Britain’s Role as the “World’s Whipping Boy” In Palestine Ending

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26596, 20 October 1947, Page 5

Britain’s Role as the “World’s Whipping Boy” In Palestine Ending

Rec. 10.15 p.m

LONDON, Oct. 18

The Colonial Secretary, Mr Arthut Creech-Jones’s, firm re-state-ment of the British policy in Palestine should help to remove any prevailing misconceptions, says The Times in a leader. The United Nations now knows it can no longer count upon Britain to remain in Palestine as the world’s whipping boy, and that it must now assume responsibility for enforcing the just and lasting settlement at which it designs to arrive. Powers which have long manifested both a keen interest in Palestine and acute appreciation of British mistakes have now the opportunity of collaborating actively in the operation of a new and better policy. But time presses. Britain is not minded to sacrifice her sons and to deplete her resources indefinitely in the endeavour to protect the contending parties in Palestine from the consequences of their own intolerance. The future of the Holy Land, The Times adds, now rests not with Britain, but with the United Nations.

Much of the bitterness of recent years would be forgotten if Britain collaborated in implementing the partition of Palestine, said Moshe Shertok. head of the Jewish Agency's political department in the Palestine Committee to-day. If. Britain's decision to withdraw was unconditional, there would be a vacuum for which the Jews would have to prepare as a matter of self-preservation. “We pray a clash may be avoided, but it is our duty to be ready for the worst. I think we ’ shall be.” he said. Mr Shertok, referring to an Arab charge that Zionism was identical with Nazism in ideology and method, said “ I merely say it was not we who, before the war, attended the Nuremberg rallies as honoured guests. It was not we who, during the war, were interned by Germany's enemies as allies of Nazism. Our turn to be detained came later—by the British administration after we had helped to beat down the enemy.” Jews stood ready to defend an independent Jewish State with or without the help of an international army, said Dr Chaim Weizmann, former chairman of the Jewish Agency, presenting the Zionists’ final appeal before the Palestine Committee. He expressed optimism over the chances of Jewish-Arab co-operation once the creation of the Palestine State had solved the long-standing problem with finality and equality. Earlier at the meeting Jamal Husseini. vice-chairman of the Arab Committee.' declared that a Jewish State in Palestine was doomed in the face of the prevalent antagonism of the 70 000,000 Arabs in the world and the hundreds of millions of people of the Orient who supported the Arabs’ just and lawful defence pf their own country against the Jewish invasion.