THE HOUSE OF LORDS, DEBATING PROPOSED PARTITION OF PALESTINE FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY, WAS BLUNTLY INFORMED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT ENTERTAIN A “LARGE, SUBSTANTIAL VARIATION” FROM THE PLAN OUTLINED BY THE ROYAL COMMISSION UNLESS JEWS AND ARABS JOINTLY MADE PROPOSALS ACCEPTABLE TO THE GOVERNMENT.
THE STATEMENT WAS MADE FOR THE GOVERNMENT BY LORD DUFFERIN AND AVA, WHO REPLIED TO OPENING ARGUMENTS AGAINST PARTITION BY LORD SNELL, SPEAKING FOR THE LABOR PARTY.
COUNTERING LORD SNELL’S IMPUTATION OF GOVERNMENT WEAKNESS IN HANDLING THE PALESTINE SITUATION, LORD DUFFERIN DECLARED THE POSITION IN THE HOLY LAND HAD BECOME “INTOLERABLE TO OURSELVES AND A MENACE TO THOSE WHOSE INTEREST WE ARE TRYING TO PROTECT.”
TO CONTINUE THE PRESENT SITUATION, HE SAID, WOULD BE “FUTILE OBSTINACY.”
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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.