Palestine Jews Determined to Go on

A great outpouring of letters is being received here from American relatives and friends of Palestine Jews, in many cases former opponents of the Palestine redemption, expressing complete solidarity, exhorting them to stand firm and praising the heroic conduct which is proving a powerful stimulus to the resumption of constructive work. Instead of diminishing the passionate zeal, the recent events have given a new impetus to go forward in Palestine, and have provided inspiration to world Jewry by revealing the strength, both physical and spiritual, which contact with the ancestral soil has imparted.

Hope is running high, world opinion having been roused to sympathy and admiration for Palestine Jewry, especially in America. This attitude should not be permitted to wane by reports tending to diminish the extent of the material damage, the savagery of the attacks and the seriousness of the recent threat to Jewish life. All peoples and individuals who have practical experience in pioneering work, like the Americans, are bound morally to stand by the Jews whose achievement in conquering nature in the face of tremendous natural obstacles, with a reluctant government fighting every step of the way-which is now admitted in the semi-official Colonial Office-inspired Near East publication-is one of the finest epics of modern civilization, comparable to Mussolini’s transformation of the waste places of Italy into gardens, forests and granaries.

The cosmopolitan fraternity of pioneers and trail blazers who were sung by Robert Service as men of vast daring, now takes in the Palestine Jews. The world and the Jews themselves have not been told half the story of Palestine’s progress and possibilities. Prior to the outbreaks, real prosperity for the country was just around the corner. Capital was flowing in, industries were opening, and agricultural experiments were reaching a successful termination. Above all was the creative spirit contemplating new undertakings of great magnitude. Wherever Jews projected themselves on the Palestine scene, there a radical change occurred. Stony wastes were eliminated, groves were turned into gardens, substantial houses, clinics and schools were erected. This undaunted work will be resumed and even take greater flight, widening into new circles of endeavor. At the same time the present situation is one of insecurity, without an adequate official reassuring statement regarding the future, without the promise of a larger measure of cooperation on the part of the government, worse pretext is that the Commission must first render its decision.

Though the situation is quiet all over the country, through the presence of the British troops, apprehension is felt in non-official circles, as is made evident in conversations with scores of the leading industrialists, doctors, lawyers and agriculturists, that unless an immediate radical change is made in the British policy in Palestine, the country is heading for a new more severe economic crisis. In the estimation of the leading capitalists, bankers and industrialists, the Mufti-inspired outbreaks were the last panicky attempts to prevent Palestine’s entering a road of complete prosperity by the extension of the Jewish Agency, making available new. capital; therefore the present stagnation is furthering his plans. After previous riots, there always remained confidence in the future. This time uncertainty is hovering near, with all its paralyzing possibilities.

In a letter to your correspondent, the Grand Mufti charges that Lord Melchett and Prof. Albert Einstein are responsible for statements revealing Jewish designs on the Mosque area. Lord Melchett is quoted as having said, “I will consecrate the remainder of my life to the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.” Prof. Einstein is quoted as having said, “Palestine without the Temple is to the Jews like a body without a head.” The letter also refers to the chapter in Norman Bentwich’s book concerned with Palestine for the Jews. The Grand Mufti reiterates his determination to drive the Jews out by a pan-Islamic boycott. Reviewing at length the Wailing Wall controversy, the Grand Mufti winds up by stating, “In private conversations, all responsible British officials of the government thanked Moslem authorities for helping them keep order.”