The Jews of Palestine want neither a mandate nor trusteeship for the country, Berl Locker, a member of the Jewish Agency executive, tonight told the 32nd annual Hadassah convention.
Pointing out that if there had been “even a tiny Jewish state” many of the 6,000,000 Jews murdered in Europe could have been rescued, he said that in the light the present tense international situation, the Jewish Agency executive had reluctantly come to the conclusion that it would be advisable to propose the establishment of a Jewish state in part of Palestine.
Moshe Sneh, another leader of the Agency, charged Britain with hunting down Jewish refugees in Italy, Czechoslovakia and other countries and with exerting pressure on European governments to prevent refugees from reaching ports from which they might embark for Palestine. Sneh said that unless the British accept the Agency proposal for a viable Jewish state, Jewish representatives will not participate in the London conference when it resumes Dec. 16.
In a message to the convention from Jerusalem, Moshe Shertok, recently freed head of the Agency’s political department, said that the release of himself and the other imprisoned leaders was a result of the firm stand taken by the Jewish community. He called for “greatest unity” in the “terribly hard struggle ahead.”
The convention this morning adopted a 1947 budget of $3,950,000 of which $1,500,000 was earmarked for medical aid, $1,400,000 for Youth Aliyah, $450,000 for child welfare and vocational training and $600,000 for the Jewish National Fund.
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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.
