A GENEROUS POLICY.

Evening Star, Issue 25948, 13 November 1946, Page 6

A GENEROUS POLICY.

From the extent and nature of Jewish reaction to the immigration policy practised in regard to Palestine, the casual observer could be excused if he formed the opinion that Britain was basically indifferent to the cause of the Jews and was responsible for serious breaches of faith. The heat and fervour of the Jewish campaign do tend towards the formation of an adverse conclusion, and the hour when the Jews are theatening increased murder and destruction, is perhaps the best time to examine what has been done and is being done. Britain’s mandate over Palestine was granted in 1923 by the League of Nations at the wish of the Zionists. Mandatory responsibility included the supervision of immigration which, from the outset, has been a fundamental problem, and the terms of the mandate provided for the establishment of a national home in Palestine for Jews without prejudice to the rights of other communities intho country. Quite plainly unlimited Jewish immigration was never intended and could not apply in fact. For all that, over the years the offidial immigration policy has been generous. Jewish immigration for the years 1920 to 1931 amounted to 114,000; for 1932 to 1936, 172,000; for 1937 to 1945, 82,000; the total for 25 years being 368,000. Over the years 1922 to 1944, as a result of immigration and natural increases in population, the ratio of Arab to Jew fell from seven to one in 1922 to two to one in 1944. In 1922 there were 600,000 Arabs to 84,000 Jews; in 1944 the Arabs numbered 1,179,000 to the Jews 654,000. In the course of. the twenty-two years’ British mandate, therefore, the entry of Jews lias been considerable, rising from modest proportions in the 1920’s to a peak figure for the years 1932-1936, the first years of the Nazi persecution in Germany. The great influx of Jews gave rise to a serious wave of Arab violence during the years 1936-1939, and because of it the British Government issued a White Paper in 1939 that laid down a final immigration quota of 75,000 Jews—2s,ooo refugees and 10,000 a year for five years. In December last this quota was exhausted, but the Palestine Government has since admitted a monthly quota of 1,500 as an interim arrangement pending a solution of the whole Palestine problem. This interim policy has been bitterly condemned .by the Arabs who see in it a departure from the White Paper. Equally it has been condemned by the Jews, who, partially spurred on by American demands for the immediate admission of 100,000 Jews to Palestine, have insisted that the quota is not enough and that the Jewish race has been betrayed. Out of all this Jewish resentment was born the policy of organised illegal immigration, which is accompanied by the terrorist campaign inside Palestine, with threats now of extension elsewhere. - _ The British, polity was carried out with the best interests of the Jews uppermost. The Jewish illegal policy pays no attention to the welfare of those •it moves across the Mediterranean. The organisers show no regard either to the' safety or future of tho would-be immigrants who are transported in evil-smelling, unseaworthy craft. Most of those who look to Palestine are intercepted by j the British Navy in tho Eastern Mediterranean and taken to Cyprus for detention where they, remain until they may enter on the quota figures. It has 'been pointed out in London that •Zionism has changed-its-tune, and that is evident in the indifference displayed as to the fate of the illegal immigrants. Zionism is no longer interested in; the establishment of a national home in the sense of a greatly increased Jewish community living on equal terms _ with other communities of Palestine— Zionism to-day has assumed the character of fanatical, nationalism, and that has done , nothing at all _to alleviate the difficulties with which the British mandatory is faced in Palestine.