Government itself, to take the necessary steps for remedying conditions in Palestine, so that the pledge of the Balfour Declaration, for the restoration of Palestine as the Jewish Homeland, embodied in the Mandate, will be carried out more effectively and speedily than heretofore,” asserted Major Hopkin in his address at the luncheon.
“The whole civilized world was horrified by the massacre of over a hundred defenseless Jews in Palestine six months ago by a horde of fanatical and lawless Arabs,” said Congressman Fish, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the sponsor in the House of the Palestine resolution, in introducing Major Hopkin. “Among the victims of this bloody butchery were thirteen American students in a theological college at Hebron, who were slaughtered while holding their holy books in their hands, without any means of defense.
“As the sponsor of the Zionist Resolution which was adopted by the Congress of the United States in favor of establishing a Homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, I believe that our government has a moral obligation to exert its influence for the protection of the lives and property of Jewish people in Palestine. There can be no question that, in accordance with our traditional policy, the American government is called upon to protect the lives and property of American citizens, irrespective of race, religion or creed, in Palestine and throughout the civilized world.
“It is the duty of the State Department and, if necessary, of Congress, to see that adequate compensation is awarded for the loss of American lives and property in Palestine.
“Public opinion the world over demands of Great Britain that such a tragedy shall not happen again.”
Major Hopkin expressed an emphatic assurance that the British government, irrespective of the party in power, and especially the present Labor Government, will continue to adhere to the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate. “We Britishers are pledged to the establishment of the Jewish Homeland up to our eyebrows,” Major Hopkin asserted, “and the question of withdrawing from the Mandate is simply absurd, in view of our acceptance of it under international sanction. We cannot give the Mandate to any other country.”
He added, however, that a mere reaffirmation of the Balfour Declaration is insufficient. The British Government, he said, would be expected first, to see that law and order is restored, and that the present police force is entirely overhauled, and second, that the administration of Palestine is entirely loyal to the policy of the British Government, since he was convinced that the chief blame for the outbreaks in Palestine rested upon disloyal or incapable local officials.
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.
