High Commissioner’s Address Resented by Palestine Jews; Press Comments Unfavorably

The New Year’s Day address of High Commissioner Sir Harold MacMichael, in which he warned against “self-centered exclusiveness” and impatience, has created an unfavorable impression among Palestine Jewry, which is reflected in influential sections of the Jewish press.

Davar, largest Hebrew newspaper in the country, declares that “the High Commissioner warned against an exaggerated rush to fulfill political aspirations, but we, the Yishuv and world Jewry, thought that we were going very slowly toward solution of our problems. We are requested to slow down the tempo at a time when every postponement means cruel destruction for tens of thousands of men, women and children. And those who make this request have not used their authority to save them. If half of a people are already destroyed and the second half are in imminent danger, how can that people console itself with historical philosophies?.

The High Commissioner,” Davar continues, “also warned against self-centered exclusiveness – we have not sinned in this respect. But the closer we have embraced the world, the tighter became the strangulating knot around our neck. We have a right to demand that the large nations should understand us.” Another leading newspaper, Haaretz, declares editorially that “we do not think the Palestine problem is so complicated that no direct answer can be found – let us conclude with the English proverbs ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way.'”