The Grey River Argus MONDAY, October 25, 1943. JEWISH COLONISATION PLANS.

Grey River Argus, 25 October 1943, Page 3

The Grey River Argus MONDAY, October 25, 1943. JEWISH COLONISATION PLANS.

The report that a Jewish colony, hacked by a large investment (twelve millions sterlings), of foreign money, is projected in Western Australia proves at last to have been premature, and has meantime drawn adverse criticism from, spokesmen of the Australian Natives Association. That here had been such an idea would, however, appear to have been verified by the statement of the President of a Jewish Colonisation League at Nhw York that the approval of the Australian Government had been given a proposal to settle • in Western Australia twenty five thousand refugee families. The history of migrations has no more remarkable story than that of the dispersions of the Chosen People, and in more modern times their

movements frequently have coincided with developinental phases in the territories into which they have gone. Not many generations after New York began approaching its apparent destiny of being the largest city of all time, its components were being augmented by Jews in such numbers that to-day they exceed a million and a quarter upon and around the shores of Manhatten. If therefore Australia now should appear for many of them a desirable place of abode, may it not at the same have the aspect of a country with no mean future? In Europe, while' widely distributed, the Jews have in some places congregated, as in Poland; but apart from urban aggregations, it has not been until the period bridged by the two great wars of modern times that the race has identified itself 'with projects of rural colonisation, as .in Palestine, and, possibly, in such other areas as Greenland, Australia and Africa. It had seemed, that the lot of modern Jewry was cast so largely with the life of the city and the town, that any other environment was out of question. Moreover, the Zionist plan for a national home in Palestine prompted the anticipation that it would mainly be relied on, whereas the new departure now takes on the dimension of a wider conception. But what is unaltered is the notion of racial union, and in Australia that notion is unpopular. Palestine, of course, is a limited area, and while the Zionist influx has exceeded the numbers planned for a given period, the initial success of the scheme is hot without an accompaniment of uncertainty. That arises from the presence of an Arab population far more numerous, and hostile from a feeling that it is being shouldered out of land where it has for centuries been predominant. Even recently it was revealed that gun running on the past both of Jews and Arabs might point to an eventual resumption of hostilities. In every community, albeit prominent in influence by reason of ability and tenacity, the Jewish people remain a distinct clement, and for that reason their reported proposal regarding the Kimberly district of Western Australia is logical. Did they as a colony develop territory meantime populated sparsely, it would be to that extent no disadvanItage. Nevertheless it might be that in nominating several .widely distant areas as possible colonies, the end in view is to ensure stronger support for an expansion of Zionist colonisation in the ancient home of the race. If they are to be elsewhere denied opportunity, they can point to Palestine as a sphere where their opportunity might be enlarged. For that purpose, protection against a possible reaction by Islam would be essential, whereas once established say, in Australia, within a separate district, the risk of forceible opposition would not be the same. Australians now realise that they must populate their continent or perish. Their instinct for a national, as j distinct from a racial conformity •is no doubt a right one, but they should not be too rigid in the imposition of a ban upon non conformity in any and every respect. The colour line is one which lessens the scope for additional restrictions. Many Europeans from the warmer climes 'are well adapted for the warmer Australian latitudes, and even prosper in them in an exemplary way, even though there should be a measure of racial antipathy. Racial groups have in a few •generaItions been assimilated in the United States sufficiently to give national uniformity, which must be the ultimate ideal, but the best use must be made of material that is available, rather than to hesitate in the hope of later obtaining ready made material. These new countries must in some degree be guided by the experience of various American countries, where population has become extremely mixed, but where the flux promises progress. No doubt it is a fluxion that Australians desire, and they may be warranted by experience in rejecting anything to the contrary. Yet the very fact that they have to draw a distinction ought to remind them that if it is too fine, it will be at the expense of the main end they have in view, which is a people adequate to hold their own.