The British plan for evacuation of Palestine envi##ges almost immediate withdrawal from the Arab sections and continued occupation of the Jewish areas until the deadline set for complete evacuation, it was charged here tonight by Richard Crossman, Labor M.P. and a former member of the Anglo-American Committee on Palestine.
Speaking at Palestine House, Crossman said that the British scheme, which includes continued blockade of Jewish immigration, would amount to giving the Arabs every possible opportunity to prepare for a massacre of the Jewish population, which will be paralyzed. It would result in the bloodiest period that Palestine has ever ##, he added.
Crossman urged the maintenance of British or United Nations troops in Palestine as long as their presence was necessary to prevent inter-communal violence, and until moderates on both sides could establish themselves in power. He also pointed ## that the Arabs depend entirely for arms on Britain and America.
Stressing that the vagueness of the UNSCOP report as to methods of implementation has paved the way for diplomatic maneuvering at the United Nations, he said that it was obvious that American troops will not be sent to the Middle East unless Britain pays the price of supporting the Jewish national home.
Some British politicians were yesterday accused by the Russian Communist Party newspaper Pravda of favoring Britain acting as “gendarme and hangman” in Palestine in exchange for American dollars.
The paper said “British bankruptcy in Palestine is a most striking example of the general colonial bankruptcy of imperialism. Britain is forced to renounce the Mandate and proposes that the United Nations unravel the whole dirty, political ##angle paid for by the people’s blood.”
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.
