Jewish demands for retention and implementation of the Palestine mandate were submitted to the Government tonight by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency, at the first business session of the Holy Land conference. The closed meeting between British negotiators and a Jewish delegation of 19 members was held while the British pressed efforts, apparently so far without avail, to mend the split in the Arab delegation from Palestine to obviate separate negotiations with the extremist and moderate factions.
Dr. Weizmann was understood to have demanded a return to the economic absorptive capacity standard of Jewish immigration, facilitation of close Jewish settlement on land and adequate security in the form of strengthening of the Jewish defense force.
In the course of his two-hour speech, Dr. Weizmann was understood to have asked the British Government to state exactly its present attitude regarding the Jewish position in Palestine, protested against the presence of five Arab states at the conference and also against the arbitrary restriction of Jewish immigration to Palestine, stating that both were prejudicial to the Jewish case. He warned Britain that Arab friendship alone was not sufficient to safeguard British imperial interests in the Near East.
The Jewish leader, it was learned, assailed the contention that the authors of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, guaranteeing establishment of a Palestine Jewish homeland, had not foreseen the present dimensions of the Jewish tragedy. He ridiculed attempts to represent the declaration as something not intended to provide a lasting refuge for large numbers of homeless Jews.
Dr. Weizmann, in referring to Arab-Jewish relations, it was learned, criticized the Government’s failure to assist a rapprochement. He referred to the Treaty of Friendship between Arabs and Zionists which he concluded in 1919 with Emir Feisal, later King of Iraq, and proposed it as the basis of an agreement today.
(The treaty, revealed by Dr. Weizmann on June 10,1936, in The Times of London, guaranteed Feisal’s support of the Balfour Declaration and encouragement of Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine. It provided for the establishment of friendly relations between Palestine and an Arab state. The treaty was supported by Col. Lawrence, who was instrumental in obtaining Arab support of Britain in the World War.)
The Jews do not desire to dominate the Arabs, Dr. Weizmann said, but they will not accept domination by the Arabs. He warned that it was difficult to conceive of the
reaching of a lasting solution while law and order were not restored. He urged adoption of a positive policy by the Government, asserting that vacillation was the cause of the disorders, which would continue as long as the policy continued to vacillate.
A large part of the address, it was understood, was given over to a review of the Jewish position the world over and the necessity of evacuation of millions of Jews. He agreed that the search for territories for settlement must go on, but said that Palestine alone was able to provide an immediate and lasting refuge. He concluded by stating that the Jews would always be grateful to Britain for a signal contribution to a solution of the problem and fulfillment of the promise would give a seal forever to the bonds uniting the Jews to the Empire.
The Jewish delegation at the meeting was composed of Dr. Weizmann, Menachem M. Ussishkin, David Ben Gurion, Prof. Selig Brodetsky, Moshe Shertok, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, Chief Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz of Britain; the Palestine rabbis, Dr. Isaac Herzog, Moshe Blau and Ben-Zion Uziel; Mrs. Rose Jacobs, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Isaac Ben-Zvi, M. WeillHalle, of France, Sholem Aseh and Leonard Stein.
Efforts to close the breach in the ranks of the Palestine Arab delegates occupied the time of Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald before the session. Mr. MacDonald conferred with the delegates of Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia regarding the failure of the moderate Palestine Arab Defense Party representatives to attend the opening ceremonies of the conference yesterday and the inability to obtain their reconciliation with the Palestine extremists of the Husseini faction. This afternoon, the Colonial Secretary was to see Ragheb Bey Nashashibi, leader of the Arab moderates, and this evening Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was to see the Nashashibi group.
Satisfaction was expressed in Jewish Agency circles at the spirit in which Mr. Chamberlain launched the conference. Particular pleasure was voiced at the assurance that the Palestine mandate would be made the basis of the discussions, the reference to the United States position respecting the mandate and Mr. Chamberlain’s tribute to Palestine Jewry’s discipline and self-restraint in the face of disorders. (A remark that “sholom (peace) is our watchword in Palestine,” made by Dr. Chaim Weizmann in his reply to Mr.Chamberlain, was erroneously attributed to the Prime Minister in Tuesday’s dispatch.)
Meanwhile, the Treasury published supplementary budget estimates of £1,120,700 for the defense of Palestine and the Transjordan and £1,887,000 to cover the costs incurred as the result of the Arab disturbances. An additional sum of £14,400 was asked by the Colonial Office to cover expenses of the Palestine conferences.
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.
