The question “why does the British government refuse the offer of Palestine Jews to supply a Jewish army” was answered here last night in a broadcast to the United States over the British radio by Prof. Norman Bentwich, noted Zionist, who was formerly the attorney-general of Palestine, and is now an officer in the Royal Air Force.
“The answer to this question is simple,” Prof. Bentwich said. “The position between Arabs, Jews and British in Palestine is still delicate, and the Government is naturally anxious to do nothing that might complicate it. As a former official of the Palestine government, I can understand the difficulties.”
Declaring that “the great majority of the Arabs have been loyal and cooperated with the British forces,” Prof. Bentwich explained that the British government has encouraged the Jews in Palestine to join the British forces and that the more than 10,000 Jews in the air force and in the army have done signal service in Libya, in Crete and in Syria. “It is very disappointing to Jews, of course, not to be able to fight under their own flag, like other peoples, with their own badge and as a recognized ally in the struggle against the Nazis, but they can fight as soldiers of humanity and that is no mean citizenship,” Prof. Bentwich said. “They will make the sacrifice of national pride and prestige, for the sake of the greater cause.”
Expressing his hopes about the future of the Jews and of Palestine, Prof. Bentwich emphasized that “Prime Minister Churchill and many members of the British Cabinet are tried friends of the Jewish National Home in Palestine and they will have regard for the services which the Jews are rendering to the Allied cause.”
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.
