Getting Out of Palestine
The Government has at least the satisfaction of knowing that its determination to relinquish responsibility for Palestine has the sup- port of all parties in the House of Commons. There was indeed no party element in last week's discussion, the Opposition urging only that the evacuation should, if possible, be completed before the date contemplated—August 1st. That actually will hardly be practicable, for vast quantities of stores have to be moved ; at the best they cannot all be got away. But if the unanimity of the House of Commons was satisfactory, that is about the only thing that is. The United Nations Commission which is to preside over the estab- lishment of the Jewish and Arab States is apparently to have no force at its disposal, and it has been made abundantly clear that British troops will not be available for purposes of maintaining order in areas from which they have finally withdrawn. But the plain fact is that whatever decisions may have been taken at Lake Success, it is impossible to look beyond the next week in Palestine. Despite such appeals as were made by Mr. Bevin and Mr. Eden last week, outrages in Palestine are increasing, not diminishing, while the Arab States as a whole are continuing to plan armed resistance to partition. The possibility has to be contemplated that when the United Nations Commission reaches Palestine it will find a situation existing completely beyond its capacity to deal with. The five months between now and the date suggested for the sur- render of the Mandate will be critical in the last degree, and as long as we are still mandatory our responsibility remains, even though the crisis is created by a decision in which we took no part. The Balfour Declaration has borne, and will still bear, a grim harvest.
Previous page
