Hadiths as the final authority in Iranian jurisprudence, and actually was trying to lead his country into Western notions of religious tolerance. Of course Jimmy Carter sided with Khomeini which led to the imprisonment of American diplomats for 444 days when the Islamic Republic of Iran was established and Iranian "students" invaded the American embassy in 1979. Khomeini thought that the Shah's biggest problem was that he acted too much like a Jew, was supportive of the USA as the "great satin" and thus linking the US, the Shah, and Israel as the reason for the establishment of the Islamic republic and its goal to eradicate the Jews in the Middle East. As usual, Carter was totally clueless about the long-term effects of his decision to undermine the shah.

The Iranian mullahs used many of the arguments that Ford advocated in this book in order to establish "The Party of Allah" (Hezb' Allah) and other terrorist organizations which have been responsible for the deaths of more Americans and others in the West than al Qaeda.

But the ultimate irony of this book is that it has come full circle. From Hitler's use of it to advocate the need for the death of the Jews, to the current use of it by the far left to advocate the death of Israel and all the Jews contained therein, the language has not changed, only the audience willing to accept its idiocy as its mantra. If you don't understand this, attend the usual "peace rally" sponsored by the far left such as "Code Pink" or "Global Exchange" or dozens of others who hate the USA and all it stands for to see what I mean. I suspect that Medea Benjamin and her fellow travelers will remain oblivious to the consequences of their beliefs until Khomeini's progeny, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, uses his nuclear weapons to "wipe Israel from the face of the Earth" as he has advocated, and perhaps New York City, too. Ford was simply ahead of his time, and this book would be applauded by hundreds of millions of Muslims all over the world today as an American with whom they agree with about "the international jew."

The book," The International Jew," a collection of articles, portents to present a scientific analysis of a problem, both the problem is stated and defined by the Author. The book is clearly aimed at an audience that neither requires, seeks, nor needs any substantiation of statements or claims made regardless of how devastating their effects may be on the affected.

If these articles had been submitted to a scientific body for publication, they would have been rejected out-of-hand being devoid of any Bibliography or References, making it impossible to verify any of the statements.
However, even without this reference material, the contradictions found in this text are so obvious that it is impossible to view it as a serious undertaking.
To be specific, on page 8 it is stated:
"The single description ...of Jews ...is this: he is in business. It may be only gathering rags and selling them, but he is in business...the Jew is supremely gifted for business." And on page 14: "...wherever they [the Jews] wandered, the center of business seemed to go with them."

Yet on pp 33-34 one finds: "Associated with Columbus in the voyage were at least five Jews. Luis de Torres, interpreter; Marco, the surgeon; Bernal, the physician; Alonzo de la Calle. and Gabriel Sanchez. The astronomical instruments and maps which the navigators used were of Jewish origin." Of the surgeon and the physician only the first names are known. How, then was their religion ascertained? In fact, how and from whom was any of this information obtained?
Here we have an Interpreter, a Jew; a Surgeon, a Jew; a Physician, a Jew; and the Navigational Instruments and Maps all made by Jews. WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE IN-BUSINESS JEWS?

Is one to believe that in all of Spain the only Surgeon to be found turned out to be a Jew?
Is one to believe that in all of Spain the only Physician to be found also turned out to be a Jew?
Is one to believe that in all of Spain the only Interpreter to be found turned out to be another Jew?
And in all of Spain, makers of Navigational Instruments and Maps, all turned out to be Jews?

Did the Surgeon sail with Columbus because he was planning to peddle surgical instruments to the ship's crew?
Did the Physician come aboard to push cough syrup and band-aids at exorbitant prices, having captive consumers at his mercy?
And the Interpreter, did he arrive with a truckload of dictionaries counting on making a huge profit from selling these books to the sailors who had money in their pockets and no place to spend it?

Or would it be more reasonable to assume that, for a voyage of this gravity, Columbus picked the very best he could find.
Now, if that is the case, then it would appear that the "supremely gifted [Jew] for business" turns out to be equally supremely gifted for Languages, Surgery, General Medicine, and the Manual Skills required to create navigational instruments and maps.

Perhaps one other example may prove to be of interest. In this book there are drawn constant comparisons between Jew and Gentile when no comparison on this basis is possible. Whether one considers a Jew a member of a specific race or a specific religion or both, a Gentile is neither: He is not the member of a specific race or the member of a specific religion and, obviously, he cannot belong to both of them.
From the point-of-view of a Jew, a Gentile is anybody who is not a Jew.
From a Mormon's point-of-view, anybody who is not a Mormon is a Gentile, which leads to the interesting and perhaps even amusing conclusion that from a Mormon's point of view, A JEW IS A GENTILE!

Last, but by no means least, once it becomes clear that the "The International Jew" is based on "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion," the need for proving discrepancies disappears. For decades now a number of independent Historical Scholars have shown that "The Protocols ..."are fictitious minutes of meetings that never took place.

Since a Theory based on an erroneous Hypothesis is an erroneous Theory, therefore, a book or series of articles, based on a fictitious account, consequently is itself a fictitious account of the 2nd order.

One may ask, how is it possible that so many have taken these statements for GOSPEL. The only answer I have to offer is this: " There are none so blind, as those who do not wish to see!"
There are none so deaf, as those who do not wish to hear!

I'm sorry - I haven't read this book, I was prompted to write this based on what I read in the previous two reviews. I'd just like to offer a warning to help avoid a potentially damaging mindset that I think both these two reviewers have fallen into. Regardless of whether you agree with Ford's conclusions, stick to the facts, and form your own. You can't dismiss anything as all good and all bad. Every conclusion is supported by some fact, the trick is making sure you don't let emotional momentum let you carry things too far: The second reviewer is so empassioned that it is hard to separate fact from zeal, there is a lot of name-calling, who hate who, hyprocrit. The last reviewer is guilty of historicism: he/she thinks that any behavior that looks like a behavior observed in the past IS what was observed in the past. Just because people criticize Israel, does not make them anti-semitic or less American.

On a side note: Before you label someone as un-American, see how many of the ideas YOU hold as true, appear in our constitution. Something isn't un-American just because you or even the majority doesn't agree with it. You don't get to decide what is American, that is what our constitution is for.

It is truly sad that people feel they need to use Amazon.com as a forum to vent their racial and religous bigotry. Throughout history, there have always been poor, angry, simple-minded, ignorant people that have felt a need to scapegoat the Jews for their pathetic lot in life. Those who gave favorable reviews to this anti-semitic piece of garbage (which REALLY is a terrible book to boot) are no different. The "International Jew" is a reminder both of how ignorant and disgusting human beings were, and how ignorant and disgusting some human beings can still be.

It's not difficult to imagine the type of person who would still want this book, but one would prefer not to. Unfortunately it's still all too relevant. One wishes that Henry Ford's idea of history as "bunk" was more convincing!

The resurgence of opposition to the phoney "War on Christmas" should remind readers of earlier efforts to attack American Jews.

Hendrik Hertzberg, in a New Yorker article about the ongoing war on Christmas, made a direct connection to this book. He wrote:

... Christmas itself, in something like its recognizably modern
... form, with gifts and cards and elves, dates from the early
... nineteenth century. The War on Christmas seems to have come
... along around a hundred years later, with the publication of
... "The International Jew," by Henry Ford, the automobile
... magnate, whom fate later punished by arranging to have his
... fortune diverted to the sappy, do-gooder Ford Foundation.
... "It is not religious tolerance in the midst of religious
... difference, but religious attack that they"-the
... Jews-"preach and practice," he wrote. "The whole record of
... the Jewish opposition to Christmas, Easter and certain
... patriotic songs shows that." Ford's anti-Semitism has not
... aged well, thanks to the later excesses of its European
... adherents, but by drawing a connection between
... Christmasbashing and patriotism-scorning he pointed the way
... for future Christmas warriors.
--- From "Bah Humbug" www.newyorker.com, posted 2005-12-19

I find it ironic, that the major issue in the world today is the Israeli-Palestinian problem, but the majority of anti-semite, anti-islam books are written by Christians. With the exception of Dore Gold, and Daniel Pipes.