Zionist leadership should be ready for both a favorable and an unfavorable solution of the Palestine problem, David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, warned today, addressing a meeting of the central committee of the palestine Jewish Labor party prior to his departure for London.
Declaring that the conference of the United Nations in San Francisco apparently will not discuss the Palestine problem, Ben-Gurion stated: “In any case we ought to be prepared. If a favorable solution is reached, then it must be carried out speedily. If the solution is unfavorable, then we will not hang all our hopes solely on talks with world rulers. There is one factor which cannot be disregarded. The Jews in Palestine and their achievements cannot be annulled by words only.”
The leader of the Jewish Agency denied the report published in New York that the Arabs are inclined to effer numerical parity to Jews by consenting to the admission of 300,000 more Jews to Palestine. “As far as we know this report is untrue,” he told the meeting. His denial was substantiated by Arab leaders in Palestine in a statement to the correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in Jerusalem which termed the report “nonsense”.
Ben-Gurion outlined the demands on which the Jewish Agency is now concentrating as follows. The Agency insists on the opening of Palestine to unrestricted Jewish immigration. It will persist in this demand even if the solution of the Palestine problem is unfavorable. However, it is clear that large Jewish immigration is not possible without changes in the present political regime. The Jewish Agency must have sole control over Jewish immigration, and must also control the rehabilitation and the development of Palestine.
“Never-was I so afraid to leave the country as I am now,” the Zionist lender continued, calling on the Jews of Palestine to mobilize all their forces. Things are much different from what they used to be. Let everybody harness himself to-fill the gaps. The Jewish Labor Party, which has recently been weakened, must be strengthened if we want to achieve our aims.”
The gathering was also addressed by Eliezer Kaplan, treasurer of the Jewish Agency, who is leaving this month for the United States. In outlining his mission, Kaplan revealed that he wants to secure from the Zionist movement in America the major part of the budget of the World Zionist Executive and expents to discuss with leaders of the Joint Distribution Committee various problems concerning the sending of aid to Jews in liberated European countries.
Prior to leaving today for London, Bon-Gurion submitted to the Zionist Action Committee a two-point proposal on Arab-Jewish relations. The proposal, which will be taken up at a session of the committee this month, urges full cooperation between the Jews and the Arabs in Palestine, and similar cooperation between the Jewish State and neighbering Arab countries.
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.
