The „Israelite Weekly for Switzerland“ [“Israelitisches Wochenblatt für die Schweiz“] published a letter from Palestine that describes the great difficulties with the Palestinian situation from the Zionist pen. We bring our readers this letter as an especially valuable complement to the reports published in the previous issue. The Editors.
Jaffa, June 6, [1921]
The change in the political and diplomatic announcements is unfathomable. They have taken new and unforeseen forms incredibly quickly. Barely two months ago Churchill endorsed the unassailability of the Balfour Declaration, and now this same Declaration is being watered down and made milder, for the sake of peace with the Arabian instigators of mob violence. But let’s methodically analyze the current situation in Palestine and consider the larger context.
The mood in the whole country, especially in Jaffa and the Jewish colonies, is very uneasy. The Arabs are not pleased with the course of events and threaten openly and secretly to repeat the events of the first of May. The Jews are unarmed and not organized, prey to the worst panic-causing rumors, and are incredibly nervous. Both Arabs and Jews have been looking toward the 3rd of June, on which day, which happens to be the English king’s birthday, they await a political clarification from the High Commissioner. About this statement, legends are already circulating. On the evening before that momentous day, as I arrived in Jerusalem with other invited guests, people were conjecturing about the content and the effect of this declaration. It came. In the same resplendent room in the Governmental palace on the Mount of Olives where Herbert Samuel gave his inaugural speech on July 5, 1920, and where his eldest son married the Palestine-born Hadassah Grasowsky, the Commissioner made his declaration that to many Jews seemed to be an initial impetus toward our hoped-for attainment of Zionist goals. After a certainly interesting depiction of the progress that the country and the “people of Palestine” had made in the intervening eleven months under Samuel’s governance, he turned to the political side about which he gave a deeply significant explanation. I’m sure you have heard these via telegrams so I will just briefly review them.
First came–not a condemnation of the Arabs’ incendiary propaganda which has already led to the spilling of so much blood as many had maybe expected–but a new “Beirusch” to the already often cited Balfour Declaration. Because the Arabs are greatly upset about the British statesman’s declaration and because the children of this land must be calmed above all else. The newest version of the Balfour Declaration signals “that the Jews, who are scattered throughout the world and have loved the Holy Land since forever, could be offered the possibility of creating their homeland here and that a few of them, according to the ability of the country to absorb them—as determined by the number and interest of the current inhabitants—could come to Palestine, to help develop the country to the benefit of all inhabitants through their means and energy. Earlier, Sir Herbert Samuel had rejected the creation of a Jewish state that might rule over the non-Jewish majority., which struck the English sense of justice as too bold a proposal. Further, the High Commissioner assured that steps would be taken to convince the Christians and Muslims that their rights truly were protected.
He also spoke about immigration—he admitted that among the new immigrants, some with Bolshevist ideas had arrived, many of whom had already been imprisoned and their entry had been denied. Immigration has been paused until calm is re-established. There will be five categories of immigrants: tourists, people of independent means, people with certain professions, relatives of residents of Palestine, and people who can immediately work in Palestine. This would apply to those already on their way to Palestine. The High Commissioner reminded us that the condition in which Palestine currently finds itself does not permit mass immigration. Then Herbert Samuel promised to increasingly involve the people of Palestine in governing this country starting immediately with the introduction of municipal elections which would ensure that the interests of the non-Jewish inhabitants had indeed been secured by the League of Nations and its mandate. He expressed his regret over the incidents in Jaffa and expressed his hope that the guilty would be punished. He concluded with the assurance that a glorious future awaited Palestine and its noble, peace-loving people.
It’s hard to say what kind of impression this speech made on the country. The Jews are hurt and disappointed; the Arabs are not yet satisfied. Everyone agrees that amazing ineptitude and an astounding lack of organization are mostly responsible for this political debacle. That the English government and its highest statesman in this country have been deceived by the Zionist leadership with exaggerated claims of our ability to colonize in order to justify complete freedom to immigrate. After just a few weeks, the country’s ability to absorb immigrants was exceeded. Admittedly, our Zionist organizations burned through huge budgets in the first few years and since the last several months have nothing to contribute to the great colonization efforts. Still, the High Commissioner’s speech isn’t completely justified by our faults. The situation is much more serious and the growing resistance of the Arabs against the Europeans that has appeared here and in Egypt forces certain actions that would not be taken in normal times.
What seems to matter is to calm the Arabs who are constantly being riled up by irresponsible instigators to turn on us and the government—to chase the demons from their brains and to restore the normal relationship between the neighboring and once-friendly nations. This and human nature (discord and crisis exist on this whole planet) have caused Jews (who will lay waste to the land) to sacrifice other Jews for the good of the Arabs, which seems unbelievable. As seen from this perspective the High Commissioner’s speed loses some of its bite and we can see it as a means to an end. For us, it means we stay patient, reflect, and maintain a sensible reserve until better days come and the consequences of the current events fade. We must not, however, stop loudly and openly declaring our right, but announcements that are intended to make the position and actions of the High Commissioner more difficult are absolutely of no use and are to be avoided. It’s a tragic irony of fate that the Zionist Samuel had to go against the Zionist wishes and that after the governments of all the great nations have made us promises with such great ceremony. However, agreements alone would not be able to solve the tangled problem of the founding of the Jewish homeland in Palestine under today’s difficult circumstances. The person who must establish peace and order in this land has better things to do than make promises.
Great tension yet exists between Arabs and Jews so that every Arab celebration must be accompanied by guards and rolling canons through the streets. We should realize what our true situation is here. Then we will also be forced to analyze our own mistakes, which I have mentioned here, and if possible, eradicate them and start our work in Palestine anew, building on new, healthy foundations.
[Translator’s note: This letter was published on the front page of the “Jewish Liberal Newspaper” on July 1, 1921. The translation of the rest of the issue is forthcoming. Given the current war between Israel and Hamas, I wanted to surface this reflection by an important Zionist journalist (a contributor to Haaretz and newspapers internationally) on the situation in the British Palestinian Mandate 102 years ago.]
Juedisch-liberale Zeitung 