Britain and Palestine During the Second World War

208 Pages·1986·4.96 MB·English

by  Ronald W. Zweig

ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
STUDIES IN HISTORY
SERIES
No. 43
BRITAIN AND PALESTINE DURING THE
SECOND WORLD WAR

BRITAIN AND PALESTINE
DURING THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
Ronald W. Zweig
Published by
The Boydell Press
for The Royal Historical Society
1986
«Ronald W. Zweig 1985
First published 1986
Published by
The Boydell Press
an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9 Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 3DF
and 51 Washington Street Dover New Hampshire 03820 USA
for
The Royal Historical Society
University College London WC1
The Society records its gratitude to the following
whose generosity made possible the initiation of this
series: The British Academy; The Pilgrim Trust; The
Twenty-Seven Foundation; The United States
Embassy Bicentennial Funds; The Wolfson Trust;
several private donors.
ISBN 0 86193 200 5
Printed in Great Britain by Short Run Press Ltd, Exeter
TO MY PARENTS
Recent volumes published in this series include
37 ‘Agrarians’ and ‘Aristocrats’ Party Political John Ashworth
Ideology in the United States, 1837-1846
38 Caesar’s Due: Loyalty and Joyce Lee Malcolm
King Charles 1642-1646
39 T.P. O’Connor and the Liverpool Irish L. W. Brady
40 Law and Social Change in British History J. A. Guy A
H. G. Beale (eds.)
41 The Road to Sedan: The French Army 1866-70 Richard Holmes
42 The Parlement of Poitiers Roger G. Little
CONTENTS
Page
Abbreviations viii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 Implementing the Constitutional Provisions 6
2 Churchill and the White Paper 20
3 Immigration Policy 1939-41 44
4 The Search for anA lternative Policy 89
5 Immigration Policy 1942-5 116
6 Collapse of the White Paper 148
Conclusion 177
Bibliography 184
Index 191
VUl
ABBREVIATIONS
A. A. Australian Archives
A.H.C. Arab Higher Committee
C.-in-C. Commander in Chief
C.C.S. Contraband Control Service
C.I.D. Criminal Investigation Department
C.O. Colonial Office
C.Z.A. Central Zionist Archives
F. O. Foreign Office
G. O.C. General Office Commanding
H. Cr. High Commissioner
I. S.A. Israel State Archives
J. A. Jewish Agency
J.D.C. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
M.E.I.C. Middle East Intelligence Centre
O. A.G. Officer Administering Government
P. I.C.ME. Political Intelligence Centre» Middle East
P.R.O. Public Record Office
S.I.M.E. Security Intelligence
S.O.E. Special Operations Executive
W.O. War Office
ix
PREFACE
The research cm which this book is based began as an investigation
into one aspect of British diplomatic history during wartime, with the
inevitable focus on the workings of the Foreign Office, the Cabinet
and those other corridors of power in Whitehall where ‘high policy*
was made. Initially I had scant regard for the workings of the Colonial
Office and the evolving trends of colonial policy in general. Palestine
was separated from the mainstream of British imperial experience by
the complex and ambiguous relationship between Britain, the Zionist
movement and the Jewish world. Nevertheless, it quickly became
apparent that in order to understand the course of Britain’s Palestine
policy after the adoption of the White Paper of May 1939 it would be
necessary to consider not only the changing interplay of strategic,
diplomatic and political interests which determine policy at the
Cabinet level but also to look at the practical problems of a colonial
administration charged with implementing that policy ‘on the ground’.
The policy towards Palestine which had been adopted in May 1939
after much deliberation and controversy was in the long run only one
of the determinants of Britain’s subsequent actions there. In the
evolving crisis of war and genocide the Colonial Office and the
Mandatory Government of Palestine could only react to events on a
day to day basis. Policy guide-lines conceived in London were
implemented only when possible, and with varying degrees of
enthusiasm. By the end of the Second World War the circumstances
in which the policy of 1939 had been conceived had so radically
changed that London was eventually forced to abandon any hope of
orderly decolonisation in Palestine. As so often in the history of the
empire, events at the periphery could not be controlled by policy­
makers in London, and my research became as much a venture in
colonial as in diplomatic history.
I acquired many debts of gratitude during the preparation of this
book. Professor F.H. Hinsley supervised the doctoral research on
which the book is based, and I am particularly grateful for both his
scholarly guidance and his many personal kindnesses. My indebtedness
to the late Professor J. Gallagher in Cambridge, as well as to
Professor Y. Bauer in Jerusalem and Professor G. Cohen in Tel Aviv
is apparent in the text I learnt much from each of them. I am indebted
to Martin Gilbert and Professor M. J. Cohen who read the manuscript
at an early stage and offered much practical advice, and also to Dr.
Dalia Ofer, with whom I have been able to exchange ideas. Sir John
Martin, Sir Keith Hancock, Mr. Joseph Linton and Professor A.
Hourani generously shared their recollections of the period and of the
personalities mentioned in the book.
For their assistance I am indebted to the staffs of the various
libraries and archives in which I worked: the Public Record Office;
Cambridge University Library; Rhodes House, Oxford; the Bodleian
Library, Oxford; the Israel State Archives, Jerusalem; the Central
Zionist Archives, Jerusalem; the Middle East Centre, St Anthony's
College, Oxford; the Foreign Office Library, London; the Jewish
National and Hebrew University Library, Jerusalem; the Australian
Archives, Canberra; Churchill College, Cambridge; and the library of
the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies. The Rt Hon.
Julian Amery, M.P. generously allowed me to read the papers of Leo
Amery; the Earl of Halifax similarly allowed me access to the papers
of his father, the 1st Earl of Halifax.
St John's College, Cambridge provided both financial support
and the physical setting necessary to complete my research. An
appointment as Junior Fellow in Modem History at the Oxford
Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies afforded me the opportunity
of using the Centre’s valuable research resources as well as enjoying
its physical facilities while I wrote the book. I am grateful to the
Director and Trustees of the Centre for their encouragement and
support
Crown-copyright records in the Public Record Office appear by
permission of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office. The editors of
HaZionut kindly granted permission to reprint material first published
in that journal. Mrs. C. iinehan bravely accepted the task of seeing
the manuscript through the press.
Ronald W. Zweig
July, 1984