The Wilmington morning star., 1946-07-27
Palestine Crisis
By ANNE O'HARE MCCORMICK

1t would be tragedy compounding tragedy
If the outrage committee and admitted, al
most boastfully, by the 1rgun terrorists in
Jerusalem interrupted by a day the efforts
now in progress to reach a just and reason
able solution of the Palestine problem. The
fanatics who have not h~esitated to kill Jewish
as we'll as British members of the Admins
tration in the bombing of the King David
Hotel do not balk at jeopardizing the rescue
Of the victims OF Hitlerism in whose name
they nave launched this second terror. But
the civilized world, and particularly the Brit
ish and American Governments, cannot let
themselves be distracted by this crime from
the responsibility both Of finding a refuge for
the Jewish refugees VINO wait desperately in
European camps and finding a way out of
the Paiestinian dilemma. The statement of
Prime Minister Attlee is reassuring on this
point. With the approval of the Cabinet, he
announced that the British Government is not
going 70 be diverted by acts of violence from
the search for a final settlement. The debate
already scheduled on Palestine will take place
in the House Of Commons next week.
This debate. like the questions hurled at
Mr.. Attlee yesterday, will be sharpered by
anger. British sentime 1t is embitterad by the
deaths OF British officers in Palestine and the
constant rrodding from this country. The sug.
gestion that the murderous blast in Jerusalem
was directed against Tile LlUQlSJ ledQeIS more
than against the British is not very convinc-
ing to the chief victims of the outrage. Yet
it is not far-fetched in the sense that the
Irgun IS the greatest enemy of Zion. To turn
the Holy Land into a place of hate and terror
is not caly calculate. to ALLEVIATE sympathy
and cancel out the immense campaign for
political and moral support of the cause; it
is the worst way to win backing for a Zionist
state which might be controlled by such ele-
ments, and the best way to help the case
of the Arabs, who nave played an a~stutely
quiet role in all this turmoil.
Nevertheless, the criminal recklessness of
the extremists only adds to the responsibility
OF the joint committe of British and Ameri-
can experts now at WORK on the problem in
London. DR.. Weizmann, the Jewish Agency
and the Zionist press in Palestine all lash
out against these crimes in the most un-
equivocal terms. The Palestine Post calls it
a foul murder in which there is no sense,
no hope and no exoneration," and adds that
the greatest threat to the community is that
coming f1om within its W four walls Even
the radical daily, Mlshmar, denounced the
bombing as sabotage 10 Zionist ~effcrts,'' as
indeed it is. There is not the slightest ques-
ton that responsible Zionists are shocked to
the depths by what has happened.
They are shocked, 100, by the proof that
the movement is getting out of control. L it
is true that violence invites acts of repression
and these in turn lead to more violence, it
is also true that the vicious circle starts with
violent propaganda, and for this the leaders
must take their share of responsibility. The
time Of the agony OF the Jews in Europe was
not a time for wise statesmen to support Hit
ler's thesis that the Jews were a nation,
"aliens" in their own countries, and insist
that their only salvation was in a national
state. 1t was a time to concentrate first on
the work OF rescue By any and all means,
and, second. on making a world where all
Jews ana all other minorities are safe from
persecution.
L the underground forces in Palestine are
out OF control, this is all the more reason
for attacking the fundamental issue before the
whole situation gets out of hand. Not only is
it more explosive than at any time since the
Home was established, but it is no
longer either an isolated or merely triangular
conflict. The United States is involved, Russia
is interested, the whole area is in dangerous
ferment. The solution is more difficult than
it was before the war and it is also more
urgent. 1t cannot be delayed, and this applies
not only to the admission of 100, 600 refugees,
certainly cannot wait, but to the problem
as a whole. If there was never a worse time
to settle it, there will never be a better.
Reports from London, without official con-
there or in Washington, say that
British and American experts are considering
a plan for something between partition and a
binational state. Under this plan Arab and
Jewish autonomous states would be set up
under 4 central Federal government in Je-
rusalem, composed of Arab, Jewish and Brit
ish members. 1t goes without saying that
neither Jews nor Arabs will favor this
scheme; the Arabs intimate that they would
prefer outright partition. and DR.. Weizmann
recently declared that partition could not be
ruled out.
These statements suggest that sentiment on
both sides-in so far as it is expressed by
the moderates-is shifting toward compro,
mise. They signify a recognition that the crisis
has reached a point where settlement cannot
be postponed if the forces that have directed
Zionism up to now are to retain control. The
Anglo-American Committee voted against a
state, and the terrorists have strength
ened that verdict; it is now up to the world
executive of the Jewish Agency, which meets
in Paris next Monday. to support a possible
compromise before it is too late to obtain
any kind of peaceful solution.-New York
Times.
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