Congressman Hamilton Fish in House Speech Protests Stoppage of Immigration

Calling upon the people of Great Britain “to see to it that their Government respects the sacred promise which it made not only to the Jews but to the entire world” with regard to the establishment of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine, Representative Hamilton Fish of New York in a speech today in the House of Representatives protested against the recent order of the British government temporarily suspending Jewish immigration into Palestine.

Declaring that the suspension order was issued on purely political grounds, since the 3,300 certificates that were withdrawn had been previously approved by the High Commissioner as economically justified, Representative Fish stated that “it may become necessary for the Government of the United States to call upon the Government of Great Britain to inquire with regard to its future intentions in Palestine, whether it proposes to carry out the obligations which it assumed in accepting Palestine as a mandated territory.

“For us in America the situation in Palestine is of particular concern,” Representative Fish declared. “Our Jewish citizens have poured tens of millions of dollars into the country for the purpose of upbuilding it. They have made great sacrifices so that there could be laid a basis for a new center of Jewish civilization, and so that tens of thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe, suffering from economic destitution and political and religious discrimination, might find a haven.

“The attitude taken by the British Government threatens the work that has been done in Palestine by the Jews of the world in the past decade. There has been laid down the principle that Jewish immigration into Palestine should be governed by the economic capacity of the country. That principle is now being violated by Great Britain. To hinder the entrance of Jews into Palestine for any other reason is to make mockery of the Jewish National Home; it is to betray the trust that has been placed in Britain by the civilized countries of the world. It is finally to nullify the agreement that has been entered into between Great Britain and our government.

“I speak here today to state that it may become necessary for the Government of the United States to call upon the Government of Great Britain to inquire with regard to its future intentions in Palestine, whether it proposes to carry out the obligations which it assumed in accepting Palestine as a mandated territory. Millions of dollars of American money are invested in Palestine. Besides that, the hopes of millions of our fellow citizens are centered in its development. The United States is interested in the property of its nationals wherever it may be. It is therefore our grave concern that the interests of American Jews in Palestine shall not be jeopardized.”