A Classic Response to an Anti-Semitic Propagandist

An American named Alfred Lilienthal died two weeks ago in his 90s. Don’t worry. I come to bury Lilienthal in dishonor; not to praise him. A strident anti-Israel propagandist in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, he hated Israel and the Jewish faith he was born into. Lilienthal warmly embraced the pistol-packing Yassir Arafat when he came to New York to speak at the UN in 1974.

Much of what I know about Lilienthal came from my mentor, Si Kenen (pictured with me years ago), the founder of AIPAC and Near East Report. Kenen began his campaign to beat back Lilienthal’s propaganda and slanders in Washington and the American press before I was even born.

Once, while I was serving as an editor and head of research at a Jewish organization in the U.S., I got a call from Leon Uris (pictured left) asking for my assistance. Lilienthal publicly challenged the author of Exodus to a debate. Uris tried ignoring him, but Lilienthal continued to hound him. “Who is this SOB?” Lee asked. The file I sent back to Uris (ne Yerushalmi) included details on Lilienthal’s embrace of Islam and his anti-Semitic utterances.

Within a few weeks Uris sent me a copy of his response to Lilienthal, and its content showed how great a wordsmith and man of (short) letters Uris was. It read: Dear Lilienthal: F*ck off. Uris.

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