Criticism of the Christians in Palestine for then attitude during the outbreaks was expressed by a Jerusalem resident signing himself “A true Christian” in a letter published in the “Palestine Bulletin.”
The correspondent scores the Christian community of Jerusalem because it did not volunteer to help the Jewish refugees. “None sent bundles of clothing or bedding to cover the horror stricken, hunted souls who fled their homes in mortal peril. Are Christian women heartless and unmoved by the spectacle of a timid, defenseless people hunted like hares and slaughtered? No question of politics need enter into this relief work, no talk, right or wrong, aggressor or instigator, only the fact that at this moment there are eight thousand refugees in improvised shelters in Jerusalem and elsewhere. What of the Christian institutions who are equipped to render aid? They did as much as the individual Christians-nothing. What has the Y. M. C. A. done? The Y. W. C. A.? The American colony? The London Missionary Society, the Church Mission society, the French Italian and German hospices with their vast buildings. Not one came forward.
“Not one came forward. This complete apathy and aloofness of the Christian community may be good politics, but what a sad and niggardly return for the swift, eager and generous help always poured out by Jews whenever Christians are in dire distress?” the correspondent asks.
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.
