Weizmann and Conferees Reach No Decision on Agency’s Participation in London Parley

The question of whether the Jewish Agency should accept or reject the British invitation to the London conference on Palestine remained hanging in the balance today when no decision was reached by Dr. Chaim Weizmann and the four members of the Agency’s executive who arrived yesterday by plane from Paris to report to Dr. Weizmann on the views of members of the executive.

After conferring with Dr. Weizmann for several hours, three of the members of the executive–Prof. Selig Brodetsky, Louis Lipsky and Dr. Nahum Goldmann–returned today to Paris for further consultations. A Jewish Agency spokesman said that no meetings of the executive are planned in Paris and no decision on attending the London parley is likely to be reached for another few days–until the attitude of the Zionist Actions Committee, now in session in Jerusalem, has been received.

It was officially stated that the parley would be held even if the Agency or the Palestine Arab Higher Committee, or both, refuse to participate. The possibilities of the Palestine Arab Committee participating diminished greatly today following the British refusal to admit the ex-Mufti to the conference.

In the event that both the Palestine Arabs and the Jews refused to attend the parley, official circles indicated that they will hold discussions with representatives of Arab states who are ready to come and “with other Jewish bodies.”

JEWISH AGENCY IS FACED WITH “TRAGIC DILEMMA,” ZIONIST ORGAN SAYS

The Zionist Review, official Zionist organ, published an article today asserting that the Jewish Agency is faced with a “tragic dilemma.” It emphasizes that from a moral viewpoint the Jewish Agency has every reason to reply to the British invitation with a flat refusal, but points out that despite the unfavorable circumstances and the government’s anti-Zionist policy, Jews cannot afford to be absent from the conference.

“Even if there is the slightest chance of a favorable outcome, this chance should not be brushed aside,” the article states. “The Jewish people have nothing to be ashamed of in re-stating their case. It is others who ought to be ashamed.”

Addressing a public meeting last night, Richard H. Crossman, former British member of the Anglo-American Inquiry Committee on Palestine, urged the British Government to partition Palestine and simultaneously announce its intention of withdrawing from the country within two or three years.

Partition would force the Jews and Arabs to come to terms without Britain, whose rule, he declared, is hated by both groups. Crossman emphasized that he was opposed to bringing the Palestine issue before the United Nations because it would mean further delay and “would make of Palestine a card in power politics like Trieste.” He suggested that Britain sign treaties with the proposed Arab and Jewish states, adding that the latter should be comprised of the area outlined by the Peel Commission in 1937 as well as the Negev region.