On "World Events" and Israel; The Hue Killings

The letter which follows was addressed to one of the editors of MR for reasons which the letter itself makes clear. Since this is not the only criticism we have received of one or another of Scott Nearing's columns, a word of explanation seems in order. Scott Nearing's "World Events" has been appearing in MR for seventeen years—since April, 1953, to be exact—under an agreement which the then editors of MR entered into with Scott Nearing and the publishers of what had hitherto been a quarterly periodical entitled World Events, written entirely by Scott Nearing. The publishers of World Events were no longer able to carry on, and the purpose of the agreement was to provide Scott Nearing with a continuing outlet. MR undertook to fulfill the unexpired subscriptions to World Events and to set aside six pages in every issue (except special issues devoted to a single subject) for a "column" by Scott Nearing under the same "World Events" title. There were of course no restrictions on the contents of the column, and no presumption on either side that Scott Nearing and the editors of MR would agree on anything more specific than the anti-imperialist and pro-socialist principles for which all of us had struggled for many years. For those unfamiliar with his record, we need only point out that Scott Nearing lost his academic position for opposing the First World War and during the 1920s was co-author (with Joseph Freeman) of Dollar Diplomacy, one of the best known and most influential attacks on U.S. imperialism that has ever been written (it was recently reprinted by MR Press in a paperback edition). Against this background, the reader will understand that "World Events" is the exclusive responsibility of Scott Nearing and does not necessarily express the views of the editors of MR (the obverse is of course also true). In the future, comments and criticisms evoked by "World Events" should be addressed to Scott Nearing (either care of MRor, more directly, to his personal address: Harborside, Maine), and not to the editors of MR. He can, if he wishes, publish parts of such correspondence in "World Events" with or without reply, in his sole discretion. —The Editors.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website

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