Zionist Emergency Council Hits Resolution on Palestine Sponsored by Bergson Group

Describing the introduction in the House of Representatives of a resolution calling for the establishment of a “Hebrew state” in Palestine as “a tragic disservice to the Jewish people,” the American Zionist Emergency Council yesterday denounced the Hebrew Committee for National Liberation, which sponsored the resolution, as representing “no one and responsible to no one.” The council’s statement said:

“It has been announced in the press that a resolution regarding Palestine, sponsored by the self-styled Hebrew Committee of National Liberation, is being introduced in Congress. We do not doubt the friendly motives of the honorable members of Congress who have been persuaded to sponsor that resolution. They undoubtedly have been led to believe that in this they are of assistance to the Jewish people. But we must point out with all the vigor at our command that the so-called Hebrew Committee of National Liberation has been repudiated by every responsible Jewish organization in the United States and abroad, including the highest Jewish authority in Palestine itself, the Jewish National Assembly, which is the democratically elected spokesman for the Jews of Palestine.

“It is a matter of public record that the so-called Hebrew Committee of National Liberation was repudiated by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the democratically elected spokesman for the Jewish people, Zionist and non-Zionist alike, recognied in this capacity under Article IV of the Mandate for Palestine, confirmed by Great Britain, the United States, and 50 other nations of the world. The “Committee” has also been publicly denounced by the American Jewish Conference, which represents the overwhelming majority of American Jewry; by the American Zionist Emergency Council, which represents all major Zionist bodies in the United States; by the Palestine lebor Federation, and by a host of other representative Jewish bodies.

“It should again be pointed out that the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation, headed by Mr. Peter Bergson, represents neither the Jews of Palestine, nor those of Europe, nor those of the United States. In fact, that “Committee” represents no one and is responsible to no one.

“As is well know, resolutions in support of the Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine were introduced in the Senate and the House by the majority and minority leaders of both houses. Action on these resolutions had to be deferred at the request of the Administration. We wish to stress most earnestly that any attempt to force action at this time by either the Senate or the House on a resolution such as the one sponsored by the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation would, in our considered opinion, constitute a tragic disservice to the Jewish people.”