The British press today supports Prime Minister Attlee’s contention that the Palestine problem is one that cannot be solved by Britain alone, and requires active cooperation by the United States.
The London Times calls on the United States to support the British demand for the disbandment of “illegal” armies, terming such aid “invaluable.” It asserts that the joint committee has not furnished a solution to the Palestine problem, but that it has offered a “policy from which a solution can emerge. The solution envisaged,” the Times says, “commends itself to responsible sections of public opinion in every country.”
The Manchester Guardian asks the American Government to accept a share of responsibility for implementing the recommendations of the committee, says that a long delay in carrying out the decisions would be finial and that Palestine might become “ungovernable.” There must be Anglo-American discussions, it agrees, but urges that Palestinian immigration laws be modified without delay.
The Daily Telegraph warned that hasty action in carrying out the recommendations would have serious repercussions in the Arab world, including a possible adverse effect on the negotiations now taking place between Egypt and Britain. The newspaper calls for international cooperation for a problem of admittedly international implications and says that Britain must refuse to face the consequences alone.
ZIONISTS WARN AGAINST DELAY IN THE TRANSFER OF THE 100,000 JEWS
Meanwhile, Zionist circles continued their criticism of the Anglo-American committee’s report, while pointing out that the call for 100,000 certificates and speedy transfer of the Jews must be carried out without delay.
Berl Locker, Zionist labor leader, addressing a Poale Zionist May Day meeting here declared that if the positive recommendations of the report were put into affect, there would be a new era in Palestine. But, he asked, “will the Government resist the temptation to whittle down the recommendations for immediate action on the immigration of 100,000 European Jews? If the British Government’s primary considerations will be its political policy in the Middle East, we are going to have a difficult time,” Locker stated, adding “but it must be remembered that even defenseless people, driven to despair, can defy great powers. The Jews will enter Palestine, whatever happens.”
The Agudath Israel of Britain issued a statement urging the immediate issuance of the recommended 100,000 certificates and “reaffirmed” the Jewish people’s right, based on the Torah, to the Holy Land. The organization also called for a re-organization of the Jewish Agency.
The New Zionist Organization declared that the recommendation for the immigration of 100,000 Jews was insufficient, in that the Anglo-American committee itself admitted that at least 500,000 Jews may be compelled to migrate from Europe, and that the majority wish to go to Palestine. “The conclusions of the report are not consistent with the facts which it establishes. These facts point to the need of a Jewish mass migration to Palestine amounting immediately to well over a million,” the N.Z.O. asserted.
The organization stated that it would continue to fight for a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan as the only solution of the Jewish problem. It said that the joint committee report “confirms the illegality and sustainability of the white Paper, which prevented west numbers of Jews from leaving Europe and resulted in their mass extermination.
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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.
