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Ben-gurion Warns of “trouble” in Palestine if White Paper is Not Revoked

June 12, 1945
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A warning that “there will be a lot of trouble” if the British Government does not withdraw the White Paper and open the doors of Palestine to Jewish immigration was sounded here today by David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, addressing a national conference of the Laborite-Zionists.

“Many people in this world believe that we can wait, and so do some of the Jews, but we must make it plain that we cannot wait and are not going to,” Ben-Gurion said. Citing the fact that nobody at the United Nations Conference in San Francisco even mentioned the fact that 5,000,000 Jews were murdered in Europe, he asked: “Row can we believe that the fate of the remaining 12,000,000 Jews matters to a world unshaken by this appalling tragedy?”

Emphasizing that Palestine today is a matter of life and death for Jews, Ben-Gurion declared: “Of course, we know that the British Government has power to imposs any policy it wants. But no power will subdue the Jewish soul. We still believe in human conscience, but our main hope is self-reliance. At this stage,” he continued, “we would like others to know that we shall not submit to imposition of the White Paper. If its designs are finally carried out, there will be a lot of trouble.”

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