Churchill, Palestine and Zionism, 1904-1922 - Douglas J. Feith

254 DOUGLAS J. FEITH
in Britain. The anti-Zionists, led by certain prominent peers and journalists,
denounced Zionism as immoral to the Arabs and costly to the British.
They wanted Parliament to reject the mandate. In the meantime, the
pro-Zionists-those professing to support the Balfour Declaration-were
divided into opposing camps of Weizmannites and Samuelites. These
skirmished continually, in particular over whether "national home" connoted
a Jewish majority and a Jewish state. Samuel's 3 June 1921 "birthday"
speech had hit the Weizmannites hard. Weizmann then countered
impressively at Balfour's home by lining up big guns-Lloyd George and
Balfour-against the high commissioner. Samuel was determined that
Churchill should function as artillery for the Palestine administration. He
exhorted Churchill to launch a major policy statement to vindicate the
"birthday" speech and put Weizmann and the other (in Samuel's view)
immoderate Zionists in their place.
Shuck burgh and Samuel worked throughout the winter of 1921-2
planning a constitution for Palestine that would incorporate measuressuch
as Jewish immigration limitations and an elective "Legislative Council"
(albeit with restricted authority)-that Samuel believed should win
the cooperation of "well-disposed" Arab leaders. When consulted about
these measures, the Palestine Arab delegation in London angered Shuckburgh
by reiterating its comprehensive rejection of Britain's "Zionist
policy" and leaking to anti-Zionist journalists the constitutional plans it
had received for comment. A delegation leader, in a 3 March speech, was
reported by Shuckburgh to have spoken "about the necessity of killing
Jews if the Arabs did not get their way.,,126
On 9 March Samuel wrote Churchill that it was again necessary to
suspend Jewish immigration, this time because many recent immigrants
were unemployed. Samuel declared that the country's economic absorptive
capacity "remains at present sma11.,,127 Zionist leaders did not object
in principle to regulating immigration for economic reasons, but they
feared that a suspension would shore up a bad precedent. Shuckburgh
noted that the Arab delegation had demanded a halt to immigration and
in Palestine. Churchill decided to take the Palestine force out from under Congreve's
Egyptian command.
Meinertzhagen observed: "Winston is inclined to pay more attention to reconstituting
the Palestine Garrison than to remedying the political situation, which is, I think, an
unsound policy." Meinertzhagen drafted a new policy declaration on Zionism, which
Churchill rejected "flatly ... as a stupid proposition," but Churchill "suggests no alternative
beyond asking the Zionists to come to some amicable arrangement with the
Arabs." Ibid., 110-11 (November 16, 1921, entry).
126 WSC IV 645. 127 WSC IV 645.