A demand that the British Government immediately state its policy with regard to Palestine, in view of the fact that within three months that country will be closed to Jewish immigration under the terms of the White Paper of 1939, is voiced in the current issue of the influential financial weekly “The Economist,” in an editorial strongly supporting a union of Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Transjordan.
The editorial, which is headed “A Middle-Eastern Opportunity,” says that since March, 1944 has been fixed by the White Paper “to change conditions of Jewish immigration into Palestine, the government is placed under a positive obligation to state its policy in this regard.” It asserts that most experts on the Middle East are agreed that the problem is “insoluable” in terms of Palestine alone, and must be approached from the wider concept “of a measure of Arab union” in the Middle East.
Reviewing the arguments in favor of a union of Palestine, Transjordan, Syria and Lebanon, the editorial says that although “it would not guarantee a settlement of the Jewish problem, it would at least put an end to a condition under which it seems the problem cannot be settled.” It adds that such a union could be initiated now “since French obstacles have been removed.” The last is evidently a reference to the agreement between the French Committee of National Liberation and the Syrian and Lebanese governments which grants independence to those states.
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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.
