In terming the Arabs’ cry that there is no more room for Jews in Palestine without evicting the Arabs from the land “mischievous nonsense,” Lloyd George, British war-time Prime Minister, during whose term in office the Balfour Declaration was issued, writing in Sunday’s “New York American,” in a signed and cabled article, comes out with a complete denouncement of the report of the Palestine Inquiry Commission.
Although not referring directly to the report, the former Premier, and leader of the British Liberal Party, takes issue with the document and says, “Zionism, inspired by its remarkable leader, Dr. Weizmann, is rendering a service to civilization and profits to the Arabs.” Lloyd George points out that one million acres could be added to the cultivatable area in Palestine which, he says, would provide for an additional 200,000 families on the land.
After showing what the Jews have done for the country and for the Arabs, Lloyd George recalls that “the report made for the government, of which I was the head, in 1919, by competent and experienced engineers, stated that by well-planned schemes of irrigation, one million acres could be added to the cultivatable area of Palestine and that by this plan 16 persons could be maintained for every one there now.”
Concluding, Lloyd George says that “Zionism, inspired by the enthusiasm of its remarkable leader, will insist on seeing that it gets fair play in the discharge of its mission. It has been treated so far with suspicion, jealousy and prejudice. The recent outbreak in Palestine will do good if it calls attention to the fine achievement of the Jewish colonists and to the need for according them not only protection, but reasonable encouragement. They must not be allowed to trample on the legitimate rights of men of any other race or religion, but they have not shown any disposition to do so. Let them have fair play in carrying out one of the most interesting and fruitful experiments of the age.”
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.
