"Letter to an anti-Zionist friend"
Selections from the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


". . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely
'anti-Zionist.'  And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain
tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people
criticize Zionism, they mean Jews -- this is God's own truth.

"Antisemitism ... has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this
we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently
antisemitic, and ever will be so....

"The antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have
made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This
being the case, the antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for
his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the
Jews, he is just 'anti-Zionist'!

"My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate antisemitism... But I know you
have been misled -- as others have been -- into thinking you can be
'anti-Zionist' and yet remain true to these heartfelt principles that you and
I share. Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize
Zionism, they mean Jews -- make no mistake about it."

From M.L. King, Jr., "Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend,"
Saturday Review XLVII (Aug. 1967), p. 76.
Reprinted in "Shared Dreams," by Rabbi Marc Shneier, preface by
Martin Luther King III