Reversion by Great Britain to the economic absorptivity principle in regulating Palestine immigration was seen as a probability yesterday by Frederick T. Birchall, in a dispatch to the New York Times from London. The change, he said, could be directly attributed to american public opinion and intervention dy Washington.
According to Mr. Birchall, members of the Cabinet are now engaged in determining the economic capacity, “with some prospect that the final figure may be somewhere between the present limit (12,000) and 25,000” yearly. this new figure, he said, will be only temporary until the political status of pales tine is decided.
Partition, Mr. Birchall asserted, will probably be abandoned and replaced by a scheme of separate Jewish and arab areas, both under british rule, with the former permitted to regulate immigration to a certain extent, with the absorptivity principle in mind.
British obligations with regard to a Jewish national home must remain unimpaired while Palestine’s future political status is being determined, it was declared in a resolution adopted today by the .Jewish national fund of great Britain at its 15th conference. the resolution also opposed artificial restriction on sale of land in Palestine and supported the Jewish Agency and the Board of Deputies of British Jews in rejecting a permanent minority status for the Jews in Palestine.
President Samson Wright attacked Lord Rothschild’s “purely personal views,” as expressed at the recent pales tine week meeting when he urged british Jews to back the British Government’s policy on Palestine even if it meant making some sacrifices. He stressed the right of british citizens to criticize the government and to take constitutional measures to modify its decisions.
An optimistic note on Palestine’s future was struck by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency, in a message in which he declared: “I am convinced that it will not be long before order is restored. Our people who man the frontier trenches are capable of holding them provided we stand firm behind them.”
Existence of a Pan-Arab organization with headquarters on the Kurfuerstendamm and members throughout Europe and the near east was reported from berlin by the daily telegraph.
Object of the organization was said to be obtaining of European support for an all Arab State embracing Palestine, Iraq and Syria. Front for the group was reportedly an Arab club on whose official stationery was inscribed: “Permanent Palestine Defense Committee in Europe — Berlin Headquarters.”
According to the Telegraph correspondent, the organization has been mobilizing European Arabs to collect funds and to send money, arms and supplies to the Palestine rebels. He said a congress of European Arabs will be held at Luxembourg shortly before Christmas to discuss future plans of the defense committee.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
