Ben Gurion Says Jews Need Neither British nor Foreign Aid in Event of Arab Uprising

“We do not need British or any other foreign protection in the event of troubles with the Arabs,” David Ben Gurion, chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, said in an interview here today.

“We Jews are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves,” he added. “Moreover, we are not certain that the British would give us assistance anyway — they might actually hamper us. We certainly don’t want the British to stay in Palestine on our account.”

Mrs. Goldie Meirson, head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency at Jerusalem, later put it this way: “We do not want the British to risk the life of a single British soldier to protect the Jews.”

Mr. Ben Gurion declined to express any opinion on the merits or the demerits of the British retaining their bases in Palestine for strategic reasons. But most of the Jews and Arabs in the country are in agreement on two points: that they want the British to go; and that they are skeptical of the expressed British intentions to clear out altogether.

They are convinced that strategic considerations vis-a-vis Russia and oil –not the question of maintaining order in Palestine — will perpetuate the presence of the British forces here. British assertions in London and New York that “British troops cannot continue indefinitely to take all the responsibility for maintaining order” are seen here as intended primarily for United States consumption.

As the Jews and Arabs see it, nearly 100,000 troops have been unable to maintain much order here, in any event. High police officials have informed the Jewish Agency that, in view of the prevailing state of mind, the police and army (presumably as a result of the hanging of the two British sergerats by Irgun terrorists) cannot be counted on to give the Jews much protection if there is an Arab rebellion.

Responsible Jewish sources point out that Jewish defense potentialities would be greater if the British army was not in Palestine because then the Jews would not have to worry about the possibility of British interference and obstruction. As an example given this correspondent is this situation; an isolated Jewish settlement is attacked and Jews elsewhere dispatch truckloads of reinforcements to the scene. But the British promptly clamp down a road curfew that halts all movements in the way of assistance to the attacked community.

The Hebrew press has also been devoting considerable attention during recent days to the reports from London that Britain contemplates the evacuation of Palestine. Davar, organ of the Palestine Labor Party, commenting on the reports, charges that Britain is attempting to frighten the United Nations and the world with the possibility of immediate British evacuation if the U.N. decides upon a Palestine solution which does not coincide with Britain’s. The editorial asserted that such threats would only influence those who were unaware of the situation in Palestine and the surrounding countries.

Palestine’s history under British control has proved that yielding to threats and terrorism was not a guarantee of peace and security. Discounting threats by various Arab leaders, Davar said that such challenges must be met if the U.N.’s prestige is not to suffer. It added that British evacuation would not thrust the country into chaos because there was authority in the country and a will on the part of the people to govern themselves and protect the country from outside attacks.