The British plan to establish a temporary refugee shelter in Libya for persons escaping from German-held Italy and Yugoslavia was attacked as “worthless” today by Isaac Gruenbaum, a member of the Jewish Agency.
Gruenbaum said that the plan, which was first disclosed by American Under-Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. last week, “offers nothing since it is not accompanied by practical measures, such as sending transportation.” While the shelter might be of some value to Jews in Rumania or Bulgaria, who are menaced by death, Gruenbaum added, it would not help the Jews from Italy, since they would continue acunsettled, unproductive life in camps.
The Agency member charged that the plan was intended to avert pressure for solution of the Palestine problem. “We will certainly be glad if this act increases the number of Jews saved,” Gruenbaum stated, “but in the meantime there remains the suspicion that the plan will remain only on paper to weaken pressure concerning Palestine.”
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