Declaring that he “would put the Jews to defend Jerusalem, because nobody could do it better,” Lord Wedgwood, addressing a mass-meeting here last night demanded that 250,000 Jews be armed and trained for the defense of Palestine.
Lord Wedgwood also urged that “British officers commanding Jewish battalions should swear by the Bible to fight to the last under all circumstances, never surrendering, because this is the only way for Jews to fight.” The gathering adopted a resolution urging the Government to accept the Jewish offer of an adequate fighting force in Palestine.
In an article appearing today in a local paper, Major A. Rabinowits, senior Jewish chaplain with the Jewish forces in the Middle East, today revealed that the entire defense works which helped to check the offensive of the Nazi army in Egypt, had been built by Jewish sappers. “I am proud of the fact that these defenses are 100 percent the work of Palestine Jews,” the Jewish chaplain says in his article.
The Jewish units which participated in the building of the defenses included a Jewish company of artisan workers attached to the Royal Engineers, a similar unit attached to the Royal Army Service, and a transport unit. All members of these organizations, including the commanding officers, are Jews.
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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.
