The conviction that a bi-national State will be realized in Palestine in spite of the present policy of the British Government is expressed by Prof. Norman Bent-which, former Attorney General to the Government of Palestine, in a long article in the News Chronicle. Prof. Bentwich characterizes the White Paper as “a betrayal of a sacred obligation.”
“What has united all sections of the Jewish people, Zionist and non-Zionist, in their rejection of the proposals of the Paper, ” he writes, “is that it seeks to cut away the moral basis of the Jewish return to Palestine and the rebuilding of the National Home
“The substance and the form of the Government’s proposals, “he further,”are calculated to put the Jews in a position of inferiority in their approach to the Arabs and almost to invite the Arab extremists, who know no humanity towards the Jews, to stop the growth of the Jewish Home.
“It is a significant flaw in the proposals of the Paper, ” he points out, ” that the Jewish Agency, the body which is established by the Mandate a representative of the Jewish people everywhere in all that concerns the development of the National Home, is silently but completely dropped out of account.
“While the Government proposes to consult with the heads of the Arab States in framing finally the constitution for Palestine, it moist altogether, but not by carelessness, reference to the Jewish Agency. That is a subtle way of modifying an essential principle of the Mandate, that the building up of the National Home in Palestine is the constant concern of the whole Jewish people, and not simply of the Jews who have returned.
“The genera impression of the Paper is that Jews are to be relegated to the position of a subordinate minority. Arabs and Jews must in the end come to an agreement and cooperate in Palestine. But the White Paper cuts away for the time the hope of understanding because the two peoples must negotiate on the basis of equality of right, and the Paper denies that. It is a surrender to the violence not of the Arabs, but of the Fascist Powers.
“It is true that peace in Palestine, no less than world peace, cannot be built except on a basis of international good faith; and this act is a betrayal of this British Government,”Prof.Bentwich states in conclusion. “The creative energy with which the Jews have built up their home will not be brought to an end. The irresistible force of an idealist and revolutionary movement is set against what Burke called’ the irresistible operation of feeble councils; and it will prevail.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
