James Waterman Wise delivered a scathing attack upon the German-Palestinian barter agreement in an address today before the Men’s Club of Temple Emanu-El here.
“Even more grievous than what is being done to Jews in many parts of the world is what is being done by Jews in Eretz Israel,” he said. “The news of the barter agreement entered into between Germany and Palestine will astound and shock the entire Jewish world, for it constitutes a betrayal of the people of Israel by the land of Israel.
“Previous rumors on this subject had been discounted as incredible. To find them confirmed and intensified by this agreement, which breaks the boycott front of the Jewish people against Nazism, must shake the confidence of world Jewry in the Yishuv.
“I cannot yet believe that the great mass of Palestine Jewry has countenanced or will permit this treachery. But silent disapproval on its part is not enough. There must come from Palestine a forth-right repudiation of this shameless trafficking between the trustees of the Jewish homeland and the sworn foes of Israel.
“How can the Jews of the world maintain their concern with and their faith in the upbuilding of Palestine if they find that Palestinians, instead of fighting in the first ranks of the anti-Nazi boycott, are sabotaging Jewish self-defense for Nazi credits and betraying Jewish honor for a mess of oranges? As Zionists and Jews, we demand that this betrayal cease.”
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