THE JEWISH

Fridays, July IS, 1947

.

Indian Delegate's Barrage on Theology
• achi Leader's Testimony
Sparks Mizr

Queries on Date of Messiah's Coming Finally Halt Quiz;
Palestine Council Spokesmen Remind UNSCOP
of Urgency of Reopened Immigration _

JERUSALEM, (JTA)—Leaders of the Jewish National
Council of Palestine, representing the entire Jewish popu-
lation of the country, passionately appealed to the United
Nations Special Committee on Palestine to recommend the
immediate opening of the gates of Palestine to Jews not only
from Europe but also from neighboring Arab countries. •

Speaking for the Council at the
fifth day of public hearings were
Isaac Ben Zvi, president; David
Remez, chairman of its executive;
Dr. Abraham Katznelson and Dr.
Mordecai Eliash, members of the
executive. They emphasized that
the Jewish National Council
wholeheartedly supports the po-
litical line of the Jewish Agency
as outlined before the UN com-
mittee by David Ben Gurion and
Moshe Shertok.
Declaring that the Jews in
Palestine "are ready to receive
millions of their saved brethren
from Europe," Ben Zvi also told
UNSCOP that the position of Jews
in the neighboring Arab countries
is rapidly deteriorating politically,
culturally and economically. "For
the past 20 years," he "declared,
"the newly - established Arab
states did not provide any chance
for their non-Arab minorities,
whether Assyri4ns, Kurds or
Jews. The sole hope of the Jel:vish
minority there is exodus."
Remez appealed to the commit-
tee not to postpone its decision
"and not to bring despair into the
hearts of the displaced Jews and
us." He asked that it should not
recommend "a solution of the
Palestine issue which is not a
solution" nor guardianship. "We
have arived at a point where the
building of the country, as well
as our relations with the Arabs
depend. upon ourselves," he said.
Cites Legal Aspects
Dr. Eliash, testifying on the
legal aspects of the Palestine
problem. denounced the Emerg-
ency Defense Regulations. He as-
serted that under them a Jew
may be sentenced to eight years
imprisonment and a fine of $4,000
for harboring an "illegal" immi-
grant, even if the refugee is his
brother or the sole surviving
member of his family. He labelled
terrorism a cancerous growth on
the Jewish community. "We wish
to eradicate this cancer," he said,
"but we cannot under such con-
ditions cooperate with the ad-
ministration."
Guatemalan delegate Dr. Jorge
Garcia Granados questioned
Eliash on a number of points of
Palestine law and legal procedure.
He asked him to explain how
Palestinian laws are made. The
legal expert replied that they are
promulgated by an Order-in-
Council and may not be ques-
tioned by the citizens.
When Granados asked him to
explain how this procedure com-
pares with lawmaking in other
lands, Sandstroem broke in to
halt the questioning as irrevelant.
Granados charged that in com-
mittee meetings the delegates had
adopted a "reserved" attitude to
legal problems prevailing in
Palestine. He insisted that he
wanted Eliash's expert testimony
and that anything pertaining to
Palestine and the Mandate is rele-
vant. Sandstroem yielded the
point, but Eliash refused to com-
pare Palestinian legislation with
any other, including British laws,
on the grounds that he was not an
expert on international law.

2,000,000 Seek Entrance

More than 2,000,000 Jews are
seeking entrance to Palestine,
Eliezer Kaplan, treasurer of the
Agency executive, told UNSCOP.
"Two years ago," Kaplan said,
"Earl Harrison, who was sent by
President Truman to investigate
the conditions of displaced per-
sons in Europe, reported that
about a million Jews would seek
to enter Palestine.. Today the

he said, "that you end this line of
argument, because it is a prin-
ciple in all countries of the world
that the rich pay the greater part
of the taxes."
Dr. Fritz Bernstein, head of the
industrial department of the
Agency, pointed out that Pales-
tine was an" exceptional case be-
cause of the problem of coloniza-
tion involved. He challenged the
committee members to examine
the taxes paid by the all-Arab
town of Nablus, where there are

Page Three

NEWS

rich Arabs, with the taxes paid
by any small Jewish village whose
inhabitants are poor.
The most exciting moments • of
the morning's session came with
the appearance of skull-capped
Rabbi Judah L. Fishman, Miz-
rachi leader, who was attacked
with a barrage of intricate theo-
logical questions by Indian dele-
gate Sir Abdur Rahman. The
rapid fire exchange went some-
what as follows:
Rahman: "What were the boun-
daries of the land promised by
God to the Jews?" Fishman:
"From Egypt to the Euphrates."
Rahman: "That includes Egypt?"
Fishman: "No." Rahman: "And
Syria and Lebanon?" Fishman:
"No." Rahman: "Iraq?" Fishman:
"No." Rahman: "India?" Fishman:
"No." Rahman: "Transjordan?"
Fishman: "No."
The Indian drew a breath and
then continued: "When was this

promise made?" Fishman: "God
promised it to Abraham 4,000
years ago." Rahman: "When was
it confirmed?" Fishman: "It was
confirmed to Moses." Rahman:
"Did not God promise the land to
Ishmael?" Fishman: "No, only to
the descendants of Isaac. He gave
Ishmael another land." Rahman:
"Will the Jews get the land be-
fore or after the Messiah comes?"
Fishman: "The Jews will return
to the land and when all the Jews
are settled in Palestine, the Mes-
siah will come." Rahman: "How
long after the settlement will He
come?" Fishman: "I cannot telL
That is known only to a few."
Rahman entered into a discus:

sion with Rabbi Fishman over
Jews who had been converted to
Christianity. When Rabbi Fish-
man said that he considered every
Jew a Jew regardless of con-
version, the Indian turned to him
sharply and rapped out excitedly:
"Then all Christians and Moslems
are still Jews ?•' Chairman Sand-
stroem broke in and said with a
smile: "If there are no more ques-
tions we shall dismiss Rabbi
Fishman."

WEIZMANN REGRETS:

Palestine, Not U. S.,
Was Moses' Choice

One reference to the United
States as a possible homeland
for the Jews, and that some-
what humorous, was made by
Dr. Chaim Weizmann in his
testimony before UNSCOP in
Jerusalem.
Discussing the need for a
Jewish homeland, Dr. Weiz-
mann queried "But why Pales-
tine?" and continued "I might

say facetiously that.this is the
fault of Moses who might have
stopped in the United States
and the Jews, instead of the
Jordan, might have had the
Mississippi. Things would un-
doubtedly have been easier for
us. But Moses chose Palestine."

Egypt and Lebanon have de-
cided to accept the UNSCOP invi-
tation, addressed to the seven
Arab states, to present their
views. Egypt's acceptance is ac-

companied by an invitation to
UNSCOP to visit Cairo.

z
z

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TOILETRIES at reductions from

number is probably more than
2,000,000; the number of displaced
Jews has been reduced, but the

number of Infiltrees' has
creased."

in-

Karel Lisicky, Czechoslovak
delegate, asserted that the Jews
were constantly stressing that

they were bearing the greatest

burden of taxation from which

the Arabs chiefly benefited. "I
think it is time once and for all,"

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