PALESTINE AND THE JEWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 250, 22 October 1945, Page 4

PALESTINE AND THE JEWS

I have no objection to any' repre-* sentatives of the powerful: Zionist organisation in New York visiting this country, but what I do object to is the fact that the people: seek to place only one side of the argument before the public, namely, the Jew-' ish one. My knowledge of Palestine and the Middle East was ; gleaned the hard way—soldiering. I would strongly advise "Joe Lewis" and others to cast their intelligence far beyond the frontiers of the Holy Land and judge the crisis as it directly affects the British Empire. Here is a bit of education' for you "Joe Lewis." Some time ago delegates of eight Arab countries, representing 34,000,000 Arabs in Egypt, Saudi-Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine met in Cairo. General Nuri-es-Said, five times Premier of Iraq, who speaks English like a native and has always been a staunch friend of Britain, made the following remarks: "Arab unity stands for peace and- isn't directed against any nation or group of nations. We find ourselves in these matters in full understanding with the British." That proves conclusively that the Arabs were, not looking for trouble. Every delegate, however, was dead against increased Jewish immigration "to Palestine, and the creation of an - independent Zionist State there The whole Palestine situation bristles with grave danger, and, as usual, Britain is expected to "carry the baby" and at the same time be continually sniped at by a section of American opinion suffering from acute-Zionist nationalism. If the Jews persist in the idea of unrestricted immigration into Palestine and carry on .gunrunning and other acts of intimidation, then the outcor"* will war with the Arabs. Personally I would be very sorry to see this happen, because Jewish colonists there have dcre a grand job and it would be a tragedy to see their industry and labour topple into ruins. I am not going to enter into any further controversy; I have expressed, my opinion and at the same time have sounded a note of warning. EFFENDI.