THE JEWISH NEWS
Page Two
Illegal Is the Wrong Word
Purely
Commentary
By RALPH McGILL
Editor, Atlanta Constitution
(From Atlanta Constitution, Aug. 23, 1946)
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE PRICE OF PEACE
Goldie Meyerson, Milwaukee-born Jew-
ish leader who is now the acting head of
the Jewish Agency's Political Department,
last week made some important state-
ments to a conference of foreign corre-
spondents-in Jerusalem.
Concerned primarily with the outrage-
ous treatment of Palestinian Jews by
British troops who have been stripping
Jewish colonies of their weapons of de-
fense, Miss Meyerson stated quite frankly
the well known facts: that it has never
been a secret that Jewish settlements were
armed for self-defense, that the British
authorities themselves had armed the
colonies during the war and during the
years when Arabs were attacking the Jews.
The two Negev settlements which have
been robbed of their weapons—Doroth
and Ruhama — never denied possessing
arms which were necessary for defensive
purposes. Now, Miss Meyerson points out,
it will be difficult for these colonies to feel
secure in the event of attack. Ruhama,
she reminded the correspondents, was de-
stroyed twice under British rule: in 1921,
shortly after the Mandate was given to
England by the League of Nations, and
during the 1936-39 riots. Depriving them
of arms now invites destruction anew,
Miss Meyerson declared, and she issued
this warning:
"Jewish Palestine wants peace and tran-
quility with all its heart, but will not
purchase them at the price of agreeing to
creation of a Jewish ghetto in Palestine."
*
*
*
A POWERFUL WITNESS
If there are among foreign correspond-
ents men and women who remain skept-
ical and are indifferent to the protest
against the formation of a ghetto in Pal-
estine, we invite them to study the evi-
dence offered by one of the world's most
eminent authors, Arthur Koestler, who has
just returned from Palestine where he
studied the situation for 10 months as a
basis for his latest book on this question.
In a very powerful article in the Mag-
azine Section of the New York Times, Mr.
Koestler wrote:
"During a recent 10 months' stay in
Palestine I did not meet a single family
who did not have a relative or friend
among the six million Jews killed in
Europe, and I returned with the convic-
tion that if If happened to be 20 years
younger and a Palestinian Jew. with a
mother or brother among the people
rotting in D. P. camps, and denied
access to the country or smoked out
with tear gas from their floating coffins
to be dragged to yet another deportation
camp, I would either have gone off my
head or joined the terrorists."
After reading this statement, anyone
who doubts the validity of the demands
of world Jewry that there be an end to
tyranny inflicted upon Palestine Jewry by
the British must have a heart of stone.
*
*
*
BRITAIN FINDS GOGGLES
British actions have been so ludicrous
that the great empire bids fair to become
the laughing stock of the entire civilized
world.
Take, as an instance, the search that
was made at Sdoth Yam, where 5,000
British soldiers arrested 160 settlers. The
settlers in this tiny Jewish fishing village
explained the purpose of the "suspicious"
articles found by the British. Among them
were membership cards in Histadrut, Gen-
eral Jewish Federation of Labor, which
the British declared to be "secret pass-
ports." The diving suit, it was explained,
was used to provide oxygen for persons
rescued from drowning, and the goggles
were used for welding. The clothing, which
were confiscated as "uniforms," were the
settlers' winter garments.
Thus, the British having found GOG-
GLES, an entire village was subjected to
humiliation and arrest.
History surely will know how to judge
such acts by a "great empire."
Why is world public opinion so slow In
mobilizing all liberty-loving forces to put
an end to such tyranny?
°GERMAN-TRAINED DOGS' LN ZION
We wonder how the millions of men
and women who fought for freedom, in
the universal battle against the Nazi-
Fascist ideologies, feel about the news
that "German-trained dogs" are used in
the searches of Jewish colonies in
Palestine.
Wasn't it enough that Germans mur-
dered 6,000,000 Jews? Must these murder-
ers' dogs now be used to add insults to
injuries to Jews in Palestine?
.
Very few swords have been beaten into plowshares.
But a great many words have been fashioned into weapons.
"Illegal' is such a word, newly come from the forges of propaganda hammers.
When employed as an adjective in front of the noun "Jews' or "refugees," it
is a very handy weapon indeed. That it has general use, gathering the cumulative
force of repetition, is additional support of the fact that if you repeat something
over and over again a great many persons will believe it.
There is in the news today much about the "illegal" entry of refugees into
Palestine.
"Illegal" implies a violation of legality.
The refugees are not entering, or attempting to enter, Palestine illegally. They
are seeking to enter without authority or permission. Those who are detained in
detention camps and those deported were not there "illegally." It is a convenient
word and it carries with it its own implications of guilt and wrong.
It needs to be denied.
And those who use it so glibly need to be advised.
Let's look at the record.
More than 50 nations signed the agreement as to Palestine after World War I.
Britain was given a mandate over the territory for a specific purpose—to create
there a homeland for the persecuted Jews of Europe and those who wanted to
immigrate there to make a home.
The terms of that mandate included these items, and Britain agreed she would:
"Be responsible for conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish
National Home.
"Encourage settlement of Jews on the land.
"Facilitate Jewish immigration into Palestine in so far as the rights and
positions of other sections of population are not prejudiced."
The convention that determined upon the mandate, attended by 52 nations,
including the United States, all of which attested to the agreements, further said,
in Article VII of the mandate:
" . . . nothing contained in the present convention shall be affected by any
modification which may be made in terms of the mandate, as recited above, unless
such modification shall have been assented to by the United States."
Those are the agreements, duly sworn and agreed upon. It is important that
the people know these things and that the despicable camouflage of "illegality"
which is being smeared on the present crisis be examined. This is not a matter of
Jew or Zionist or refugee, but of right and wrong and of humanity.
Jewish terrorists, emulating the Irish terrorists and, however wrongly, believing
their cause to be similar to that of Ireland's fight for a free State, took up terror
after the successful use of it by the Arabs in 1936-37.
It was Arab terror which caused the British illegally to issue the White Paper
of 1939.
Winston Churchill said of it, "It is . . . a plain breach of a solemn obligation."
Herbert Morrison, then leader of the Labor party, said, "We regard this White
Paper and the policy in it as a cynical breach of pledges given to the Jews and
the world, including America. . . ."
The White Paper was a flagrant violation of a treaty. Yet, the British did not,
and are not now, carrying out the limited and discriminating provisions of even
that paper.
The then existing League of Nations refused to "clear" the White Paper.
No more false position has been taken than that of calling the present attempt
of immigrants to enter Palestine "illegal."
Britain is in a most difficult position.
She is engaged in a great tug-of-war with Russia for oil. Secondly, the Middle
East, especially Palestine and Trans-Jordan, are vitally strategic in so far as their
geography is concerned. Britain, pulling out of Egypt, will base herself in Palestine
and Trans-Jordan.
The whole world recognizes, with a certain sympathy and understanding, that
her position is difficult. The Arabs, with a shortsightedness which history will write
as the beginning of the downfall of the reigning class in the feudal Arab states,
blindly refuse to allow Britain to alleviate the problem, which could be done rela -
tively simply if they would so agree.
To put the label "illegal" on the problem instead of the labels of "oil" and
"political and military and economic measures," is ugly and wrong. It is Britain's
position, however, forced by world events, which is illegal.
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright, 1946, Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate, Inc.
GOOD WORK
The People's Voice, New York's foremost
Negro newspaper, is carrying on a splen-
did campaign to counteract anti-Semitic
propaganda among Negroes . . . We read
the other day in a column •"One God—
One People" a wonderful piece on "Who
Crucified Jesus Christ?" . . . The writer
completely demolished the myth that "The
Jews" were guilty and gave an accurate
picture of the divided Jewish community
in the days of Pilate, ruler of Rome . . .
Non-Negro papers should reprint that col-
umn every year around Easter and Christ-
mas time.
*
*
*
IN MEMORIAM
Isaac Landman should not be remem-
bered as the man who opposed Zionism at
the famous 1922 session of the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the House of Repre-
sentatives . . . He was a versatile; courage-
ous rabbi who insisted on his indepen-
dence .. . There were times when he not
only defied his own trustees but stood up
against the most powerful Jewish organi-
zational leadership- . . . And we know of
at least one Christian clergyman in Brook-
lyn . . . He told the gentleman that his
good-will pronouncements were phony and
that unless he would call off his associ-
ates of the Christian Front, he, Landman,
would expose him . . . Yes, Rabbi Land-
man knew how to fight.
*
*
*
RECOMMENDED
"The Jewish Community of Winnipeg,"
a statistical study by Louis Rosenberg, di-
rector, research bureau, Canadian Jewish
Congress, is the most comprehensive book-
let on a Jewish community ever to come
to our attention . . . We do recommend
it to our social workers in this country .. .
It will teach them how to analyze, evtlu-
ate and dissect the development of Jewish
communal life.
*
*
WELL DONE
Reuben Salzman, general secretary of
the Jewish People's Fraternal Order, re-
turned from a 10-week visit to Europe ,
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1946, Independent Jewish
Press Service. Inc.)
BEHIND THE SCENES
A Zionist peace committee is enroute
from London to settle the quarrel-across-
the-Atlantic which has broken out in
Zionist ranks. Godspeed to the commit-
tee. We hope that it can accomplish what
it has set out to do. The time is too criti-
cal, reconciliation of personalities and is-
sues is imperative. It is because of this,
that this columnist announces a most
un'columnistlike decision, namely that he
will withhold from his readers this week
all the gossip, allegations and counter-
allegations and thus do his tiny little bit
towards maintaining peace in Zionist
ranks. There was a pathetic and bitter
struggle between the columnist and the
Zionist in us. The Zionist has won. We
declare a moratorium on gossip, a sort of
bank-holiday until such time as behind-
the-scenes information can no longer do
any harm.
The Jewish Agency staff in America
has been reinforced by another ranking
personality — Lionel' Gelber, Canadian-
born Rhodes scholar, internationally rec-
ognized authority on. British Common-
wealth affairs, author of Peace by Power.
Mr. Gelber has been appointed political
adviser to the Jewish Agency staff.
Five of those 10 weeks Mr. Salzman spent
in Poland ... He had a two-hour interview
with Ignaci Wzosh, head of the commis-
sariat for Jewish Affairs . • . Mr. Wzosh
outlined a broad plan strengthening the
Jewish position in Poland . . . Salzman
distributed 22,340,000 Zlotys in the name
of the Jewish People's Fraternal Order to
help in the rebuilding of Jewish life in
Poland . . That's a constructive job,
Mr. Salzman.
Paul Muni, Ben Hecht and Kurt Weill,
responsible for the success of "A Flag Is
Born," are donating their time and labor
to the show without remuneration .. . .
The show produced in New York by "The
League For A Free Palestine" will net over
$100,000 for the Jewish self-defense activ-
ities in Palestine.
Friday, September 6, 1946
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1946, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
PALESTINE PARLEY
Believe it or not, British Foreign Minis-
ter Ernest Bevin—for all his anti-Jewish
utterances—is not unfriendly towards the
idea of Palestine being partitioned into a
Jewish and an Arab state . . . But all
other members of the British Cabinet are
definitely unfriendly towards this idea .
At least this is what Bevin told members
of the Jewish Agency Executive when they
negotiated with him in Paris on the eve of
the scheduled opening of the London con-
ference on Palestine .. . We can also let
you in on a secret that some members of
the Executive, though they would like to
see a Jewish State established on both
sides of the Jordan, will not feel unhappy
if Britain imposes its much-opposed "fed-
eralization plan" . • . They will, naturally,
protest against the imposition, but they
will not oppose it too strongly after it has
been forced upon the Yishuv . . . They feel
that "federalization" cannot be any worse
for Palestine than the present situation
there . . . And in this respect they share
the views of certain groups inside and
outside Palestine with whom they usually
disagree on the Jewish State issue . . . On
the other hand some members of the
Agency executive who believed in good
faith that they could win over the Ameri-
can and British governments to the "par-
tition" idea, may have to pay as losers .
Already preparations are being made by
the American Zionist leadership to cause
them trouble at the World Zionist Con-
gress in November . . . The convention of
the Zionist Organization of America next
month probably will serve as a prelude
and will be the most interesting ZOA con-
vention ever held.
*
*
*
THE AMERICAN SCENE
Proponents and opponents of admission
of 50,000 European displaced Jews to the
United States, as suggested by President
Truman, are preparing for a big fight in
Congress . . . White House circles are tak-
ing note especially of the fact that
neither the Democratic nor the Repub-
lican party conventions of New York State
—the largest Jewish-voting state in the
country—supported the President's pro-
posal . . . Not to mention the outspoken
opposition of Richard B. Russell, chair-
man of the Senate Immigration Commit-
tee ... On the other hand, the President's
suggestion is supported by leading Ameri-
can newspapers and liberal Congressmen
.. . President Truman's order of last De-
cember allowing 3,900 displaced persons to
enter the United States monthly within
the immigration quota, has hardly been
complied with.
*
*
*
AMONG LITERATI
Jacqueline Shohet Margoliash, in Egypt,
was notified by cable that she is the win-
ner of the 11th award of $2,400 given an-
nually by Houghton Mifflin Literary Fel-
lowship in this country for books to be
published here . . . Her novel, tentatively
titled "The House of Jacob," is the story
of Rachel, youngest daughter of a Jewish
family which migrated from Bagdad to
Egypt under the leadership of the patri-
archal Jacob . . . In the changing Cairo
scene, Rachel watches her family make
a place for itself .. . . Here, too, she comes
to recognize the possibilities of old Jacob's
dream that the Jew will help to bring
about a world free of hatred .. . Brought
up in Cairo, Miss Margoliash came to the
United States in 1940 . . . She was gradu-
ated from the Columbia School of Jour-
nalism in 1945 and is now on a visit in
Egypt.
Daniel Persky, the Hebrew feuilletenist,
has done it again . . . He just published
another Hebrew volume on Jewish festi-
vals under the title "Likhvod Haregel"
("In Honor of the Holiday") . . . Original
as he is in his writing, he also gave his
book a very original "copyright line" ..
It reads: "It is permitted to translate, in
any form, from this volume, as well as
from other books by the same author,
without asking his permission."
A film completed by the French-Jewish
actor Harry Bauer before he was tortured
to death by the Nazis will be brought to
the United States this week from France
. . . It is based on the work of the noted
Russian poet Alexander Pushkin 'The
Postmaster's Daughter" and will be shown
under this name in many cities in this
country . . . Bauer was arrested by the
Gestapo in France in 1942 .. . For four
months he was subjected to the most fien-
dish tortures in the Gestapo's "boiler
room" . . When they released him, he
was a broken, shattered - fragment of a
man ... Shortly afterward, he died . v 43