United States Senator William H. King, of Utah, urged the United States Government to protect oppressed Jews in all countries with which the United States has regular diplomatic relations, in an address Wednesday at a luncheon of the Brooklyn Women’s Division of the United Palestine Appeal, at the Hotel Astor.
Senator King proposed that the threat of severed diplomatic relations be held over such countries, as persecuted the peoples within their borders.
“It is my duty,” he said, “if the black man be in trouble to help. The same I say for the Jew or any oppressed race. I must feel a kinship for all the people of the world.
“I place above the philosophy of Greece and Rome that greater philosophy of life, of bucaty, of ideals that has been transmitted through the Jews. I beg you young ladies not to be ashamed that you are Jews.
“There has been much criticism of the Jews that they are internationalists. Pray, what are Christians if they are sincere?
“I have no sympathy with the antagonists of the movement for the upbuilding of Palestine, which traditionally and morally belongs to the Jews.”
Senator King described his impressions of Palestine gathered during a recent trip and praised the agreement reached between Dr. Chaim Weizmann and Louis Marshall for the upbuilding of Palestine as the Jewish Homeland.
“While in Palestine I have visited a number of places where the Jewish settlers have, under the Zionist banner, planted beautiful colonies amidst the desolation I saw elsewhere in the country,” Senator King declared. Quoting from the Prophets, he declared that the results of his observations have convinced him that “the desert is beginning to blossom like a rose.”
“In Palestine there can be created homes for a half million Jews or more,” the Senator said, “and among the Jews I met in Poland and other European countries I have found evidence that at least that many are anxious to migrate to a land that will receive them and give them the home they have been craving and praying for.”
Senator King attacked the immigration laws recently adopted by Congress as unjust and inhumane.
“As ranking Democratic member of the Senate Immigration Committee I opposed the last immigration measure because I felt it to be unjust to the Jews and to other peoples of Eastern Europe,” he declared.
Speaking of the sufferings of the Jews of Eastern Europe, as witnessed by him during his visits last year and three years ago, Senator King said that he felt this country was justified in protesting, and that he would favor severing diplomatic relations with European countries that mistreated the Jews.
“I despise and have a profound hatred for all sorts of racial animosity and religious prejudices,” the Senator said.
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.
