Speech #840117881

The ambiguous wording of the declaration has lent itself to many interpretations. but the Zionists acted upon the assumption that the Balfour Declaration was a promise of a political as well as a spiritual homeland for the Jewish people. In 1918 Palestine had a total population of 700.000with Arabs outnumbering Jews 10 to 1. Between World War I and World War II. especially under the impetus of nazism. immigration swelled the number of Jews to 700.000. and by 1938. the ratio of Arabs to Jews had declined to 2 to 1. In the 1930s. Arab fears and resentment. spurred by awakening nationalism. exploded in a series of rebellions. To curb the unrest. the British issued the White Paper of 1939 which rejected the idea of a Jewish state. put a stop to Jewish land purchases. and stipulated that after 5 years. further Jewish immigration would depend on Arab agreement. The Jews bitterly protested the White Paper. but the whole question was put in abeyance when World War II broke out. At the end of the European conflict. Britain was caught between her interests in the Arab world and the question of what to do with the Jewish refugees. In 1946. President Truman issued a statement noting "that substantial immigration into Palestine cannot wait a solution to the Palestine problem and that it should begin at once." He mentioned 100.000 immigrants. and stated that the United States would lend its financial assistance in moving them. The Arabs. of course. opposed the suggestion. and the Secretary of the Arab higher committee. representing the Palestinian Arabs. threatened to ask the Arab League to sever all economic. cultural and diplomatic relations with the United States. revoke all oil and other concessions. and boycott American colleges if the plan was acted upon. The British. on October 18. 1946. refused to grant any increase in the legal Jewish immigration quota into Palestine. Armed Jewish terrorist activities against the British stationed in Palestine became deadly frequent. Early in 1947.