Asserting that the present disturbances in Palestine represent “a clash of two civilizations, the newer and the older in which the older must surrender to the newer,” Major Henry A. Procter, Conservative member of the House of Commons, said upon his arrival today on the Berengaria, that the political agitation in Palestine does not come from the masses but from the effendi and rich absentee landowners who are aroused over the raising of the standard of living and wages by the Jewish settlers.
Asked whether he believed that Italy was active in arousing anti-British feeling, Major Proctor said that it was “highly probable that the propaganda that stirred up the trouble in Egypt is the same which has created the disturbances in Palestine.”
He was met at the pier by Morris Rothenberg, president of the Zionist Organization of America. Major Procter will lecture in behalf of the United Palestine Appeal and will be tendered a luncheon by the Zionist Organization at the Hotel Astor June 3.
“The Arab is the most inflammatory material in the world and the wildest rumor will set him off on a murderous expedition of wild massacre and impassioned hatred,” Major Procter said, adding that the present situation in Palestine was particularly delicate because “the slightest disturbance in Palestine is felt in India and it is therefore a question of patience in dealing with the situation.”
Major Procter said it was the general feeling in the House of Commons that “we’re determined to carry out Great Britain’s promise to world Jewry to make Palestine a national home for the Jews and no lawlessness or riots will influence the government to swerve from that course. The firmest steps will be taken by the British Government to stamp out lawlessness.”
He said that the protests in the House of Commons against Italian propaganda were not a result of fear, declaring Great Britain was not afraid of Italy and never has been. “It is a new experience, something like a Jersey mosquito. It is very irritating but you are not afraid of it,” he said.
“I look for a true voice against persecution from Palestine. I have long felt that the way to put a stop to a great deal of the persecution of the Jews by dictators is to give them a country like Switzerland, that would be not only a source of Jewish culture but that would enable world Jewry to speak in the name of peace to the nations of the world, like Switzerland. Such a center would act as an asylum for the oppressed and as a voice on behalf of Jewry,” he stated.
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.
