Columbian Press Asks Haven for Jewish Refugees in Aftermath to Exodus Incident

Leading sections of the Colombianpress today de##ended the rights of Jews to enter Palestine and urged the admission of some Jewish refugees to Colombia, in an aftermath to the Exodus incident, which has aroused particular interest here, since the deportees were reported to have Colombian visas.

Attacking anti-Semitic comment in some papers, Assistant Editor Fernando Guillen Martinez, in a signed article in the liberal daily La Razon, describes Jewish resettlement in Palestine as an “unpostponable necessity.” Martinez continues: “If the Jews falsified Colombian visas, this is of no importance to us. In their struggle this is not the first time British injustice has forced them to utilize this ##sort of weapon. The Colombian journalists have been too naive in believing this silly British provocation which tries to spread anti-Jewish passions against the ## legitimate right of the Jews to recover their country.”

“Caliban”, columnist for the official Liberal Party organ, El Tiempo, declared that “there is no place in the rest of the world for these poor human beings who have wronged nobody and who are victims of all kinds of iniquities. The world’s conscience cannot be tranquil while Jews are denied the means of earning their livelihood.” Asserting that all immigrants cannot be absorbed by one country, “Caliban” says: “But there is no country which cannot receive a proportional part of the Semitic immigrants…The Jews have converted Palestine’s deserts into one of the richest agricultural centers of the world. What they have done there they can do anywhere.”