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American Zionists Charge Britain with Deliberately Encouraging Arab Violence

January 20, 1948
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The charge that the British Government “delicately embarked upon a policy of benevolent toleration towards the Arab riots the beginning in order to encourage their growth,” was made by the American Zionist Emergency Council in an exchange of correspondence between the Council and ?d Inverchapel, British Ambassador to the United States, made public here today.

Lord Inverchapel, assorting that he could not accept the implication that Palestine administration has been favoring the Arabs at the expense of the Jews, ?d that “large quantities of arms have also been seized from Arabs” and that there are not 100,000 troops available for keeping free the road from Jerusalem to the coast,” but that “this road is now reasonably open” and is covered by mobile ?rols.

“To prevent incidents altogether, it would very probably be necessary to ? the whole country under martial law and it is not, I presume, suggested that ?is should be done, in view of the dislocation which would result, not to speak the delay which would be caused to the plans for withdrawal,” the British ambassador stated.

In a telegram answering these arguments, the American Zionist Emergency Council disagreed with the assertion that it would have been necessary to put the whole country under martial law. “It would quite suffice if the very well known centers ?com which the attacks are launched were place under curfew, their stores of arms seized, and the well known instigators of the attacks arrested,” the telegram, signed ? Dr, Israel Goldstein, acting chairman of the Council, said.

The telegram also stressed that the Zionist Emergency Council does not agree with Lord Inverchapel’s statement that large quantities of arms have been seized ?rom Arabs, “On the contrary, all information coming from Palestine confirms the ?act that even in those cases where British forces do intervene, Arab attackers are almost invariably permitted to retreat unmolested in full possession of their arms,” the telegram stated.

The Council’s communication points out that “a growing segment of public opinion is unable to explain the British attitude on any other grounds than that the British have deliberately embarked upon a policy of benevolent toleration towards the Arab riots in the beginning in order to encourage their growth; and that now, with the riots having assumed major proportions, British forces become somewhat ?ore active in combatting them in the hope that this would lead to a request by the United Nations or by the Jews themselves for continued British occupation of Palestine.”

COMMITTEE TO ARM JEWISH STATE ORGANIZED IN THE UNITED STATES

The formation of a new Committee to Arm the Jewish State whose purpose is to create a public awareness of the need to arm a Jewish militia for self-defense and be prevail on the United States to take the leadership, within the framework of the United Nations, to implement partition,” was announced here yesterday.Sen. Robert F. Wagner of New York and Dean Alfange, head of the American Christian Palestine Committee, have been named honorary chairman and chairman of the committee, respectively.

The new organization has sent a telegram to President Truman urging “immediate action to modify the arms embargo to the Middle East to permit lend-lease and shipment of military equipment to those states that support the United Nations decision to partition Palestine.” The group also announced that it would not solicit funds for the, purchase of arms. Vice-chairman of the committee are Dean Howard M, LeSourd, of the School of Public Relations of Boston University, and Dr. Waiter C, Lowdermilk, author and soil conservation expert who formulated proposals for a Jordan Valley Authority to develop irrigation and power in Palestine.

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