Arabs Oppose Jewish Immigration, Jewish State at Anglo-u.s. Inquiry Committee Hearings

Arabs are firmly opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state and further Jewish immigration into Palestine, and will accept no compromise that would provide for less than the establishment of an independent Arab state in Palestine, Abdul Rabman Azzam Bey, secretary general of the Arab League, told the Anglo-American inquiry committee when it opened hearings here yesterday. The League’s position was presented in a nine-page memorandum supplementing Azzam Bey’s testimony.

Claiming that the Balfour Declaration and other British and international promises to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine were unilateral and illegal, the League memorandum asked for the abolition of the British Mandate over Palestine and the setting up of an independent Arab state. Asserting that opposition to Zionism was not based on religious prejudice, the statement maintained that it was unjust to force the Palestine Arabs to accept into their country foreign people, “whose avowed intention is to wrest the country from its owners and occupants.”

The memorandum also charged that Zionism threatens the security and tranquility of the Jews already in Arab countries and that it only aggravates the Jewish problem by holding out “hopes that can never be fulfilled.” The League warned that its participation in the inquiry group’s proceedings did not imply its acceptance of any decision by the committee or Britain and the United States alone.

VIRTUAL “STATE OF WAR” EXISTS BETWEEN ARABS, ZIONISTS, AZZAM BEY DECLARES

Azzam Bey, who took the stand for fifteen minutes, referred to the Jews as cousins” and reiterated the league’s stand that the Jews were welcome in Arab countries as long as they remained a minority. In the course of questioning by members of the inquiry committee, however, he declared that “almost a state of war” exists between the Arabs and the Zionists.

Replying to a question by Wilfred Crick, British member of the inquiry group, he asserted that the boycott of Jewish-made goods from Palestine was introduced because the Zionists were “pursuing the aim of becoming the majority in Palestine at the expense of the Arabs.” He said that the Jews were attempting to increase the absorptive capacity of the country so as to justify further immigration. “It is only natural,” he insisted, that “we refuse to play this game, and close our markets.” He indicated that the boycott would be lifted only if the Zionists gave up political aspirations in Palestine.

When Crick pressed his questioning and asked whether the Arabs would be able to achieve economic progress without “foreign” aid, Sheik Favzan el Sabek, Saudi Arabian minister to Egypt, jumped to his feet and said vehemently: “We have the necessary means and can very well do without Zionist help. If assistance is wanted, we ask it of this or that state, but certainly not of the Zionists.”

The Arab League’s memorandum rejecting demands for increased Jewish immigration to Palestine, insisted that: “It is unfair that those governments which are asking the Arabs to accept Jewish refugees into Palestine are themselves reluctant to accept even smaller numbers into their very much wider and richer territories.”

Emir Seff el Islan, son of Yemen’s ruler, read a statement saying that Palestine is an Arab land, inseparable from other Arab lands and that “Yemen opposes Jewish immigration, a Jewish state, and a Jewish national home.” Arab delegates who were present applauded the statement loudly and decided to endorse it on the spot.

Tomorrow’s hearings will conclude the sessions in Egypt and the committee will proceed to Jerusalem for three weeks of hearings and investigations, after which it will write its report.