Ivor Benson (November 1907 – January 1993) was a journalist, right-wing essayist, anti-communist and racist

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

. From 1964 to 1966 he was a

Rhodesian Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

government official and censor. He fanatically supported

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He also wrote frequently about a global Jewish/Communist conspiracy; his main book on the subject, ''This Worldwide Conspiracy'', was supported by the right-wing London Swinton Circle and recommended by the

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

National Front (UK) The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gai ...

. Benson blamed the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

banking interests, the government of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

as drivers of a global conspiracy to wipe out his preferred

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

Life and activities

Benson was born in South Africa. He started out as a journalist in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

before later moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he wrote for the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' and the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

''. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in South Africa, and returned to journalism there after the war. He became a news commentator at Radio South Africa and broadcaster for the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

. He became chief assistant editor of the ''

Rand Daily Mail ''The Rand Daily Mail'' was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The ...

''; however, after he wrote an editorial in favour of fascist

Sir Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

, who was staying with him, he was sacked. Benson was an extreme supporter of

. He opposed any form of

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

, and any change to white minority rule in Africa. Invited to

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

P. K. van der Byl Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl (11 November 1923 – 15 November 1999) was a Rhodesian politician who served as his country's Foreign Minister from 1974 to 1979 as a member of the Rhodesian Front (RF). A close associate of Pr ...

, who knew Benson was strongly against any increase in rights for black Africans, from 1964 to 1966 Benson served as Director of the Government Information Department to the Rhodesian government under

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

. In Rhodesia, he wrote speeches for Smith, re-organized the once-neutral state information department into an active propaganda agency, served as state-empowered press censor, and spoke for the anti-communist

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...

.Lowry, D
The Impact of anti-communism on white Rhodesian political culture c. 1920-1980
' in Onslow, Sue (editor) ''Cold War in Southern Africa: White Power, Black Liberation'' p. 94 Routledge (2009) Benson was most likely involved in a

black propaganda Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propaganda ...

effort aimed at electors in the UK, in an effort to sway the

1966 Kingston upon Hull North by-election The Kingston upon Hull North by-election of 27 January 1966 was held after the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Henry Solomons on 7 November 1965. The seat was retained with an increased majority by Kevin McNamara of the Labour Party. T ...

. A pamphlet was sent to UK electors, supposedly printed by the "Tudor Rose Society for the Protection of the British Way of Life", which did not exist. Benson left Rhodesia when Smith shifted to a more moderate stance. Benson would author many books and essays alleging a

Jewish world conspiracy The Zionist occupation government, Zionist occupational government or Zionist-occupied government (ZOG), sometimes also referred to as the Jewish occupational government (JOG), is an antisemitic conspiracy theory claiming Jews secretly contr ...

. He wrote articles for magazines abroad, such as ''Western Destiny'', ''

The Journal of Historical Review The ''Journal of Historical Review'' was a non-peer reviewed, pseudoacademic periodical focused on advancing Holocaust denial. It was published by the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), based in Torrance, California. It ran quarterly from 19 ...

'', and ''

The Spotlight ''The Spotlight'' was a weekly newspaper in the United States, published in Washington, D.C. from September 1975 to July 2001 by the now-defunct antisemitic Liberty Lobby. ''The Spotlight'' ran articles and editorials professing a "populist and na ...

''. In 1966, he became co-editor of the American magazine ''

The American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

'' as it merged with two Nazi papers to adopt an explicitly pro-Nazi/anti-semitic/

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

stance. He produced a newsletter, ''Behind the News'', and in the 1970s founded a fascist group called the National Forum,Ó Maoláin, Ciarán (editor).
The Radical Right: A World Directory
' pp. 244, 302 Longman (1987) and would head the South African chapter of the

World Anti-Communist League The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) is an international non-governmental organization of anti-communist politicians and groups. It was founded in 1952 as the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) under the initiative of Chiang Kai-sh ...

. He was the South African correspondent of the

Crown Commonwealth League of Rights The Crown Commonwealth League of Rights was an umbrella organisation founded in 1972 by Eric Butler for the various League of Rights organisations and to achieve membership of the World Anti-Communist League. Those organisations were: *Australian ...

and hosted to

Eric Butler Eric Dudley Butler (7 May 1916 – 7 June 2006) was an Australian political activist and journalist, who in 1946 founded the far-right Australian League of Rights, which he led until 1992. He was known as a staunch anti-communist and virulent ...

in 1970. In late 1980 or early 1981, Benson told a South African government "Commission of Inquiry into the Mass Media" that South Africans were being inundated by outsider views carried by the two largest newspaper agencies in South Africa, the Argus Group and South African Associated Newspapers (SAAN), both financed from England. Benson said these agencies were controlled by the "international capitalist-communist conspiracy", and that they were effectively foreign agents waging undeclared war on South Africa. Benson recommended that the press in South Africa should become an organ of state policy as in Taiwan. Benson would travel worldwide promoting his views. In 1983 he spoke to the Swinton Circle in London, and to the

Canadian League of Rights The Canadian League of Rights (CLR) was the Canadian offshoot of Eric Butler's Australian League of Rights. Following speaking tours of Canada in the mid-1960s, Eric Butler sought to establish of a local version of his organisation. The CLR was for ...

in Canada. In 1986, Benson wrote a speech, delivered ''in absentia'', for a conference of the

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

group, the

Institute for Historical Review The Institute for Historical Review (IHR) is a United States-based nonprofit organization which promotes Holocaust denial. It is considered by many scholars to be central to the international Holocaust denial movement. Self-described as a "hist ...

(IHR).

Bibliography

Books

''This Worldwide Conspiracy''.
Victoria, Australia: New Times Press, in association with Dolphin Press (1972).

Durban, South Africa: Dolphin Press (1979). * ''Truth Out of Africa''. Bullsbrook, Western Australia: Veritas Publishing Company (1984). 2nd edition, with three new chapters.
''The Zionist Factor: A Study of the Jewish Presence in 20th Century History''.
Bullsbrook, Western Australia: Veritas Publishing Company (1986).
''This Age of Conflict: The Source and Technology of Illegitimate Power.''
Durban, South Africa: Dolphin Press (1987)

Newsletters

* ''Behind the News'' (monthly). Durban, South Africa: Dolphin Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Ivor 1907 births 1993 deaths South African journalists South African people of Swedish descent South African conspiracy theorists South African neo-Nazis Apartheid in South Africa 20th-century journalists Censors Rhodesian anti-communists