Friedman Yellin, leader of the Fighters for the freedom of Israel, popularly known as “the Stern Gang”, who has a price of $2,000 on his head, today gave an interview to the correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, at a secluded spot somewhere in Palestine, revealing the plans and the policy of his underground organization.
“We are at war with the British Empire now,” he said, “There is no other way. The British are determined that Palestine shall never become a Jewish State. We are equally determined that it will.”
All peaceful means of settling the question, he said, have been exploited in rain. “It is clear now that the aim of the Jewish people cannot be realized through conferences, commissions and the writing of memorandums. The chief issue of the creation of a Jewish State cannot be obscured by discussions about immigration.”
Emphasizing that Palestine must be opened up to Jews from all over the world “without restrictions or limitations of any kind,” the leader of the “Stern Gang” explained that while the problem of Jews in the displaced camps of Europe is acute, the basic aim of his organization is much more far-reaching. “We don’t want the world’s pity and we are not conducting an elementary campaign,” he declared.
BELIEVES JEWS COULD REACH AGREEMENT WITH ARABS, IF BRITISH WITHDREW
Yellin, who escaped from a British internment camp in Palestine, believes that if the British withdrew from Palestine, the Jews could reach an agreement with the Arabs “and it would not be a question of imposing our will on the Arabs in Palestine,” he pointed out. “It is true that we are militarily stronger than they and this would be a factor. But the important matter is that we would be albe to prove to them that a Jewish state would be advantageous, rather than detrimental, to them.”
“Despite the many obstacles that the British have placed in our path, we Jews of Palestine have progressed considerably,” he continued. “I do not believe the British would allow us to make any further progress, however, out of their fear that this progress might conflict more and more with the Empire’s interests in Europe and the Middle-East.”
Yellin cited the fact that the British have prohibited the purchase of American machinery and raw Laterials by Palestine’s Jews and said that in this they are carrying out two objectives: “Restricting the economic capabilities of Palestine, which might develop a virile commercial competition in this part of the world; and deliberately creating unemployment among the settlers, providing one more excuse against further immigration.”
OPPOSES STRATEGIC MILITARY RIGHTS FOR BRITAIN IN PALESTINE
He contended that the appointment of an Anglo-American commission of inquiry nerely served to “camouflage” these two aims. “We are sorry if the Americans have been taken in by this British maneuver and we believe that Jews should refuse to appear before the commission,” he said.
Questioned as to various “solutions” of the Palestine problem, such as partition, a bi-national state and dominion status, the young leader said he unequivocally opposed them all. He also opposed a proposition advanced by many Jewish leaders, offer- ing Britain the guarantee of strategic military rights in Palestine. He said, “It is naive to think that if Britain had a great naval base at Haifa and airdromes and thousands of troops throughout Palestine she would allow Jews any more freedom to conduct their own affairs then she does now.”
SAYS BRITISH-RUSSIAN RELATIONS INVOLVED IN PALESTINE
Questioned as to Palestine in relation to the international scene, he said: “We know of course that Britain’s relations with the Soviet Union are also involved in this problem. Today the British are concealing their real feeling toward Russia. But their bayonets are on our backs.”
Yellin said his organization has no definite political program along social and economic lines. “But we are for a truly democratic, as well as free and independent, Palestine,” he declared. “We are opposed to every kind of exploitation. We are not anti-Socialist. We believe in a strong state encouraged by cooperative methods. The majority of Jewish people in Palestine are workers–we believe they will govern the country well.”
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.
