Prof. Albert Einstein, in a radio address to a labor Zionist fraternal organization, last night appealed for Arab-Jewish amity and counseled that “reason should prevail over disappointment and embitterment” with regard to the new British policy in Palestine.
Prof. Einstein’s address, made by telephone from Princeton and carried to the meeting at Town Hall over Radio Station WEVD, marked ceremonies inducting him as an honorary member of the Jewish National Workers’ Alliance. The address follows in full.
“I am pleased to greet the members of the Jewish National Workers’ Alliance on this occasion and I feel the need to say a few words in this moment of distress and disappointment.
“England has, in part, ignored its sacred pledge. She gave her word then in a dire hour and she is acting now, too, in a dire hour. Remember, however, that in the life of a people, and especially in times of need, there can be only one source of security, namely: confidence in one’s own strength and steadfastness. We are justified indeed in this feeling of confidence. For, what the Jewish nation has achieved in Palestine through the self sacrificing efforts of the Pioneers and through the unselfish voluntary aid of Jews in other lands, bears witness to an extraordinary productive force.
“I remember vividly the time when the all-too-wise and all-too-cautious people among us were wont to say: ‘It is futile to invest energies and to attach hopes to this wasteland.’ Today we find large sections of this wasteland converted into flourishing gardens, and close to a half-million of our brethren, including a considerable number of the former sceptics and opponents as well as their children, have found a new home in the old homeland.
“And now a word about England: Remember in the midst of your justified embitterment that England’s opponents are also our bitterest enemies, and that in spite of everything, the maintenance of England’s position is of utmost importance to us. Consider further that it is in the vital interest of the Arab world too, that England’s power should not be shattered by the hysterical lust for conquest of the totalitarian adventurers. This elementary fact must and will soon penetrate into the consciousness of the Arabs. We must strive, therefore, that in our ranks, reason should prevail over disappointment and embitterment. The Arabs have been led into their suicidal uprising by terror and foreign agitation. But they, too, will after a while recognize the logic of facts, especially when we will have learned that our own future depends on our ability to arrive at a modus of honest cooperation with them. There could be no greater calamity than a permanent discord between us and the Arab people. Despite the great wrong that has been done us, we must strive for a just and lasting compromise with the Arab people. In face of the common foe that confronts us both, this goal must be accessible. Let us recall that in former times no people lived in greater friendship with us than the ancestors of these same Arabs.
“On the other hand, let us not always fix our gaze on England and passively await the determination of our fate from there. Undaunted by the events of recent days, we must continue our peaceful work with redoubled effort. We know that the path of least resistance leads to ruin as surely as does the path of conquering force; but we are certainly not in a position to persuade others of this truth. We can only stand firm and not lose courage for a single moment.
“This spirit of faith carried our forefathers through times of greatest distress, so that our productive force–unbroken through millennia — contributed to the enrichment of human culture. Let us be steadfast, so that future generations may be justified to say the same of us.
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.
