The repeated insistence by John Birch Society leaders that the organization is not anti-Semitic was called into question here following a three-day rally at which a key Birch spokesman vilified Jews.
The occasion was a New England Rally for God, Family and Country. The principal address, a smear on Jews, was delivered by Dr. Revilo P. Oliver, a key spokesman for the Birch Society. All of the major talks were delivered by Birch Society members. Dr. Oliver, contributing editor of “American Opinion, ” a Birch Society publication, has a long record of anti-Semitic activities, according to the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.
Oliver, in a 65-minute diatribe, told the right wing audience that the “conspiracy of the Jews” predated “the conspiracies of the Illuminati and the Communists” and that it had helped produce “the evils of today” which he listed as “degenerates, scum, dregs, savages, debased squealing enemies, dear little cockroaches, howling mobs, parasites and the lazy illegitimates.”
Robert Welch, founder of the Birch Society, was a leading figure at the three-day rally. Booths at the rally featured “Headlines,” an anti-Semitic paper published by Joseph P. Kamp, a professional anti-Semite.
Oliver said one of the major causes of political activity on American college campuses was the use of drugs, particularly LSD “which is imported from Israel.” Observers noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has indicated most of the LSD used in this country is either made here or smuggled in from Italy.
Oliver is on record as having argued that “it is a lie that the Nazis killed 6,000,000 Jews. ” While his record was widely reported in the Boston press prior to the rally, that press did not mention his anti-Semitic speech at the rally.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
