The American Christian Conference on Palestine in a cable to the British Cabinet yesterday urged the Government to maintain “firm adherence to the terms of the mandate over Palestine.”
The cable was signed by George Gordon Battle, chairman of the organization, A. F. of L. President William Green, James W. Gerard, former ambassador to Germany, Dr. John Haynes Holmes of the New York Community Church, president Frederick B. Robinson of City College of New York, Reverend Ivan Lee Holt, president of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America and Carroll Hayes, president of the New York Catholic Club.
“The Jewish people have laid the foundations of the national home, “says the statement, “using peaceful means and with extraordinary zeal and energy. They have created possibilities for larger numbers to come and what they have wrought has been of inestimable benefit to all elements in Palestine. To persecuted Jews throughout the world Palestine has become the sole refuge.”
The petition sent to Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin warns the British government that “any lessening of the terms of the mandate must lead to the lessening of British prestige in America.”
“It would cause the loss of good-will, “it declares, “among Jews and Christians. It would tend to confirm the feeling prevailing among many persons that certain sections of the British government are deliberately and unreasonably opposed to Jewish rights and interests and would encourage other elements in this country already unfriendly to Great Britain.
“It is our duty to warn the kindred British people not to be misled by provocative forces who counsel yielding of moral values to force and whose own ends are, in the opinion of Christian America, not above suspicion.
“We rely upon the conscience of Great Britain to remain loyal to her sacred trust. Christian honor demands that the pledges of the nations be kept.”
The American people has endorsed the Balfour Declaration, the statement continues, expressed through every President since the World War and in resolutions passed by both houses of Congress.
“The opportunity offered to the Jewish people, “the cable maintains, “to establish their national home in Palestine has been accepted by enlightened public opinion in America as not only just and moral but as irrevocably guaranteed by international law.”
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.
