Dr. Moshe Sneh, member of the executive of the Jewish Agency who succeeded in eluding the British authorities in Palestine when they were seeking to arrest him, was cheered today at a crowded Zionist meeting here at which he charged Britain with attempting to weaken the Jews in Palestine to a point where they could not resist any dictatorial orders that might be imposed upon them.
This attempt, Dr. Sneh said, must fail. The Palestine Administration, he predicted will never find Jews who would be willing to act as quislings and serve on an agency which British officials may establish in place of the Jewish Agency they now seek to destroy.
The British attempt to destroy the Haganah is similarly doomed to failure, Dr. Sneh continued, pointing out that the Jews cannot depend upon British security forces to defend them against possible Arab attacks.
THE ATTEMPT TO KEEP THE “ILLEGAL” IMMIGRANTS FROM ENTERING PALESTINE, HE DECLARED, AMOUNTS TO ASKING THIS REMNANT OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO REMAIN IN SUCH PLACES AS KIELCE, POLAND, WHERE THEY ARE LIABLE TO BE MASSACRED BY ANTI-SEMITIC FORCES. HE CITED THE PROTESTS OF THE CYPRUS POPULATION AT THE PROPOSED ADMISSION OF JEWS TO THE ISLAND AND SAID THAT FOREIGN SECRETARY ERNEST BEVIN’S SEARCH FOR PLACES OF REFUGE FOR EUROPEAN JEWS OTHER THAN PALESTINE WAS DOOMED TO FAILURE. DR. WISE BELIEVES JEWISH STATE WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN HIS LIFE TIME
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, American member of the Agency, told the meeting that Dr. Theodor Herzl, founder of the Zionist movement, had once told him that he would see the establishment of a Jewish state in his life time. “I believe this,” Dr. Wise declared.
Prof. Selig Brodetsky, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, stated that the great powers should know that the Jews too “can say no.” He stressed that Jews all over the world supported the Jewish Agency’s position in the present struggle.
Dr. Sneh’s entrance upon the rostrum was greeted by the entire audience rising to its feet shouting and applauding. The Zionist anthem, Hatikvah, and other Jewish songs wore song by the audience led by a chorus of children many of whom had survived Nazi concentration camps.
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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.