Expressing its “deep disappointment” and the Jewish people’s determination “never to submit” to the policy enunciated yesterday by Foreign Minister Devin, the political department of the Jewish Agency here said today that an official statement of the Agency’s position would be issued by its office in london.
The Agency leaders here do not want to enter into a detailed discussion on the subject until after the meeting of the Agency executive on Nov. 25. David Lenhurion, chairman of the executive, is expected to arrive here from London this weekend and other members in Britain and the United States have been urged to come to Palestine as soon as possible. (In Washington, it was learned today that Rabbi Abba Fillel Silver, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, and Louis Lipsky are preparing to leave for Jerusalem.)
The Hebrew press unanimously condomns the Bevin statement as a betrayal of Jewish hopes and declares that it cannot and will not be accepted. The Revisionist newspaper Hamashkiff writes that “the Jewish reply to Bevin is short: No. Even if America has joined in the statement, and even if we will remain isclated, our reply is the same.”
CHARGES STATEMENT DISCRIMINATES “BETWEEN JEWS AND JEWS”
The influential Labor daily Davar says that “the statement introduces new discriminations, not only between Jews and Arabs, but also between Jews and Jews. There is not a single Jew in the world,” it continues,” who will not understand the meaning of making the Jews’ right to a life without fear and persecution subject to inquiry.”
Mishmar, the organ of the left-wing Hashomer Hazair, charges that “not only Bevin, but the entire Labor Government has disappointed us. but we will not submit,” it warns. “Every Jew feels himself betrayed. We have been pushed into a fight and we will take it up.”
The Engligh-language Palestine Post, asserting that the Bevin announcement “has only served to increase the dissatisfaction of both Jews and Arabs, leaving the country in chaos,” adds: “The Bevin statement is a tangle of hesitant contradictions and timorous hedging. Nowhere is there a single reference to the core of the miraculous Zionist enterprise where 600,000 Jews enriched Palestine and the whole Arab community. After the happenings in Tripoli and Egypt an inquiry commission will consult the rulers of the above countries and formally invite them to decide the future of Palestine and Jewish rights. Jews are bound to reject this new policy which proposes immigration subject to Arab consent.”
The first Arab press reaction came from Al Diffa, which said that the new policy closed the door of Palestine to Arab aspirations for eventual independence and joining the Arab League. The policy of the Arab League, it added, was further weakened by the inclusions of america, “the open enemy of the Arabs. “How could Mr. Bevin permit himself to invite a pro-Zionist Government to share in the shaping of the destinies of the Arabs?” it asks.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
