Representative Hamilton Fish of New York, co-author of the 1923 Congressional resolution supporting the Palestine Jewish homeland, urged in a speech on the House floor today “no retreat, surrender or compromise with the British betrayal of promises and pledges, no compromise with the perfidious proposal to repudiate Britain’s plighted word.”
“I hope the Zionists will not yield to the proposed breach of trust in order to cajole the Arabs and promote the interest of the British Empire by double-crossing the Jews in Palestine and selling them out for a mess of porridge in return for Arab support elsewhere,” Mr. Fish said.
“I urge the President, the State Department and Congress to demand that there be no modification of our treaty rights in Palestine without our consent. We must oppose the proposed disgraceful and shocking repudiation of the Balfour pledges. There never was a time when there was more need for a homeland.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Cordell Hull was urged today by a 26-state delegation of 250 Jewish leaders to refuse to recognize Britain’s decision on Palestine because of the jeopardy to American rights guaranteed by the Anglo-American Convention of 1924. A memorandum containing the demand was presented to Mr. Hull by the delegation, headed by Dr. Stephen S. Wise. The group had been summoned by the National Emergency Committee for Palestine and 24 hours’ notice and many of its members came to Washington by airplane. The action was arranged in connection with the opening of the House of Commons debate on Palestine.
At the same time, 27 writers, journalists and publishers wrote to President Roosevelt appealing to him to intercede with Britain against carrying out of the White Paper’s terms. Signers included John Gunther, Dorothy Thompson, Oswald Garrison Villard, Henrik Willem Van Loon, Heywood Broun, Dorothy Parker and Edna Ferber.
The petition to Secretary Hull was drawn up at an emergency conference held earlier in the day at the Hotel Willard. It asked:
“(1) that no action be taken for the implementation of the new White Paper until this Government shall have an opportunity to examine its terms and to pass judgment on its bearings on the rights of Americans; and (2) that the United States Government, on the basis of its convention with Great Britain, cannot recognize the action taken under the new White Paper in view of the jeopardy created for American interests.”
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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.
