Professor's Book Criticized

A Harvard rabbi and Wellesley College's president have both criticized a book dealing with alleged Jewish "domination" of Blacks written by a professor at Wellesley.

The president denounced The Jewish Onslaught: Despatches from the Wellesley Battlefront, written by professor of Black History Tony Martin, in a letter mailed to over 40,000 alumnae, parents and "friends" of the college.

In the letter, president Diana Chapman Walsh condemned Martin's book as "distorted and unfounded," but refused to call for its censorship on the grounds of freedom of expression.

Several newspapers have said the book alleges that Jews have exploited Blacks since the days of the slave trade. It claims that recently they have been aided by Hillel groups such as the one at Wellesley, which Martin describes as "campus based shock troops in the ongoing Jewish onslaught."

Officials at the Wellesley Hillel were unavailable for comment.

"We are profoundly disturbed and saddened by professor Martin's new book because it gratuitously attacks individuals and groups at Wellesley College through innuendo and the application of racial and religious stereotype," Walsh, who was not available for comment yesterday, wrote in her letter.

Martin's book also attacks a 1992 rally organized by the Harvard Radcliffe Hillel in protest of a speech given that day by City University of New York professor Leonard Jeffries, said Rabbi Sally D. Finestone, associate director of Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel.

Elie G. Kaunfer 95, chair of Harvard Radcliffe Hillel, said yesterday, "It is totally absurd to assert that the goal of Hillel is to oppress any group of people.. and it's people like professor Martin who unnecessarily aggravate Black-Jewish relations." Kaunfer is senior editor of the Crimson

Martin could not be reached for comment yesterday.

He told The New York Times that the president's letter is just part of the onslaught against him. Walsh "totally ignores that incredible campaign against me and accuses me of being uncivil," he said.

The so-called "campaign" to which Martin refers began in the spring of 1991 when he included the book "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews" in his curriculum, according to The Times.

The book , whose author remains anonymous, details the supposed Jewish domination of the slave trade. It was published by the Nation of Islam.

The book was quickly condemned by the Wellesley administration as anti-Semitic, The Times reported.

Finestone said that it must place Wellesley "in an uncomfortable position to have someone teaching an academically disciplined course using such bogus material."