SIR,-1 never deplored a loss of 'mystique in Zionism' as
Mr. Adler interprets my, fetter, but the discarding of Hebrew ethical tradition in Israel's conduct. Ben- Gurionism is not 'expedient' but just wrong both from a national and an international point of view.
In the present set-up in Palestine it is no longer a question of 'mutual toleration' but of the self-deter- mination of the Palestinian Arab population, of a people deprived of their land, their rights and their freedom.
It appears to me absurd to advance the argument that Israel, herself an underdeveloped country with all the features of a semi-colonial society, could serve as the 'workshop' and as 'an intermediary' between the Arabs and the industrially advanced countries.
The Arabs were well ab!c to establish international trade in the past, and arc as capable as other nations to developsindustry.
It is untimely to quote Einstein's The World As I See It (publ. 1934) in defence of Zionist policy today, as if his pronouncements were unaffected by time and events. Einstein was himself dependent in his assessment of the Palestine problem on the informa- tion available to him, and judged under the psycho- logical and political impact on a Jew under Nazi terror. Today in Palestine the situation is reversed, and the most unlettered Arab refugee is more com- petent to judge the moral issue of the situation.
Einstein himself was great enough to denounce openly many of his past errors, and one would wish similar greatness would be shown by Messrs. Ben- Gurion & Co.—Yours faithfully,
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