The Arab resistence in Palestine is directed against an attack that has not been made. Sir Herbert Samuel, the Palestine High Commissioner declared at a dinner given in his honor by the Maccabeans. Lord Walter Rothschild presided. There is no Zionist government or Jewish bureaucracy contemplated in Palestine. Sir Herbert contined. “Both Arab and Jewish national sentiment are worthy but Arabs have many lands, while the Jews have Palestine alone”.
The Jews in Palestine are not antagonistic to the Arabs and would never allow themselves to be used that way, he said. Sir Herbert was very optimistic over conditions in Palestine, declaring that the civil administration has been virtually self-supporting from the start. He was convinced, he said, that even more important than the activities of the State were those of the various private enterprises, which were lately arising in increasing numbers in Palestine. There were many new factories, agricultural settlements were being developed and houses were being built by the hundreds.
The Zionist organization, through its institutions, especially the Keren Hayesod, had done much towards this achievement and the continued success of Palestine depends on the manner in which the Jews of the world would continue to give their aid. It was Jewish activity, he said, which was mostly responsible for the development of the country.
Public safety on the whole was good, he said, the garrison warranting still greater reduction.
The High Commissioner expressed regret that the news reports of the recent attack by Arab brigands on his escort at Mettual had made it appear that he was the object of their attack.
Referring to labor condition, Sir Herbert said there were no more Bolsheviks among the Palestine workers in proportion to the population than among the workers of England.
Sir Wyndham Deedes former Givil Secretary of Palestine who also spoke said that Palestine was not a British but a world problem. He likened the situation in Palestine to that of Switzerland. The Swiss Commonwealth was composed of threenationalities and two religions, and yet they succeeded in preserving their national integrity. If this could be effected in Switzerland, the similar problem facing Palestine could also be solved. “Without Zionism”, he said, “Palestine would be incomplete.” He concluded with the expression of the hope that the British would succeed in bringing unity into the diversity there.
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.
