Lord Balfour, the author of the Declaration of November 2, 1917, was the first of the great world leaders to comment upon the attitude of the Council of the League of Nations in adopting the report of the Permanent Mandates Commission regarding Palestine.
In an interview he granted today to Mr. Herman Bernstein, well-known American Jewish journalist and editor of the New York “Jewish Tribune”, he stated, “I wonder whether the gentlemen of the Council of the League of Nations have given thought to the question of what would become of the unfortunate Jews in Eastern Europe who were so dreadfully affected by the economic boycott and other persecutions, without a Jewish National Home in Palestine.”
“Within the brief period since the Declaration, the Jews in Palestine have done marvelously well. A few years ago Palestine was a barren and neglected country. It was negligible both economically and industrially. Now the country is beginning to thrive with new industries and new life. I understand that Jewish manufacturers of Lodz, the center of the textile industry in Poland, are about to establish a textile industry in Palestine”, Lord Balfour stated.
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