MR. BEVIN'S PALESTINE PROBLEM
SIR,—In so far as the Jewish problem is religious, there would appear to be no solution of it. The orthodox Jew accepts the utterances of his prophets as eternally binding, and saw in Lord Balfour's declaration the fulfilment of age-long promises. To him, therefore, Palestine is and will always remain, the "Promised Land." To the modern Jewish citizen, however, the problem presents itself differently. All that he is concerned about is that he should become a citizen of a country in
which he can make an undisturbed and reasonable living, free from political domination and the periodic pogroms that have repeated them- selves in past history.
To provide this for him should not be beyond the resources of statesmanship, and there is one country that is competent to provide all his needs during the next century without infringing on the political rights of any other citizen.' Brazil is a virtually undeveloped continent ; it contains many thousands of miles of completely virgin country, entirely unpopulated except for a small number of half-caste Indians who. live a nomadic life there and who make no contribution towards the future development of the land ; the country is tropical, or sub-tropical, pro- viding just the climate that the Jewish race prospers in ; and properly cleared and developed it is capable of large agricultural progress. Without doubt the Brazilian Government would be willing to negotiate the sale of a large tract of this undeveloped land for immigration and settlement, and the purchase price could easily be provided as an alternative to the maintenance of our present troops in Palestine. Is it beyond the resources of the United Nations to open negotiations on these lines, and to give the necessary financial assistance to Jewish settlers to enable them to develop a new State in this vast country?
Already a small experiment has been successfully carried out by a group of German settlers in a small section of Brazil. Taking over virgin land, they have cleared it, and broken up the soil during the last ten years, and have already succeeded in making the venture com- mercially successful. The Jewish people could be encouraged to attempt development on the same lines, and provided with the necessary capital and tools with which to undertake this enterprise. It is obvious that we have come to a deadlock in Palestine, but this alternative scheme might provide a solution. As to Mr. Bevin's problem, there is little doubt that behind the natural racial difficulties that exist, trouble is being fomented by international propaganda. This was obvious during my visit to Palestine in 1936, when there was clear evidence of it, and there is no question that it is still bein continued. We must, therefore, look for a solution in other directions, gild in facing the problem Brazil appears to me to be the most hopeful field for future development.—
Previous page
