. ANTI-SEMITISM IN ENGLAND
Sut,—Mr. J. H. Mallon is seriously mistaken in supposing that the re- corded conviction for breaches of the Defence Regulations represent the true state of affairs, as only a small proportion are reported, and it is notorious that some reporters and some papers show a bias in giving far more publicity to cases in which Jews are involved than to others. I challenge him to prove on the basis of official figures that the large percentage of convictions that he attributes to Jews is anywhere near the truth. He also finds fault with the Jews on the ground, as he alleges, that they patronise " the most expensive restaurants from Lon- don to Leeds." If he visits them- himself, why object to Jews doing likewise? And if he goes by hearsay, why believe and exaggerate what he hears? Does he suggest that Jews should boycott restaurant cars or impose upon themselves a numerus clausus? If so, what becomes of our civil equality? He objects to Jewesses in furs, yet in the very One issue Mr. Harold Nicolson admits that he wears a fur coat himself. Are the Jews, who have benefited the commerce of this country by bringing about the transfer of the international fur market from Leipzig to London, to be rewarded by being forbidden to wear fur garments themselves? As for the King's English not being spoken, is he sure that some of the people he refers to are not "Aryans" of the various Allied and neutral nations; and if he had had the misfortune of being driven to a foreign country himself, would he be able to speak its language with the accent of a native? The most unjust and mischievous of Mr. Mallon's observations is that "our sailors, soldiers, and airmen look on in disgust and wonder if it is for the ultimate benefit of these gentry that they are fighting." Since when has this war become one in which Christians are fighting for the benefit of Jews? Does not Mr. Mallon know that there are also Jews in the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force. who have from the very outset fought just as bravely as their comrades? There are over 40,000 Jews of Great Britain in the Services, including over 7,000 in the R.A.F. alone, and as the total Jewish population is esti- mated at 350,000, the Jews are represented by over ii per cent., a higher proportion than in the case of the general population. They hold important positions in all three Services, and have already been awarded a goodly number of decorations, including D.S.C.s, D.F.C.s and D.F.M.s, besides a great many "mentioned in despatches." They have also acquitted themselves with distinction in Civil Defence. Up to the end of 1941 there were only 13 awards of the George Cross, of which Jews received at least two, while the very first award in the whole country of the B.E.M. went to a Jewish girL Since Mr. Mallon is apparently anxious that anti-Semitism should not spread, he should at least display a sense of fairness himself, and this requires a recognition of the fact that it is not only "our sailors, soldiers and airmen " who are fighting for the overthrow of Hitlerism. There are also the British Dominions and the Allied Democracies, in all of whose forces the Jews are adequately—in some cases more than adequately—represented, apart from the 12,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine, whose number could easily be increased to 5o,000 if His Majesty's Government would agree to a Jewish Force fighting under its own flag. Facts such as these surely more than outweigh the social blemishes that he grossly exaggerates.—Yours faithfully,
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