were britain and turkey responsible for the struma ... - Haruth.Com

Lord Passfield prepared a report, Passfield White Book � , regarding this issue. He
urged the British not to let any more Jewish immigration to Palestine. His ideas were
shared by many others including Walter Shaw and Sir John Hope Simpson.
[Wasserstein]
After the Nazis came to power, there was a tremendous increase in the Jewish
immigration. In 1934, 42,359 and in 1935, 62,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine. On the
other side, Arabs initiated to organize against Jews. In 1931, a decision to be armed
has been taken in the Arab Congress in Nablus and in 1933, High Arab Committee
lead by Haci El-Huseyni decided to cut the communication with the British
authorities. [Wasserstein]
Shocked with the Committee’s decision, the Minister of Indian Affairs, Lord William
Robert Peel published a report sharing the ideas of Lord Passfield. This report was
followed by the MacDonald White Paper written by the Minister of Colonial Office,
Malcolm MacDonald. As a result of all these reports and decisions, the UK agreed to
end the Jewish immigration. The main reason behind this decision was most likely
the economic importance of Palestine to the UK. In the war against the Nazis, they
needed the Palestinian oil desperately. [Aliav]
In the White Paper of 1939, it was promised that 5,000 Jews would be admitted to
Palestine and 25,000 might follow as jobs permitted. Encouraged by this quota, there
were many ships being organized by the Jewish Associations to save the Jews in
� See Appendix 2
Copyright © Hasim Surel 2005 11