The Jewish people will never submit to Britain’s new policy, the Jewish Agency for Palestine declared today in an official statement which branded the policy a “breach of faith” and “a surrender to Arab terrorism.” Text of the statement follows:
1– The effect of the new policy for Palestine laid down by the Mandatory Government in the White Paper of May 17 is to deny to the Jewish people the right to reconstitute the National Home in their ancestral country. It is a policy which transfers authority over Palestine to the present Arab majority and puts the Jewish population at the mercy of that majority, decrees the stoppage of Jewish immigration as soon as Jewish inhabitants form one-third of the total, and sets up a territorial ghetto for Jews in their own homeland.
2– The Jewish people regard this breach of faith as a surrender to those who are fighting her. It must widen the breach between Jews and Arabs and undermine the hope for peace in Palestine. It is a policy in which the Jewish people will not acquiesce. The new regime announced in the White Paper will be devoid of any moral basis and contrary to international law. Such a regime can only be set up and maintained by force.
3– The Royal Commission invoked by the White Paper indicated the grave perils of such a policy. Speaking of Jews, the Royal Commission stated that “convinced as they are that an Arab Government would mean frustration of all efforts and ideals, that it would convert the National Home into one more cramped and dangerous ghetto, it seems only too probable the they would fight rather than submit to Arab rule, and to repress a Jewish rebellion against British policy would be as unpleasant a task as repression of the Arab rebellion has been.” The Government has disregarded this warning.
4– The Jewish people has no quarrel with the Arab peoples. The Arabs are not a land less or homeless race like the Jews nor do they need a place of refuge. Jewish work in Palestine has had no adverse effect upon the life and progress of Arab countries. Jewish colonization has benefited Palestine and all its inhabitants. The Royal Commission pointed out that insofar as the Balfour Declaration contributed to a British victory in the Great War it contributed also to liberation of the Arab race. The Jewish people has shown its will to peace even in years of disturbances. It has refused to retaliate against Arab violence. But neither have the Jews submitted to terror nor will they submit to it even after the Mandatory Government has decided to reward terrorists by surrendering to them the National Home.
5– It is in the darkest hour of Jewish history that the British Government proposes to deprive the Jews of their last hope and close the road back to the homeland. It is a cruel blow, doubly cruel because it comes from the Government of a great nation which has extended a helping hand to the Jews and whose position in the world rests upon foundations of moral a authority and international good faith. This blow will not subdue the Jewish people. The historic bond between the people and the land of Israel will not be broken. Jews will never accept the closing against them of the gates of Palestine nor let the national home be converted into a ghetto. The Jewish pioneers who in the past three generations have shown strength in building up a derelict country will from now on display the same strength in defending Jewish immigration, the Jewish home and Jewish freedom.
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.
