Bitter attacks upon the British Labor government for its action in stopping temporarily Jewish immigration into Palestine are contained in editorials in Tuesday’s New York “Jewish Morning Journal” and “Day.” Both newspapers accuse the British government of being two-faced, of making promises to Jews and yielding at the same time to Arab threats.
“When the Shaw Commission,” says Jacob Fishman in the “Morning Journal,” “issued its ugly report and interfered in questions which were not within its sphere, like immigration and land-purchase, we were comforted with the explanation that the government is not bound to listen to its malicious opinions. MacDonald himself made us believe that way through his declarations.
“Now, like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky, the gates of Palestine are being closed for Jews on the basis of the libels of the same commission. The government doesn’t trust any more the recommendations and the reports of its own High Commissioner, Sir John Chancellor, for it is clear that before the government approved the new certificates it inquired of the High Commissioner whether Palestine needs new Jewish workers.”
After condemning the British government for its present action, the “Day” asks: “What are we to do now?” It opposes the idea of convening a special Zionist Congress, instead of which it says:
“We can do only one thing. If he who issues the note goes bankrupt, those who have endorsed the note are held responsible. The whole world had promised us that the note would be paid; more than a half-hundred nations had signed the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate. If England is bankrupt, if England makes a worthless piece of paper out of this note, then let the nations come and demand of England that it keep its word. How we should come to the nations with our complaints—whether through the League of Nations or to each country individually—is a question of tactics which must be considered. We believe that the nations will take our part. Anyway, the attempt should be made.”
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.
