Creation of a home defense corps in Palestine in view of the threatening situation in the Near East was urged today by Dr. Stephen S. Wise at a press conference under the auspices of the Emergency Committee for Zionist Affairs.
“The time has come when the defense of Palestine requires the maximum utilization of the manpower of all its loyal inhabitants,” Dr. Wise stated, “A Home Defense Corps for Palestine is an immediate necessity. The able-bodied men of Palestine are eager to enlist in such a force and are waiting to be organized, armed and drilled.
“The elementary right of self-defense should not be denied the Palestine Jewish community. As Jews deeply concerned for the fate of their co-religionists in this critical hour and as American citizens upholding the policy of our country to stem the tide of totalitarian aggression, we plead that the Jews of Palestine be given the chance to defend themselves and the products of six decades of pioneer toil and self-sacrifice.”
An accompanying statement of the Emergency Committee denied that antagonism to Zionism was an important factor in the disaffection of parts of the Arab world and reiterated the demand for arming of the Palestine Jews, asserting that “it would be a great injustice to them to let them meet attacks with their bare hands or to compel them to an attitude of non-resistance and abject submission.”
“Our information is to the effect that large British and Empire forces are being concentrated in Egypt and other points in the Middle East,” the statement said. “We have complete confidence in the heroism and capacity of these armies and their commanders and see no ground for panic.
“But assuming the worst, even a temporary withdrawal from the eastern Mediterranean, that does not spell the end of Zionism. The future of Zionism is bound up with the future of the democracies, in whose ultimate triumph we have the deepest and most unshakable faith. Even if Palestine should be invaded and part of what has been created be destroyed, we shall when the war is over, begin where we left off.
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.
