"I now appreciate that Arabs and Jews were all a Semitic people originally and it is the influx of foreign, European Jews (especially from Poland, they say) which has helped to cause the great problems [in the Middle East]."
Prince Charles, the heir apparent to the British thrown, penned these words back in 1986, a letter released and reported by the Daily Mail this past weekend has revealed.
"I know there are so many complex issues, but how can there ever be an end to terrorism unless the causes are eliminated?" the prince continued in the letter, which was written to his close friend Laurens van der Post.
Going further, Prince Charles referenced the powerful Zionist lobbies in Washington D.C., citing their immense influence on Western foreign policy.
"Surely some U.S. president has to have the courage to stand up and take on the Jewish lobby in the US?" he wrote.
By "Jewish lobby," Prince Charles would have been referring to powerful Zionist lobbying groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Considered one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the U.S., politicians have seen their careers rise and fall depending on their level of support for the group's positions.
Despite the fact that Prince Charles has widely been seen as a strong supporter of the British Jewish community in the past and wasn't stating views against Jews generally, the old letter has sparked significant controversy.
"Poisoned by Arab Muslim propaganda"
Right-wing British politician and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage weighed in
Of course, others are praising the prince for calling out the creation of the Israeli state
The British issued the Balfour Declaration ... and then everything changed
British Foreign Minister Arthur James Balfour issued the infamous declaration 100 years ago, leading to the inevitable displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian inhabitants, many whose descendants are refugees today. Decades of unrest and conflict in the region have followed the decision.
Unwavering support from the U.S. and other Western allies for Israel have allowed the continued and systematic destruction of Palestinian culture and heritage.
As Charles points out in his letter, many Arab's simply see Israel "as a U.S. colony," invading the region.
A spokesperson for the royal family responded to the letter's publication, saying while the prince did pen the words, they "clearly" represented the views of others.
"The letter clearly states that these were not the Prince’s own views about Arab-Israeli issues but represented the opinions of some of those he met during his visit which he was keen to interrogate," the spokesperson said, according to The Independent.
“He was sharing the arguments in private correspondence with a longstanding friend in an attempt to improve his understanding of what he has always recognized is a deeply complex issue to which he was coming early on in his own analysis in 1986."