Jewish Agency Hopes British Evacuation from Palestine Will Be Carried out Speedily

Hope that the British evacuation from Palestine will be carried out “speedily” was expressed today by a spokesman of the Jewish Agency in a statement to the press outlining the attitude of the Agency to the speech of Colonial Secretary Creech-Jones. The statement reads:

“The Jewish Agency for Palestine notes the announcement of the British Government that it plans an early withdrawal of its forces and administration from Palestine. In view of the failure of the British Government to carry out the Mandate, the Jewish Agency hopes that this withdrawal will be speedily carried out.

“The decision announced by Mr. Creech-Jones makes it all the more imperative that the General Assembly of the U.N. find a solution for the Palestine problem without delay and devise ways and means of implementing it. In this undertaking the Assembly fortunately need not start from the beginning. The Assembly has before it the report of the United Nations Special Committtee on Palestine and it is logical that the recommendations of the Committee’s majority be adopted as the basis for the Assembly’s decision.

“The statement of Mr. Creech-Jones that His Majesty’s Government refused to undertake the task of imposing a policy on Palestine by force of arms can only be characterized as singular at a time when this is precisely what they are now doing. The policy of preventing Jewish immigration and arresting the development of the Jewish National Home now pursued by the united forces of the British Army and Navy and of the Palestine Administration have been repudiated three times by international findings – those of the permanent Mandate Commission of the League of Nations, of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry and, finally, of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine.

“The question arises whether the United Kingdom will persist in this continued violation of its international obligations during the evacuation period. The real alternatives are not between force and no force, but between force employed for the establishment of international law and justice, and force employed, as at present, for quite contrary processes.”

(An unofficial British source said that his government’s withdrawal from Palestine would probably follow the same procedure used in India. Britain would announce to both the Jews and the Arabs that they must prepare for self-government, since the Mandate would be terminated. Then a date would be set for withdrawal. In the interim, the British would offer their services to bothe parties presumably for the purpose of averting civil strife and establishing a form of government acceptable to both groups. The British source could offer no explanation of how this could be accomplished.)