President Truman is now taking an active interest in solution of the Palestine problem, the diplomatic correspondent of the Manchester Guardian says today.
Recalling that the President sent a representative to Europe a few weeks ago to investigate the situation of the remaining Jews there, the correspondent adds that it can be assumed that he had this envoy’s report before the opening of the Potsdam conference.
Truman’s decision to take a more active role in settling the Palestine issue came after the British Government rejected the Jewish Agency’s request that it immediately proclaim Palestine a Jewish state and lift all restrictions barring the immigration of Jews, the article declares. The British reply is understood to have stated that no decision on Palestine, regardless of its contents, could be taken before a peace conference is held.
Pointing out that the world Zionist conference is slated to open next week, the correspondent says that the delegates are determined to press for an independent Jewish state and revision of the Palestine immigration policy. He asserts that the Jewish Agency has asked for the immediate issuance of 100,000 immigration certificates, and says that “to refuse them is to kill the last hope of a tormented generation.”
Referring to the recent charge by the Moscow radio that Soviet citizens in Palestine were being mistreated by “reactionary Jewish organizations,” the article says that “it is clear that Russia is concerned with getting back from Palestine Jews from its newly acquired territories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.”
A political commentator in the Sunday Observer today says that the outcome of the British elections, which is to be announced on Thursday, will have greater influence on the Palestine problem than any decision that may be taken by the Big Three at Potsdam. He points out that the Labor Party, should it be victorious, is committed to establishment of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine and unfettered Jewish immigration. The Zionist conference, he says, will have to make all its decisions in light of what will be the shape of the new government.
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.
