80 years ago: US senators back a Jewish homeland; British and Turkish diplomats protest, saying that it would be better if Jews stay under Nazi rule

In April 1941, 70 US senators joined in calling for "every possible encouragement to the movement for the restoration of the Jews in Palestine" as being the "declared policy of the United States," and offering support to the re-establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, in an effort spearheaded by Senator Robert F . Wagner, chairman of the American Palestine Committee .

The declaration noted:

280,000 refugees came into Palestine since the advent of the Nazi regime in Germany in 1933. The unprecedented work of rehabilitation of the Holy Land and the restoration of a people has proceeded uninterruptedly and is continuing even now despite war conditions.  

Palestine has been recognized and set apart by Great Britain with the approval of the United States and other nations as a haven for the Jewish people, and refugees are streaming to its shores despite restrictive measures recently enforced by the Administration of that country.  

The tragic plight of refugees fleeing from persecution and finding no home, a situation brought so dramatically to the attention of the world by the sinking of refugee ships with their human cargo, must compel our attention and strengthen our resolve to extend every possible encouragement to the movement for the restoration of the Jews in Palestine as a great humanitarian effort and in accordance with the spirit of biblical prophecy.

US State Department archives describe the reaction to this declaration by diplomats in Turkey and Britain. They say that letting Jews remain under Nazi rule is the lesser evil compared to upsetting Arabs.

On April 21, A Mr. Butler of the British Embassy, acting on behalf of British ambassador Lord Halifax, met with US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles. Welles wrote:

Mr. Butler first spoke of the great concern occasioned the Embassy by the announcement of the dinner which was to be held in Washington on April 30 under the aegis of Senator Wagner and some other equally prominent Senators and of Mr. William Green of the American Federation of Labor at which Doctor Weizmann is due to speak in behalf of the Zionist movement in Palestine.

The British Embassy feels that German propaganda is now directed in the Arab world towards making it appear that the British Government is completely under the domination of the United States and that the United States would force Great Britain at the end of the war, if Great Britain is victorious, to open up all of Palestine to Jewish resettlement. The British Government believes that this is an exceedingly dangerous form of propaganda and that if speeches are now made in the United States by prominent persons high in the Government advocating the immediate opening up of Palestine to the Jewish resettlement planners in the event of a British victory, very great unrest will be created in the Arab world, particularly in Iraq, where a highly critical situation already exists. The British Government urged that the Executive branch of this Government do what it could to make this situation clear to the sponsors of the dinner.

 I said that I would be very glad to look into the matter and that I would let Mr. Butler know in the immediate future what steps, if any, could be taken in that direction.

On April 22, the Turkish ambassador to the US made a visit to the State Department as well:

 While calling today on another matter the Turkish Ambassador said that he had been rather disturbed by a newspaper report to the effect that seventy United States Senators had joined in making a declaration calling for "every possible encouragement to the movement for the restoration of the Jews in Palestine". The Ambassador said that in his opinion such activities were particularly harmful to the British cause in the Near East and might also be expected to have unfavorable repercussions for the Jews themselves. 

Ambassador added that his Government had had long experience in dealing with the Arabs and knew their mentality thoroughly. There was not the slightest question in his mind that activities in the United States favoring further Jewish immigration into and control of Palestine were used by the Axis Powers in their propaganda with the Arab countries. Every such activity as that of the American Palestine Committee only further inflamed Arab opinion and increased the difficulties of the British in the vital area of the Near East.

I told the Ambassador that of course the Senators and Members of Congress were quite free to join any committee which they pleased and that obviously the executive branch of the Government had no control over. such activities.

...The Ambassador went on to say that any activities which served to inflame the Arabs in the Near East and to add to the difficulties of the British were naturally. of great interest to his own Government, which was in alliance with Great Britain He added that the question indeed went beyond the Arab countries and affected India as well. He said that he had many close friends among the Indian Moslems and that he could give me his solemn assurance that the Moslem group in India upon, whom Great Britain depended for support in that country could be only adversely affected by statements such as that made by the seventy Senators. He said that it was unnecessary for him to stress the importance to Great Britain of the loyal Moslems of India and the unfortunate repercussions that might ensue if they felt that their coreligionists in Palestine were not being given equitable treatment.

Notice how the diplomat tried to say that it would be better for Jews to stay in Europe to be slaughtered than for it to appear that the US supports their moving to safety.

When given a choice of dead Jews or angry Arabs and Muslims, polite diplomats prefer dead Jews.

---

---