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U.S. Jews Should Condition Future Aid to Palestine on Ending of Violence Says Rosenwald

July 7, 1946
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American Jews must condition further assistance to the Jews of Palestine “upon the adoption of pacific, moderate policies” by the Jewish community there, Lessing J. Rosenwald, president of the American Council for Judaism, said here in a speech prepared for delivery over the Columbia Broadcasting System’s network tomorrow evening.

“American Jews,” he added, “have aided the Jewish community in Palestine generously in the past. They must, if need be, condition further help to that community upon the adoption of pacific, moderate policies. American Jews must have the realism and the vision and the genuine, if rare, courage to speak up clearly and say: ‘This is not the way; we will not have it so.’

“Unfortunately, events in Palestine are rushing headlong into catastrophe,” Mr. Rosenwald continued. “Reports have now been coming in regularly of a situation approaching anarchy in Palestine, of bombing, machine gunning, incendiarism, kidnapping, of the pathetic shedding of lives. As a natural consequence, there are the stern retaliatory measures of the Government that has the responsibility to maintain law and order.”

He said that it was unfortunate that these measures are being interpreted as a clash between the British and the Jews–all Jews. He added: “It is nothing of the kind, all propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding. Jews throughout the world, adherents of a great historic religion and loyal citizens of their respective countries, are not and never can be, as Jews, participants in political action. The security measures are not taken against Jews; they are only against those political forces inside and outside Palestine that have adopted violence as a means of attaining their political purposes.”

Mr. Rosenwald said that the American Council for Judaism feels that a sound solution of the Palestine problem, which, he said, has become a menace to world peace, is embodied in the report of the Anglo-American inquiry committee. He urged that the report be adopted as a whole, including the recommendation for the admission of 100,000 Jews from Europe.

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