European immigrants anxious to settle in Palestine
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
This news feature, which will appear periodically throughout the coming months, looks back 50 years at key events in the formation of the Jewish state, through news dispatches from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
ROME, Dec. 22, 1947 - "Illegal" immigration to Palestine is continuing from all major points of embarkation in Europe despite the United Nations' decision to partition the mandate between the Arabs and Jews, and it will continue until such time as unlimited legal immigration is under way. A JTA correspondent witnessed within the past two weeks the clandestine embarkation of 800 Jewish refugees who left Italy for Palestine because they "couldn't wait any longer and are facing another winter in intolerable camps in Germany and Austria."
JERUSALEM, Dec. 23 - All preparations have been made to hold elections soon for the Palestine Jewish National Assembly, which will function as the first provisional Jewish Parliament, David Remez, chairman of the Jewish National Council, said tonight. Remez stated that the Provisional Jewish Government, which is to be set up next spring in accordance with the U.N. partition decision, will be based on the National Assembly and the Zionist Actions Committee until a permanent parliament and a permanent government are established.
BUCHAREST, Dec. 28 - The Palestine immigration ships, Pan York and Pan Crescent, carrying more than 15,000 visaless Jews between them, passed through the Bosporus today after clearance by Turkish port authorities. The vessels, each of which are 4,750 tons and fly the Panamanian flag, left the Black Sea port of Burgas, Bulgaria, yesterday. The largest transport ever to attempt to break the British blockade of Palestine, the ships sailed despite definite instructions to the contrary from the Jewish Agency, which countermanded the vessels' sailing orders after the U.N. partition decision.
JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 - Following his resignation yesterday as a member of the Jewish Agency executive, Dr. Moshe Sneh today indicated that he also intends to resign from the General Zionist Party and form a "Popular Opposition Party" within the World Zionist Organization. In a statement to the press, Sneh denied that he had ordered the approximately 15,000 visaless Jews in Rumania to sail on the Pan York and Pan Crescent - which are now on the high seas - in spite of the vote of the Jewish Agency. At the same time, it was reliably learned here today that the chief motive for Sneh's resignation was the decision of the agency to accede to the request of the British Government and the U.S. State Department to discontinue "illegal" immigration.
JERUSALEM, Dec. 30 - Withdrawal of the British civil administration in Palestine, which is slated to be completed by May 15, may be delayed as a result of the current Arab-Jewish violence, a highly placed official indicated today. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned that some phases of the evacuation are already behind schedule. The official said that while the British do not want to be drawn into implementing partition and "are trying to remain as impartial as possible," British security forces are already stretched almost to the breaking point.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 2, 1948 - A Palestine government spokesman today officially denied reports which have appeared in the American press that the government is considering relinquishing the Mandate six weeks earlier than the scheduled date of May 15. These reports, the official stated, are "pure speculation with no foundation in fact."
Jewish leaders today appealed to the government to impose a curfew on the Arab districts adjoining Hadassah hospital and the Hebrew University where Arab snipers are taking a heavy toll. Incidents have included the severing of phone links connecting the hospital and the Hebrew University with the rest of Jerusalem, and the killing of a Jewish nurse by Arab snipers who fired at an armored car escorting medical personnel from the hospital to the center of the city. The Arab Higher Executive is determined to cut off Jerusalem from the rest of the country at all costs, it was learned here today. An order has been issued to Arab guerrilla leaders to make preparations for an onslaught on the Jewish section of the city "to wipe out the Jews." Upon learning of the order, the Haganah today increased its security measures in Jerusalem.
NEW YORK, Jan. 4 - A 10-year land acquisition and development program in the future Jewish state in Palestine, involving the expenditure of $880 million for the purchase and reclamation of 750,000 acres of land, was adopted here today by delegates to a leaders conference of the Jewish National Fund. The plan is based on the promise that 100,000 families will be settled on the land.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 - Plans for the creation of a provisional Jewish government for the projected Jewish state were discussed at a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive committee, which has just completed its current session in Tel Aviv, it was learned here today. Final approval of the plans have been held up pending the return of Eliezer Kaplan with a report on his negotiations in the United States for loans necessary to finance the Jewish state. The members of the executive panel also discussed the formation of a Jewish militia and turned the problem over to a group of military experts who will hammer out the details.
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Jan. 8 - The problem of Palestine security will be posed tomorrow by U.N. Secretary General Tryve Lie to the opening session of the five-nation Implementation Commission, which will meet here to map out a program for carrying out the partition decision of the General Assembly. At a news conference today, Lie denied press reports that he had been inquiring among the governments of small nations if they would be willing to send troops to Palestine if Arab-Jewish violence increases. However, he indicated that he considers the Palestine security problem urgent, and said he will touch upon it in his opening address to the Implementation Commission.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 12 - A detailed blueprint of the provisional government for the new Jewish state, which will be headed by a 15-man Cabinet, is nearing completion, it was revealed here today by the Jewish Agency, which said that the current violence has not retarded preparations for the establishment of the state. When the U.N. Implementation Commission arrives, it will find that plans have been drafted to meet any eventuality, a spokesman said.
It will be the responsibility of the U.N. Commission to outline plans for a Jewish militia or other armed forces. The plans have been drafted by a 13-member planning committee, headed by David Ben Gurion.
NEW YORK, Jan. 12 - The entire Jewish population in Bahrain, a British protectorate on the Persian Gulf - numbering 40 families - is in grave danger of extinction, according to a cable received by the World Jewish Congress here. The cable says that "houses were destroyed and the synagogue and scrolls burned" during Arab attacks on Jews.
The World Jewish Congress addressed a request to the British Ambassador in Washington asking that his government "take all necessary steps immediately to save these innocent people from certain destruction."
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Jan. 15 - Sir Alexander Cadogan, chief of the British delegation at the United Nations, today indicated to the U.N. Implementation Commission that it would not be advisable for it to arrive in Palestine before May 1, two weeks prior to the termination of the Palestine Mandate. Speaking at a closed session of the commission, the British representative avoided giving a clear answer to the question of whether Britain will evacuate a port in the Jewish area of Palestine by Feb. 1, as provided in a General Assembly resolution. The British government, he said, has responsibility up to the last minute before termination of the Mandate. However, he added that the subject was open for further negotiations with the commission.
|
