Seventeen ships carrying visaless Jewish immigrants to Palestine broke the British blockade of Palestine since V-E Day and landed their passengers, it was disclosed today during a debate on Palestine in the House of Commons. A total of 57 ships carrying “illegal” immigrants attempted to break the blockade, but of these 40 were intercepted by the British authorities, it was revealed.
Earlier, Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech-Jones, in response to a demand by B. Janner, Laborite, that Britain do something effective to stop the invasion of Palestine from Trans Jordan which “is a complete transgression against the U.N. Charter,” said that it is exceedingly difficult to guard all of Palestine’s frontiers. Janner did not receive an answer when he proposed that Britain end the sending of funds to Trans Jordan and other Arab countries which, he said, are using them for equipping military forces to attack Palestine.
Simultaneous with the disclosure of the number of Jewish ships which have broken the British blockade of Palestine Creech-Jones announced that the cost of running the Cyprus detention camps, from their inception until November, 1947, had reached $10,000,000, which the Palestine Government was paying. Janner interrupted at this point to ask if the “Colonial Secretary will allow those poor devils to go to Palestine where they won’t cost anybody anything.”
Creech-Jones also revealed that the British Government and the U.N. Implementation on Commission were conferring on the subject of closing down the Cyprus camps and transferring the more than 31,000 Jewish internees now on the island to Palestine.
In reply to a query, Defense Minister Alexander said today in Commons that, despite its embargo on the shipment of arms to Jews and Arabs in Palestine, the British Government will continue to send arms to Arab states. The British will do so “under existing contracts which have been undertaken as a result of our treaty obligations to certain Arab governments,” he said, adding that the British have “no reason to suppose that the material supplied by them under such contracts will be used in Palestine.” He also said that plans for the military and administrative withdrawal of Britain from Palestine have not been altered.
Asked why British authorities sold a member of planes to the Jews, Alexander said the planes were demilitarized and in unserviceable condition, but admitted they could be adapted to military use. He stated that steps have been taken to halt all such sales “so long as there is danger of civil war” in Palestine. The same precaution, he said, was being taken with respect to other war-like material.
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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.
