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News Brief

May 19, 1941
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Senator Robert F. Wagner, chairman of the American Palestine Committee, today issued a statement calling attention to the perilous situation of the Jewish community in Palestine as a result of the extension of the war to the Middle East and urging that the Jews be given “the opportunity and the means to defend themselves.”

“Nothing could be more revolting to me as an American, as a Christian and as a lover of democracy than to see the swastika, emblem of brutality and of revolt against Christian morality, hoisted over the holy places of Palestine,” Senator Wagner said. “And nothing could be more shocking to the civilized world than to see the 500,000 Jews of Palestine, most of them refugees from fiendish persecution, given over to ruthless destruction.

“They should be given the opportunity and the means to defend themselves. Their zeal should be reinforced with the necessary equipment. Faced with the implacable enemy, they have the right to fight and, if need be, to give their all in the cause of the resolute defense of democracy and the Jewish National Homeland.”

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