British Jews Condemn “gang of Terrorists” in Palestine; Press Asks “speedy Solution”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, leading representative body of British Jewry, today issued a statement deploring the blasting of King David Hotel in Jerusalem by a “gang of terrorists” and calling upon the Jews in Palestine to do all in their power to end terrorist activities.

At the same time it was announced today by Herbert Morrison, government leader in the House of Commons, that a Parliamentary debate on Palestine will take place next week, probably on Wednesday or Thursday.

The entire London press, while bitterly condemning yesterday’s bombing of British military headquarters in Jerusalem and the secretariat of the Palestine Government, strongly urges the British Government to make a speedy and clear announcement of its policy in Palestine as the first prerequisite of peace there.

The Manchester Guardian, in asking for a “really final solution”, warns that “a solution which first demands the disarming of the Jews must lead to war and repression wherein we could not expect the help and sympathy of the Americans.” The newspaper stresses that the arrest of the Jewish leaders in Palestine could not halt terrorism there because they were not the real leaders of the resistance. Their imprisonment, it says, merely meant that control in Palestine passed to the extremists.

The Times urged the formulation of a policy in accordance with the principles of equity and justice to be administered with the assent and assistance of the United Nations. Commenting on reported plans for a federal state in Palestine, The Times editorial suggests that such an arrangement should be transitional and should lead to either partition or a federal state without British participation.

The News Chronicle, the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph called upon the government not to be deflected from its course in Palestine by terrorism and also urged an early announcement of policy.