America Will Insist on Justice for Jews in Palestine, Ex-secretary of Navy Says

Declaring that “the sentiments of the American people and the attitude of the American Government have never changed or faltered” with regard to the question of the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine, Mr. Josephus Daniels, former Secretary of Navy, in a statement made public today, emphasized that America at the end of this war will insist on justice for the Jews in Palestine.

The statement, which is an introduction to a study of the British policy in Palestine by Prof. Paul L. Hanna of the University of Florida, published by the American Council on Public Affairs, points out that from the time of Woodrow Wilson, America has been “the moral co-sponsor of the Jewish National Home.” He reviews the economic and cultural progress which Palestine has made since the Balfour Declaration and makes the point that the achievements of the Arabs at the Peace Conference “far surpassed those of the Jews,” resulting in the establishment of Iraq, Saudia, Arabia and Transjordan as national states under Arab rule.

Forecasting that the victory of the United Nations will bring to the Arabs new gains, ex-secretary Daniels points out, however, that “nothing will be gained, and a great deal in terms of peace and stability will be lost, by subjecting the Jewish National Home to the domination of forces that may prove hostile to it.

“As for America, there is every reason to believe that, as at the end of the previous war, we shall again uphold the just claims of the Arabs. But, as in the previous case, America will also insist on justice for the Jews. It should be possible to harmonize the reasonable aspirations of both claimants. There is a vast area available for further national progress by the Arabs at the same time as the Jews are given full opportunity to develop their National Home in Palestine.”