WINSTON CHURCHILL WARNED TODAY THAT PARTITION OF PALESTINE “WILL NOT LEAD AWAY FROM VIOLENCE BUT INTO ITS VERY HEART; WILL NOT END IN PEACE, BUT IN WAR.”
IN AN ARTICLE IN THE ROSH HASHONAH ISSUE OF THE JEWISH CHRONICLE ENTITLED “I AM AGAINST PARTITION,” THE BRITISH STATESMAN WROTE:
“THE CREATION OF TWO STATES IN A SMALL COUNTRY LIKE PALESTINE IS FRAUGHT WITH DANGER OF MILITARY CONFLICT. IF BRITISH FORCES WERE TO STAND BETWEEN RIVAL RACES AND INTERPOSE A CORDON THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE GREATLY INCREASED.”
MR. CHURCHILL EXPRESSED SKEPTICISM REGARDING THE POSSIBILITY OF TRANSFERRING THE PRESENT ARAB POPULATION OUT OF THE TERRITORY ALLOTTED TO THE JEWISH STATE, WHICH, HE SAID, “MAY BECOME THE CAUSE OR BE MADE THE PRETEXT FOR HOSTILE ACTION.” ITALY WILL HAVE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVENE, THUS EMBARRASSING THE BRITISH POSITION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, MR. CHURCHILL ADDED.
“IT WOULD BE FAR BETTER TO PERSEVERE ALONG THE OLD LINES,” HE SAID. “THE ARABS MIGHT WELL BE CONCILIATED FROM DAY TO DAY AND FROM MONTH TO MONTH BY A SENSE OF INCREASED WELL-BEING SHARED BY BOTH RACES.”
BRITAIN MADE A SERIOUS MISTAKE IN ABOLISHING HER GENDARMERIE IN PALESTINE, MR. CHURCHILL DECLARED, ADDING: “I WOULD LIKE TO RECREATE THIS GENDARMERIE AND RESUME THE PATIENT PROCESS OF PERSUADING ONE SIDE TO CONCEDE AND THE OTHER TO FORBEAR.”
THE BEST SOLUTION, HE SAID, WOULD BE “A DIRECT CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE ARABS AND JEWS AGREEING FOR A TERM OF YEARS TO A MODE OF LIVING AND SETTLEMENT WHICH, WITHOUT PERHAPS SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE, WOULD AFFORD THE PRESENT GENERATION A MEASURE OF PEACE, PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS.”
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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.
