Jews and Arabs are mixing freely in Tel Aviv and in Jaffa, and peace reigns in the Arab villages, the Palestine correspondent of the Evening Standard reports today from Tel Aviv.
“Nothing is in the air to forecast Arab-Jewish troubles,” he cables. “Nothing is noticeable of the atmosphere which prevailed during 1933-36 when long before the Arab outbursts the relations between Jews and Arabs were cut and no Jews dared to appear in Jaffa while no Arab dared to enter Tel Aviv. The war has brought the Jewish and Arab populations in closer touch.”
Lord Samuel, first High Commissioner for Palestine, in a broadcast today, declared that he does not understand “how the immediate establishment of a Jewish State or Commonwealth can be advocated as long as there are a million Arabs in Palestine.” The Jews, he said, have a great claim on Palestine and the Jewish National Home there has been a great success. “I regard it unfortunate, however, that a controversy should take place at the present time on the question of a Jewish State,” he stated.
The Daily Express reports today from Haifa that Rashid Ali el Gailini, the leader of the pro-Nazi revolt in Iraq during the war, is now in Mecca and has asked King Ibn Saud to give sanctuary in Mecca to the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem who is now interned in France. Rashid Ali reached Mecca after escaping from France, the report says, adding that three former collaborators of the ex-Mufti and of Rashid Ali are now in Syria and in Lebanon where they are contacting prominent politicians and conducting anti-Jewish propagands.
The Manchester Guardian today publishes a letter from Konni Ziliacus, a Laborite member of Parliament, advocating lifting of the ban on Jewish immigration to Palestine. The Laborite leader warns that continuance of the White Paper will lead to “shedding the blood of Jews whom Britain has sworn to protect, will add boldness to the blackmailing of Arab nationalists, will bedevil the relations with the United States and will mean a moral blow for Labor, which might be fatal.”
Emphasizing that he believes that Britain could deal unaided with any trouble in Palestine, Ziliacus says that the Labor Government is faced in Palestine “with the choice between two evils.” Whatever decision the British Government takes it must take the risk of facing the prospect of trouble, he writes. “In such a situation honesty is the best policy,” he points out, rejecting partition and suggesting the complete abrogation of the White Paper.
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.
