Room for Millions of Jews in Transjordan and Palestine, Says Greenspan

The United States Government was criticized for its inactivity in regard to the anti-Semitic campaign of the Nazi Government in Germany by Judge Benjamin E. Greenspan in a radio address over Station WOV on Wednesday afternoon. Judge Greenspan asked for a much broader consideration of Jewish settlement in Palestine and Transjordan as the solution for the Jewish problem.

“The universal horror aroused by the anti-Semitic persecutions in Germany has been intensified in recent weeks as it has become evident that protests from abroad have not in the slightest shaken the Nazis in their determination to uproot Jews from all walks of life,” said Judge Greenspan. “What has been taking place in Germany is a pogrom, violent and devastating, even though bloodless for the moment.

“There can be no doubt that the program of anti-Semitism has the complete and full-hearted support of the present German administration. Every day new evidence is forthcoming that German Jewry has no reason to expect mercy or leniency from the officials of the country.

“It is incredible that the United States Government has not taken more forceful action than it has exhibited heretofore. At this very moment, our country is engaged in conversations with representatives of other governments to devise plans to end chaos and instability in world affairs. It is impossible to conceive of any solution of the international situation that does not include a satisfactory adjustment of the Jewish problem.

“Millions of Jews in America will not consent to any pact with Germany as long as that country persecutes its Jewish citizens merely because of their faith. It is idle to think that American Jews will eventually cease their protests, merely because outrages upon Jews have taken on an economic instead of a physical character. Every means within their disposal will be utilized by American Jews to make it clear that they will continue a systematic, widespread, effective opposition to the anti-Semitic program of the Nazi Government of Germany.

“But the action to be taken by Jews in America, as in other countries, must have a positive character also.

“It is often heard among those who have but limited statistical knowledge of the resources of Palestine that Palestine cannot be considered in any comprehensive plan to meet the tragedy of the Jewish people in Europe. But expert findings have shown that there is room in Palestine for anywhere between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 Jews. Moreover, in the country east of Palestine, which is called Transjordan and which was always an integral part of Palestine until 1922, when an artificial division was created, there is room for additional millions, for the soil of Transjordan is even more fertile than that of Palestine.

“The time has come when the Jewish people and the world at large must think of Palestine in terms larger than a meagre annual immigration of two to five thousand Jews. The Jewish problem is too vast and too pressing to be met by this tiny trickle of Jews into the only country that promises them a haven of refuge.

“If the Jewish problem is to be met realistically, it must be admitted that there is no economic future for hundreds of thousands of Jews in various lands of Europe. They are doomed to destruction because the most vicious forms of chauvinism have made the Jews the first target of their attacks. Outlawed economically, socially, politically and even educationally, thousands of Jews face a living death. It is to avoid this wholesale slaughter that we plead that more room be created in Palestine for these victims of medievalism in our time.”