FELIX M. WARBURG AND OTHER AMERICAN MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR PALESTINE SERVED NOTICE TODAY AS THEY SAILED FOR THE AGENCY’S COUNCIL MEETING IN ZURICH, AUGUST 18, THAT THEY WOULD NOT PERMIT THE WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS TO HAVE THE LAST WORD FOR THE JEWS ON THE PARTITION OF THE HOLY LAND.
“THE ZIONIST CONGRESS SPEAKS ONLY FOR ITS OWN MEMBERS AND NOT FOR THE JEWS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WHO ARE NOT DIRECTLY AFFILIATED WITH IT,” MR. WARBURG DECLARED IN A STATEMENT ISSUED FOR HIMSELF AND DR. SOLOMON LOWENSTEIN, DR. MAURICE J. KARPF AND SOL M. STROOCK, WHO LEFT WITH HIM ABOARD THE QUEEN MARY.
HE WILL SEEK TO ENLIST THE CO-OPERATION ALIKE OF ZIONISTS, NON-ZIONISTS AND ARABS, MR. WARBURG ANNOUNCED, “TO AVERT THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE, A LAND TOO SMALL TO BE SO DIVIDED.”
DECLARING THAT HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES “REPRESENT AND SHALL SPEAK FOR THE THOUSANDS OF JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES WHO ARE NOT DIRECTLY AFFILIATED WITH THE ZIONIST ORGANIZATION,” MR. WARBURG POINTED OUT THAT ZIONISTS AND NON-ZIONISTS HAVE EQUAL REPRESENTATION IN THE JEWISH AGENCY, THE OFFICIAL BODY REPRESENTING JEWRY IN PALESTINE MATTERS.
“THERE MAY BE SOME CONFUSION IN THE PUBLIC MIND DUE TO REPORTS IN THE NEWSPAPERS DURING THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS OF THE MEETINGS OF THE ZIONIST CONGRESS IN ZURICH,” MR. WARBURG SAID.
“NO DEFINITIVE CONCLUSION AS TO THE ATTITUDE OF JEWS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD CAN BE DETERMINED EXCEPT BY AND THROUGH THE JEWISH AGENCY,” HE CONTINUED. “UNTIL THE COUNCIL OF THE AGENCY MEETS AND HAS FULLY CANVASSED THE ENTIRE SITUATION IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO SAY WHAT ARE THE DESIRES OF JEWS GENERALLY NOR WHAT REPORT WILL BE MADE BY THE JEWISH AGENCY TO THE MANDATES COMMISSION OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.”
MR. WARBURG POINTED OUT THAT THE MANDATES COMMISSION IS NOW STUDYING BRITAIN’S PLAN FOR PARTITIONING PALESTINE, AND CONTINUED:
“WE BELIEVE THAT NO LASTING PEACE IN PALESTINE CAN BE OBTAINED UNTIL THE PARTIES DIRECTLY AFFECTED, NAMELY THE ARABS AND THE JEWS, HAVE BEEN GIVEN A FULL OPPORTUNITY TO ENDEAVOR TO ARRIVE AT A PEACEFUL UNDERSTANDING.”
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, WHICH MUST APPROVE ANY SUCH ARAB-JEWISH AGREEMENT, “HAS LONG BEEN THE PROTECTOR OF OPPRESSED PEOPLES” AND OF MINORITY RIGHTS, AND WILL DOUBTLESS BE PLEASED IT AN AMICABLE AGREEMENT CAN BE REACHED, MR. WARBURG WENT ON.
“WE SHALL STRIVE TO ARRIVE AT A PEACEFUL ADJUSTMENT NOT ONLY WITH NON-ZIONISTS BUT WITH THE ZIONISTS AS WELL,” HE CONCLUDED, “AND THEN, WITH A UNITED FRONT, GO FORWARD TO TREAT WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ARABS IN A SPIRIT OF LASTING PEACEFUL UNDERSTANDING FOR THE SOLUTION OF OUR GREAT COMMON PROBLEM, FOR THE UPBUILDING OF PALESTINE AND TO AVERT THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE, A LAND TOO SMALL TO BE SO DIVIDED.”
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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.
