Charges of discrimination in the admission of Jews as visitors from abroad and in naturalization procedures were voiced in Commons by a number of Laborite members of Parliament. Afterwards, Home Secretary R. A. Butler announced that certain restrictions would be relaxed in reference to the elderly relatives of naturalized citizens.
Maurice Orbach, Laborite, charged that “every single Jew who has asked to be naturalized has been reported to me as having been asked ‘are you a Zionist?” Mr. Orbach asserted that aliens seeking citizenship had to pass through a series of formulas, and “people of a certain faith had been asked if they had particular political affiliations.”
The MP also cited the case of a Jewish refugee woman from Egypt with nursing experience who, in Paris, had been offered a job in England by a noted hospital. However, he added, the authorities would not allow her to come to Britain because she was stateless.
Laborite Sidney Silverman cited the case of an Israeli who had been invited to Britain to attend the opening by Queen Elizabeth of a memorial at Brook wood. But when he arrived a week before the ceremony, he was deported to the continent, despite an offer by his sister to post security. Only after the sister, who had not seen the Israeli in 20 years, insisted, was she granted 15 minutes to speak to her brother, Mr. Silverman said, and then only in the presence of a police officer.
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.
