The Small Zionist Actions Committee today rejected a motion that Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency, and the entire executive of the Agency resign in protest against the new British policy on Palestine. The motion was offered by the Jewish State Party and by the Left Poale-Zion Party.
The Committee, at its final session here, did not adopt any decision on the question of whether or not to cooperate with the Anglo-American Inquiry Commission on Palestine, but voted to leave this decision to the executive of the Jewish Agency.
On the other hand, the Actions Committee approved a statement adopted at the ten-day extraordinary session of the Jewish Agency executive, emphasizing opposition to the new British policy on Palestine as outlined recently by Foreign Secretary Bevin. It points out that:
1. The Bevin statement maintains the British White Paper which was condemned by a competent international authority as a violation of the Palestine mandate and which was also repudiated by the British Labor Party as a breach of faith.
2. The document limits Jewish immigration into Palestine for an indefinite period and simultaneously provides for consultation with parties which have no lawful competence in the matter and which have pledged themselves to oppose any Jewish immigration.
3. The Bevin statement leaves intact the land laws under which the greater part of Palestine is closed to Jewish settlement and which represent a measure of racial discrimination against Jews without any parallel in the democratic world.
4. The Bevin statement prejudged the findings of the Anglo-American inquiry commission since Bevin declared that Palestine itself is not capable of even grappling with the solution of the problem of the homelessness of Jews in Europe.
5. The Jewish Agency regards Bevin’s statement as irreconciliable with the Balfour Declaration and with the obligations imposed upon the British Government by the Palestine mandate.
The statement of the Jewish Agency reaffirms its “uncompromising opposition” to the White Paper policy, whether in its original or in any modified form. “The Jewish Agency upholds the moral title of every Jew impelled by material or spiritual urge to settle in Palestine as of right,” the statement says. “The Agency reiterates its fundamental conviction that the reestablishment of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine is compatible with the full protection and the promotion of the interests of its Arab inhabitants and with the development of friendly relations with the neighboring states.
“The Jewish people,” the statement continues, “must reject any political settlement in Palestine which deprives it of its basic and internationally recognized rights, makes the entry of Jews into their homeland contingent on the goodwill of others and condemns them in Palestine to a minority position which has been the cause of Jewish sufferings and degradation in other lands.
“The Jewish Agency calls on men of goodwill in other lands to support the Jewish people in its efforts to rid itself of the curse of homelessness and oppression. The Jewish people will not abandon the struggle for the attainment of its full nationhood and for a new life of national freedom and dignity in its own country. It will spare no effort and sacrifice until the restoration of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine is achieved,” the statement concludes.
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