Speech #780026499

Every President of the United States since Wilson reiterated his agreement with this policy. Congress. on the initiative of the late Senator Lodge and of Representative HAMILTON FISH. associated itself with the project. and a formal treaty between the United States and Great Britain incorporated the provisions of the Palestine mandate. The wisdom of the setting aside of Palestine as a Jewish national home became obvious after 1921. when first the United States and then other countries restricted foreign immigration. Jews in the countries of traditional antiSemitism were hit hardest. Then came Hitler. and a new wave of Jewish refugees from Germany and the annexed territoriesAustria and Czechoslovakia. Then came the war. with its wholesale dislocation of the Jewish population of Europe. and with its probable aftermatha new emigration wave. In all these circumstances we have done our share. and probably will continue to do our share in offering refuge to some of the emigrants. but it is obvious that we shall not be able to accommodate the main stream. Nor will the other countries. justly preoccupied with the effects of largescale migration movements upon their own populations. In dealing with this situation. the creation of a Jewish state which would absorb the main stream is the one logical solution.