The Christian Council on Palestine, representing 100 ministers, today released for publication a resolution calling upon President Roosevelt and Secretary Cordell Hull “to use all appropriate measures” with the British Government for an early withdrawal of the White Paper which would close the gates of Palestine to Jewish immigration.
“We join with a large majority of the English people in confidently following Winston Churchill who, in 1939, denounced the Chamberlain-MacDonald White Paper on Palestine as a breach and repudiation of the Balfour Declaration,” the resolution reads. “We range ourselves also on the side of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations under whose political authority Great Britain administers Palestine; this Commission condemned that White Paper at the time of its promulgation as an indefensible and flagrant breach of international good faith.” Beyond all other considerations we call for the abrogation of the White Paper on the grounds of justice and mercy and in the interests of our common humanity.
“We, therefore, urge President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull to use all appropriate measures with the British Foreign Office to secure at the earliest possible date the withdrawal of that White Paper which denies immigration into Palestine after March 31, 1944. We ardently request all humanity-loving people to demand liberal immigration into Palestine according to its absorptive capacity within the intent of the Balfour Declaration and the mandate of the League of Nations, and urge our Government to use its good offices to this end.”
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