867N.01/1685
The Consul General at Jerusalem (Wadsworth) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 5.]
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a brief résumé of the various major currents of thought in this country as I have found them during the month following my return from four months leave of absence. I shall take as my text a comment made by the High Commissioner: “You will find it a very different country to that you left last summer.” He referred primarily to changes brought about by a world distraught by war.
Most notable of these changes, of course, is the ending of the three years of Arab insurrection. That, in fullest truth, there is today no Arab revolt is confirmed to me on every side, from British and Arab sources alike. The General Officer Commanding comments: “We have reestablished order and we shall maintain it.” Able author George Antonius sees his people, as often throughout their history following a surge of effort, again carried backwards on an ebbing tide of almost fatalistic inaction. Their genius, he adds, unlike that of the Jews, does not include a capacity for long-sustained effort.
Among politically-minded Arabs I find an undercurrent of helplessness amounting almost to resignation. They are without effective leadership, largely impoverished. Their main support, the sympathy of the Arab and Moslem worlds, is largely inactive. They still mistrust British bona fides and fear Jewish influence in London and Washington.
In particular, these Arabs complain that the White Paper of last May2 promised them restriction of Jewish immigration and land [Page 831] purchases. Instead, they have seen a legal immigration of 14,000 supplemented by some 20,000 illegal entrants. And they still await the long-promised land transfer regulations. Of late, Jewish purchasers are, if anything, on the increase; and current cables from the United States bring reports of a United Palestine Appeal for record contributions.
It follows, too, that among these Arabs I have found no enthusiasm for the Allied cause. That they are better off under the British than they would be under the Germans is readily admitted. But for them this means, as one put it, “but the less objectionable of two imperialisms.” Definitely, they feel, it is not their war; and they see, in an allied victory, little hope of better things in Palestine. They speak often, with little veiled regret at their own impotency to act likewise, of the Indian Congress Party’s stand.
Withal, however, I am assured, there is a general willingness among the Arabs to cooperate helpfully with the Administration in meeting the pressing problems of the moment. The Palestine Arab has always sensed the pro-Arab sympathies of the local British official. With the ending of the revolt, old friendships have been renewed.…
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In Jewish circles I find less consideration given to the political aspects of the Palestine problem. There is readily voiced relief that the Arab revolt has ended and an evident underlying conviction that Zionism must ultimately triumph. But there is wanting that keenness—and bitterness—which has marked political discussion during the last four years. There is, in short, general acceptance of the proposition that, for the duration of the war, the question of the ultimate political status of the country is not to be raised. Meanwhile, it is their basic policy to consolidate and strengthen their position in the country and, by their support of the Allied cause, earn good will for the future.
In the latter field, as reported by Consul Steger,3 there was, following the outbreak of the war, extensive organization of Jewish manpower for possible enlistment in the Allied forces. But, on the Jewish side, this reduced itself to a desire to form, under British and Jewish officers, strictly Jewish units for service only in Palestine or, in an emergency, in neighboring countries. The political implications of this attitude were patent. The comment is current in British circles that “what the Jews most wanted was that we should train a Jewish army to serve a post-war Jewish State.”
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Respectfully yours,