T H E
Page Two
Comments by Leaders of American Christian Palestine Committee
By DR. HOWARD M. LeSOURD and DR. CARL HERMANN VOSS
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright, 1946, Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate, Inc.
FLASH .
Watch the "League for Peace with Jus-
tice in Palestine" with headquarters at
345 Madison Avenue, New York City .. .
It is an interfaith front (Arab, Christian,
Jewish) for anti-Zionist propaganda by
the Arab League . . . Benjamin H. Freed-
man is a "Representative of cooperative
persons of the Jewish faith . . ." We have
a suspicion as to who these "persons of the
Jewish faith" might be . . . More next
week.
*
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MISCELLANY
Bill Unger, member of Pittsburgh Post
49 of Jewish War Veterans, thinks we're
all wrong about Alfred Fleishman's
chances to be elected National Command-
er . . . Well, let's wait and see.
The YOung Men's Christian Association
of the Oranges (New Jersey) should have
its knuckles rapped for issuing careless
Easter literature . . . We refer to its
"Orange Leaves" of April 18 in which
appears a tactless insult to the - Sanhedrin.
Some columns ago we wrote about
Otto Piper of Princeton and scored him
for his Streichian philosophy . . If you
want to know more about him read
"Judaism and Christianity" by Trudge
Weiss - Rosmarin, a thought - provoking
book.
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*
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WELL DONE
Jewish social service is a field full of
grief as most professionals will tell you
. . . Occasionally though, intelligent lay
people do something which heartens the
paid workers who labor hard for the
common weal without gratitude . . . The
other evening down in Jacksonville, Fla.,
leaders of the Jacksonville Community
Council presented their executive direc-
tor, William I. Boxerman, with a certifi-
cate for the purchase of a new automo-
bile in tribute to his successful adminis-
tration of the organization.
*
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NOW REALLY! • SOL!
Rep. Sol Bloom, chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, is reported
having put the following in the April 13
Congressional Record: "History records
Washington as the greatest American in
the 18th Century . . . In the 19th this
honor is undoubtedly Lincoln's . . . And
when the full record of the 20th Century
is written, certainly the name of William
Randolph Hearst will lead the list" .. .
Never heard of FDR, Sol?
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•
CANADIAN NEWS
The first volume of "The History of
the Jews in Canada" by Benjamin Good-
man Sack is out . . . a monumental work
.. • The leaflet "Jewish War Heroes"
published by the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress is a swell job . . • Four Canadian
Jews were made officers of the Order of
the British Empire, the highest military
decoration in the Empire . . . The Cana-
dian Jewish Congress was the first
Jewish representative institution on this
continent to ship help to Polish Jewry.
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1946, Independent
Press Service. Inc.)
Jewish
GETS HIS WISH
Carl H. Mote, anti-Semitic publisher,
who wrote a pamphlet in 1945 in which
he said, "I am ashamed to be an Amer-
ican," needn't worry about it any more.
He passed away last week.
*
*
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PEACE MONGER
Rev. Millard J. Flenner, at a recent
meeting in Chicago, declared: "If we
could keep the Jews locked up, we could
have peace on earth." Here is a so-.
called minister of God who would be at
peace if innocent people were languish-
ing in jail. You meet such fine individ-
uals in the hate business.
*
*
Friday, May 10, 1946 •
An Evasive Report
Strictly
Confidential
*
JEWISH NEWS
*
LOGIC
"Destiny", a wierd magazine which
espouses the "Anglo-Saxon Israel" theory
also spouted by Rev. Flenner, declares
editorially in the April issue: "Great
Britain, not the Jews, took this land
(Palestine) from the Turks. By right of
conquest . • the land belongs to Great
Britain." In the same editorial: "He that
taketh the sward • shall perish by .thel
sword." Make up your mind, Destiny.
We welcome the recommendation which upholds President Truman's cour-
ageous request of last summer to admit 100,000 homeless 'Jews • to Palestine. This
recommendation, however, must be regarded as no more than a partial remedy of
an intolerable condition. It is at best • a belated acknowledgment. of an outraged
world conscience—the conscience of millions of Christians who demand justice
for the Jewish people. . .
.
But we consider that thiS report is at best only a point of departure.
It is evasive and unwarranted to make issue of "Christian rights and interests"
in view of the complete freedom which the Christians in Palestine now enjoy. Dur-
ing the paSt generation reverence and good - taste have been evident in the preserva-
tion and protection of holy places, shrines and sacred spots associated with the
history of Christendom, as well as of Judaism and Mohammedanism. The Christian
conscience is outraged by such an attempt to put a brake on Jewish development
of Palestine due to an inadequately defined "interest of the Christian world." The
Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations Mandate stipulated that the holy
places be fully protected, a stipulation which has been meticulously observed by
the Jews of Palestine. As Christians we protest this effort to create an issue out of
a situation which has never been a problem, and _thus obscure the real issue at stake
which is not only to create a haven for homeless Jews, but to build a National Home
for a homeless people. To lump the Jews with Moslems and Christians and con-
sider them solely as a religious group is historically and scientifically absurd, for
the Jewish people is much more than a religious entity. The Jews as a people have
an ethnic consciousness which makes their relationship to Palestine unique.
It is unfair and unjustifiable, we believe, to raise the standard of living among
the Arabs at the expense of the Jews. We believe that the Arab standard of living
must be raised, but we think it unjust and uncalled for to penalize the Jews for the
backwardness of the Arabs. It is a travesty on justice to. place part of the burden,
as inevitably will be the case, upon the 100,000 Jews entering the Promised Land
with nothing more than their lives.
Purely Commentary
AN UNJUST REPORT
Jewry has survived many commissions
whose "predictions" and "findings" have
not been favorable to the Jewish cause in
Palestine.
The Jewish people alSo will survive the
latest committee—in spite of its unique
position as the first investigating group
on Palestine to include American repre-
sentation.
The Anglo-American Inquiry Commit-
tee on Palestine had an historic oppor-
tunity to establish a new tradition for
justice in international relations. In the
it has failed woefully—its report being
another travesty on justice and a most
unfair statement on the Jewish position.
The first reaction to the report was one
of rejoicing that the committee should
have eccepted President Truman's pro-
posal for the immediate admission of 100,-
000 Jews, and that it should have re-
pudiated the ugliest portions of the White
Paper of 1939—the Nazi-patterned re-
striction on land sales to Jews and de-
pendence of Jewish immigration upon
Arab approval.
But a full study of the report and the
subsequent statement of Britain's Prime
Minister Clement Attlee completely de-
stroyed all confidence in the committee.
There are elements in this very unjust
report which arouse feelings of humilia-
tion and deep hurt.
It is necessary, therefore, to read the
report in a spirit of strong courage and.
with a determined will not to permit
anything to stand in the way of ultimate
achievement of our goal—the settling in
Palestine of the million European Sur-
vivors—no matter how difficult the
struggle.
*
*
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THE BIRTH OF AN INSECT
The mountain was in labor, but instead
of giving birth to a lion, it has produced
a disease-carrying insect.
This, unfortunately, is a verdict we are
compelled to arrive at, upon experiencing
the - humiliations contained in the report
made by a group of men who • were
selected to help solve the tragic problem
of the surviving Jews of Europe.
Instead of solving the problem, they
have aggravated the situation. Many of
the conclusions in their report are il-
logical and impractical. Even in the
recommendation that "the whole world
share responsibility . . . for the resettle-
ment of all 'displaced persons' " the com-
mittee fell into error. "A real obstacle,"
they state, "to individual restitution is
that the attempt to give effect to this
legislation is frequently a cause of active
anti-Semitism." Admitting that "Nazi oc-
cupation has left behind it a legacy of
anti-Semitism," the committee proceeds
to state that "this cannot be combatted
by legislation alone," and its solution is
"the sanction of a strong world public
opinion." Such theory has been disproved
in Russia, and where justice is involved
it would not have hurt if the committee
had learned a lesson in decency even
from the Communists.
*
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THE MAJOR BETRAYAL
"Palestine is not, and never can be a
purely Jewish land," the report asserts.
This represents the major betrayal of a
sacred trust made to the Jewish people.
The pledge for the establishment of the
Jewish National Home was made by 51
nations. Great Britain, as the mandatory
power responsible, to the 51 nations who
joined in endorsing the policy incorpor-
ated • in the Balfour - Declaratiop, by her
action in shutting Palestine's door, al-
By PHILIP
SLOMOVITZ
ready stands guilty of having prevented
the rescuing of hundreds of thousands of
Jews who could have escaped the German
crematoria, Now, instead of insisting on
the making good of a promise, the com-
mittee condones the British government's
pledge-smashing program.
There can be no objection_ to assump-
tion of responsibility for Palestine by the
United Nations. On the contrary, it
should be welcomed, and we can hope
only for improvements over the present
perfidious policies. But the Jewish peo-
ple will reject any, policy which will
freeze the Jewish pbsition, which will say
that only 100,000 can be rescued and a
million more who have no other place to
go—(the report admits: "We know of no
country to which the great majority can
go in the immediate future other than
Palestine. Furthermore that is where al-
most all of them want to go.")—will be
denied asylum in Palestine.
•
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QUESTION OF STANDARDS
It is generally admitted that the Jews
of -Palestine have contributed greatly to
the advancement of their Arab neighbors.
But the inquiry committee is dissatisfied.
Since the Palestine Arabs' progress is
noticeable only in comparison with the
status of Arabs in other lands, but not in
comparison with the position of the Jews
in Palestine, the committee believes that
"the Jews of Palestine should accept the
necessity that taxation, raised from both
Jews and Arabs, will have to be spent
very largely on the Arabs in order to
bridge the gap which now exists between
the standard of living of the two
peoples."
Read this carefully! Note the injustice
of the judgment of the inquiry commit-
tee! Already; a major portion of Pales-
tine tax funds, derived in the main from
the Jewish community, is used for the
upkeep of the British armed forces in
Palestine and Transjordania and for the
support of Arab schools. But the great
humanitarians on the inquiry committee
are not satisfied! They would have us
do' more! Perhaps they wod have us
form a Jewish National Fund for the Ad-
vancement of the Poor Arabs While the
Displaced Persons in Europe Beat Their
Heads Against Palestine's Closed Doors!
This is an injustice and an insult, and
we protest such a verdict!
•
*
SARCASM OR STAB IN BACK?
Thus, the Jewish National Fund is criti-
cised for its provisions that no labor other.
than Jewish shall be employed by the
lessee on its land.
Arabs have been flocking into Pales-
tine from neighboring lands because of
employment opportunities among Jews,
but the JNF clause is grabbed at as an
excuse for excoriating Jews!
Justice, what crimes are committed in
thy name!
In view of • our experiences in Pales-
tine, the following excerpt from the re-
port takes the prize: "Any person . . .
who desires, and is qualified under ap-
plicable laws to enter Palestine, must not
be refused admission or subjected to dis-
crimination on the ground that he is NOT
a Jew."
What do you know about this?
We had expected the committee to report
that no one may be excluded from Pales-
tine because he IS a Jew! Now, read the
last quotation again, and judge for your-
self whether it - is sarcasm or an out and
out insult. • • .
There is rinichm,pre to be condemned
the. -re-poi For instance, the attempt
deny the-
people the right to the
to
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
kCopyright, 1946, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)"
POLITICAL ECHOES
How long will it be before the recom-
mendations of the Anglo-American in-
quiry committee will be implemented?
. . This question is now on the lips of
every Jewish leader in New York . .
Very few people in the United States
know that the statements issued by the
major Jewish organizations immediately
after the publication of the inquiry com-
mittee's report were actually influenced
by some of the American members of the
committee • . . These members met with
top Zionist and non-Zionist leaders in
New York separately and urged them not
to take issue too strongly with the re-
port . . The request of these members,
known for their friendly attitude to the
Jewish demands, was complied with to
a very great extent .. . Especially since
it was felt that American Jews are pri-
marily interested at present in _effecting
the transfer of 100,000 Jews from Europe
before the end of the year . . . Prime
Minister Att.lee's conditions, announced in
Parliament a day after the leading Jewish
organizations issued their statements,
changes the situation .. . All indications
now point to the fact that it will be a
long time before any action on the recom-
mendations is taken . . . The recom-
mendations are not binding on either
Britain or the United States until formal-
ly ratified . . . Before they are ratified,
there will be prolonged consultations and
bargaining between our State Depart-
ment and the British Foreign Office ..
Then too, there seems to be an inclina-
tion to call in Arab and Jewish leaders
for consultation after the two govern-
ments reach an agreement . . . All this
means that quite a lot of time will elapse
before any transfer of the 100,000 Jews
to Palestine is started.
*
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SIDELIGHTS
Members of the Anglo-American in-
quiry committee now reveal that the-
testimony of Dr. Chaim Weizmann and
Dr. J. L. Magnes in Jerusalem and of
Judge Joseph M. Proskauer and Dr.
Joseph Schwartz in Washington strongly
influenced the decisions of the commit-
tee . . The statements by Arab leaders,
as well as the Jewish testimony in Lon-
don, left no impression on the commit-
tee. Incidentally, Dr. Magnes is expected
in the U. S. this month and may address
the JDC national board of directors
meeting which will be held in Chicago
on June 1 . . . This meeting may also be
addressed by Bartley Crum, one of the
members of the Anglo-American inquiry
committee.
•
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"ILLEGAL ARMIES"
*
The strength of the Jewish "illegal
armies," upon whose dissolution Prime
Minister Attlee now insists prior to ac-
cepting the recommendations of the
Anglo-American inquiry committee, is,
for the first time, revealed in the report
of the committee . . . The largest of thege
"illegal armies," under the control of the
"Haganah," numbers more than 60,000
men, the report says . . . It states that the
"Haganah" has completely organized an
army- '-'under a central control and with
subsidiary territorial commands, in three
branches."
Jordan Valley Authority unless they
"combine Jewish finance with govern-
ment responsibility and control." The
Jews know from bitter experience the I
meaning of "government control".
*
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`THE NEED FOR PEACE'
One more objection: The final recom-
mendation of the committee, dealing with
"the need for peace in Palestine," ex-
presses the view "that the Jewish Agency
should at once resume active cooperation
with the mandatory in the suppression
of terrorism and of illegal immigration."
The Jewish Agency has consistently op-
posed terrorism. But the Jewish Agency
does not and -can not recognize any
Jewish immigration as "illegal." Further-
more, in view of the failure of the Pales-.
tine government to protect Jewish rights,
the Haganah can not be asked to go out
of existence.
The points in the final recommenda-
tion were at once made a major condition
for the implementation of the report. by
Prime Minister Attlee. Admitting that
"100,000 ain't hay" and that it would be
a great victory for the European • sur-
vivors if the 100,000 could be settled in •
Palestine this year, we are now begin-
ning to -wonder -whether any serious of ..• •
forts will .be made to settle the 100,000:. -=•." -
Jews this year, or whether the latest re- •-
port will become another complete faree
.
1.:
and betrayal.