Letter

In response to Fifty-five years on, Bertrand Russell’s words are worth returning to

Russell’s authorship

In all likelihood, the statement on the Middle East dated 31 January 1970 was indeed drafted by Bertrand Russell. It has his characteristic clarity including typically succinct formulations such as ‘The tragedy of the people of Palestine is that the country was “given” by a foreign power to another people for the creation of a new state, and “What Israel is doing today cannot be condoned, and to invoke the horrors of the past to justify those of the present is gross hypocrisy”. Russell personally signed a copy of the statement, which is now held at the Bertrand Russell Archives, McMaster University, Canada.

Christopher Farley, Russell’s representative to whom he had dictated the statement, delivered it to an international conference of parliamentarians in Egypt on 3 February 1970.

By this time, Ralph Schoenman had not seen Russell, or had direct contact with him, for nearly two years. On 13 January 1970, The New York Times had reported Russell’s brief public statement that he no longer had any contact with Schoenman.

Tony Simpson, secretary, Bertrand Russell PeaceFoundation, 5 Churchill Park, Nottingham, NG4 2HF, England

— Tony Simpson from Cornwall