A marked improvement in the attitude of the Palestine administration towards the ideal of a Jewish National Home was observed by Lord Melchett in the course of his recent visit to Palestine, he stated, in the course of an interview with a representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency with whom he discussed his recent trip to Palestine and the tour in the interests of the Maccabee from which he has just returned.
The improvement he attributed very largely to the influence of the High Commissioner, Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, whom he praised as a just administrator determined to see the terms of the Mandate carried out in full, and whom he considered had imbued with this policy the entire Palestine government.
“‘Palestine at the moment”, he said, “is forging ahead with the utmost vigor and enthusiasm. This is not a temporary phenomenon destined soon to end, and, although periods of relapse may occur, it is probable that the country will continue to develop on the same lines for some considerable period, and that the present boom will be extended by the uninterrupted arrival of Jews from various countries, who daily invest their money in the development of the small, newly-started industries of the land.
“The position of the Jews in Palestine stands out in strong contrast with their position in East European countries”, Lord Melchett said. “The plight of the Jewish population in the latter is the result of the general crisis aggravated by the specifically Jewish problems of anti-Semitism and discrimination”.
At the same time he draws a distinction between anti-Semitism in Germany and anti-Semitism in Poland. While the anti-Semitism in Germany is artificial, in the view of Lord Melchett, the Jews constituting a hardly noticeable proportion of the population, in Poland there is a real and difficult problem, for the solution of which cooperation between the Government and Jews is essential. In the long run, the Polish government will not be able to ignore the needs and requirements of ten per cent. of its population such as the Jews constitute, and will have to find ways and means of dealing with the problem. It will have to meet Jewish representatives, and seek in conference with them the way to alleviate the hardship of the Jewish population. The present economic policy of the Polish government appears to be directed, not primarily against the Jews, but largely towards the interests of a
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.
