FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 7, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Throughout the centuries, when tragedies and catastrophes have occurred, many point a hateful finger at the Jewish people. Author Arnold P. Abbott believes this culture of hate has been passed down through the ages, and his new book, When In Doubt...Blame A Jew!: A Personal And People's Memoir of Anti-Semitism (now available through AuthorHouse), gives a witty and personal picture of anti-Semitism through the eyes of those who have experienced its sting.
After living "as a Jew in a Gentile world for 80 years," Abbott has heard most of the stories and obvious hatemongering spurred by anti-Semites. He notes that those who discriminate are "victims of inherited ignorance," and his book is a response to this hate. When In Doubt...Blame A Jew! responds to the allegations that Jews caused the Black Plague, Germany's early 20th-century depression and the murder of Jesus. Through witty, intelligent chapters, Abbott ponders why Jewish people have often been scapegoats for governments, from Egypt and Assyria to Nazi Germany. Beginning with the story of Mary and moving through the doctrines of the Catholic Church, the book aims to dispel "unfounded accusations" perennially leveled against the Jewish. He also skewers public figures, such as Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh and J. Edgar Hoover, who he claims were staunch anti-Semites.
However, Abbott is never out to blame today's Gentiles; rather, he applauds the efforts of those heroic people - known as The Righteous Gentiles of World War II - who aided Jews during the Holocaust. Some chapters poke fun at Jewish people with humorous anecdotes garnered from his life. The last chapter, "A World Without Jews - What Would It Be Like?" expresses his fear that his people are bound for extinction due to intermarriage and conversion.
An intelligent, funny and important book, When In Doubt...Blame A Jew! peers through the tired eyes of the long-persecuted Jewish people to offer their perspectives.
Abbott's writing career began at age 9 when a Ralph Waldo Emerson essay ridiculing the obligation of the rich to aid the poor prompted him to pen a poetic rebuttal. A World War II veteran, he also fought fiercely in the Civil Rights movement and as a Pennsylvania delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in the 1960s. He now lives in Florida and heads an organization that provides culinary training to the homeless.
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