840.48Refugees/1821
The Consul General at Jerusalem (Wadsworth) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 25.]
Sir: The announcement of the British Colonial Secretary in the House of Commons on July 125 that all Jewish immigration into Palestine will be suspended during the next quota period from October 1, 1939, to March 31, 1940, and perhaps longer, I have the honor to report, marks the beginning of a new chapter in Palestine’s complicated immigration problem. In addition to discussing in this despatch the significance of the statement and indicating Jewish reaction thereto, I shall bring up to date the chronology of events in the field of illegal immigration begun in my despatch No. 672 of August 6, last,6 and continued in despatches Nos. 926 and 978 of May 3 and June 26, 1939.7
A new chapter is begun in that out of the immigration muddle of recent months has appeared at long last a clear cut issue. Two contending forces are drawn up—the British Government, determined to enforce Palestine’s immigration laws and prevent illegal traffic in immigrants, and the Jews, inexorable in their determination to nullify the immigration and other phases of the new British policy. The Arabs, heretofore one of the participants in a three cornered contest in which immigration was the vital issue, become interested spectators as the struggle takes on an essentially British-Jewish aspect.
The Colonial Secretary’s statement was made in answer to a question in the House of Commons as to whether the Government was aware of illegal immigration and as to what action it intended to take in the matter. Mr. MacDonald replied that the Government was aware of the existence of illegal immigration. The Government, he said, was anxious to facilitate the admission of 75,000 Jewish immigrants during the next five years and was making special provision for the admission of refugees from Central Europe. Their efforts to help refugees had been threatened in recent months by an organized attempt to defeat the proper regulation of immigration, as many of the immigrants were from Poland and Rumania. This traffic was perpetuating bitterness in Palestine and His Majesty’s Government were determined to prevent the defeat of the law of Palestine. He then stated that the number of illegal immigrants had of late been so great that he had authorized the High Commissioner to announce that no immigration quota would be issued for the next quota period from [Page 791] October 1, 1939 to March 31, 1940. He added that the resumption of immigration quotas after March 31, 1940, would depend upon circumstances then prevailing regarding illegal immigration.
Jewish reaction to the statement was unanimous, swift, and clear. The Jews, already intransigent and bitter over the White Paper, were truly profoundly amazed and shocked at this turn of events. Formal protests by Jewish organizations and by the press used such strong language as “great betrayal”, “breach of faith”, “illegal action”, “perverted logic” and “labored sophistry”. The most important protest, in that it reflected official Jewish reaction, was made by the Jewish Agency on the same day the Colonial Secretary’s statement was published. I am quoting almost all of this statement since it expresses the Jewish viewpoint faithfully and rather eloquently.
The statement that these refugees emanate from Poland and Rumania is misleading. In fact it is common knowledge that the greater part of them came from Germany, Austria, Czecho-Slovakia and Danzig.
The Jewish people as a whole is by this decision to be penalised because these refugees sought an escape from persecution by fleeing to their National Home. The penalty amounts to nothing less than the closing to the Jewish people of their homeland and the denial of the only salvation open to Jews who are doomed to extermination in the anti-semitic inferno of Central Europe.
For three years Palestine was a prey to the terrorism of Arab bands and the Government failed to enforce law and order. Now that the Mandatory Government has surrendered to Arab terrorism and violated its obligations to the Jewish people, it makes a display of firmness in enforcing the new immigration restrictions.
The Jewish people regards the new policy which, under the pressure of terrorism, has placed a strangle-hold on Jewish immigration, as devoid of any moral justification and based only on the use of force.
The Jewish people has not acquiesced, nor will it acquiesce, in this rule of force proclaimed in the White Paper. Its right to its homeland cannot be invalidated by the White Paper. Its right to its homeland cannot be invalidated by the breach of faith perpetrated by the Mandatory Government. The right of the Jews to return to their country is their natural and historic right.
It is not the Jewish refugees returning to their homeland who are violating the law but those who are endeavoring to deprive them of the supreme right of every human being—the right to live.
Other protests and newspaper editorials were in the same vein, following the pattern of the Jewish Agency statement, and there is no need to offer further quotations.
The Jewish Agency calls the Colonial Secretary to time for his statement that many of the illegal immigrants come from Poland and Rumania, which aggravates the settlement of the refugee problem. It would appear that Mr. MacDonald’s statement, while technically true, is somewhat misleading for it is, as the Jewish Agency states, [Page 792] common knowledge that the greater part of the illegal immigrants come from Germany. The Jewish Agency, however, misquotes the Colonial Secretary when it accuses him of saying that “these refugees emanate from Poland and Rumania.”
In speaking of the extreme bitterness of Jewish feeling at present, I venture to call attention to the prediction made on page 6 of my despatch of June 26 to the effect that the speed-up in immigration (caused by concurrent legal and illegal immigration) would lead to disappointment and resentment on the part of the Jews when future quotas were curtailed or eliminated. This prediction has come true more quickly and more violently than I had expected. The end is not yet, however, and success in this immigration contest will depend upon the ability of the Government to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigration, to take up again my recital of events in this field, has continued unabated, although there has been a lull during the past two weeks. The subject continues to preoccupy the Government, which has taken further measures to strengthen the coastal patrol system. Three new ships, which will form the nucleus of the new coastal patrol service, have been delivered within the past month, the Sea Lion, a 60 foot cutter, the Shark, a 40 foot cutter, and the Sinbad II, a 70 ton patrol boat. It remains to be seen whether these new ships, together with British naval vessels now being used, can prevent the landing of ships bearing illegal immigrants. It is indeed a difficult task, for the vessels engaging in this traffic must be prevented from entering territorial waters. Ships do not fear arrest but rather invite it, the idea being to land the immigrants even at the expense of confiscation of the ship and arrest of the crew. One ship boldly sailed into Haifa harbor, voluntarily surrendered to the authorities, and was permitted to land its passengers.
Some 2,000 illegal immigrants have entered the country since my despatch of June 26, principally as follows:
- (a)
- 742 on the Greek schooner Marsis captured near Gaza on June 29. The schooner was beached as it was unseaworthy and was found to be sinking.
- (b)
- 370 on the Greek operated S. S. Los Perlos under Panamanian registry, captured near Nathanya on July 2.
- (c)
- 697 on the Greek schooner St. Nicola which sailed into Haifa harbor on July 3 and voluntarily surrendered to the authorities.
- (d)
- 74 persons apprehended as a result of searches in the Rehovoth area. Others who entered individually and temporary visitors who stayed illegally will bring the total for this period to at least 2,000.
Thus, since April 1, the beginning of the present quota period, some 4,800 Jews have entered Palestine illegally. Of this number, 1,300 who entered from April 1 to May 24 (the date the quota ordinance [Page 793] was drafted) were deducted from the current quotas, leaving approximately 3,500 to be deducted from future quotas.
The arrival of further immigrant ships in the near future is not unlikely, as it is reported that at least four ships with some 2,500 refugees on board are now cruising about the Eastern Mediterranean looking for haven for their unhappy passengers. The plight of these unfortunate refugees has deeply perturbed the Jews of Palestine. The Jewish press played up particularly the story of the Panamanian S. S. Rim which burned off Rhodes on July 6, its 400 Jewish refugees having been rescued by the Italian ship Fiume and taken to Rhodes. Now receiving considerable attention is the case of the 650 refugees who were permitted to land at Beirut on July 14 as a result of an outbreak of plague on their ship, the Italian S. S. Preslo. They have been interned and, it is understood, will be required to leave the country. Conditions on these refugee ships are known to be extremely bad. The very fact of the existence of such ships loaded with what the local press terms “human derelicts” floating about for weeks looking for haven presents something of an international scandal. The Palestine Post of July 19 drew an analogy between this situation and the slave trade of last century.
Therefore, as I have already remarked, it is not unlikely that many of these refugees will find their way into Palestine in the near future, particularly considering their desperate plight and the disposition of the Jewish people to help them enter at all costs.
Respectfully yours,