Great Power Discord in Palestine: The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry into the Problems of European Jewry and Palestine 1945-46

303 Pages·1987·2.69 MB·English

by  Amikam Nachmani

GREAT POWER DISCORD IN PALESTINE
GREAT POWER DISCORD
IN PALESTINE
The Anglo-American Committee of
Inquiry into the Problems of European
Jewry and Palestine, 1945–1946
AMIKAM NACHMANI
Department of International Relations,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
FRANK CASS
First published 1987 in Great Britain by
FRANK CASS AND COMPANY LIMITED
Gainsborough House, 11 Gainsborough Road,
London, E11 1RS, England
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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and in the United States of America by
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Copyright © 1987 Amikam Nachmani
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Nachmani, Amikam
Great power discord in Palestine: the Anglo-
American Committee of Inquiry into the problems
of European Jewry and Palestine, 1945–1946.
1. World politics—1945–1855 2. Palestine—
Politics and government—1929–1948
I. Title
956.94’04 126.4
ISBN 0-203-98831-0 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-7146-3298-8 (Print Edition)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nachmani, Amikam.
Great power discord in Palestine.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Jewish
Problems in Palestine and Europe. 2. Holocaust
survivors. 3. Great Britain-Foreign relations-United
States. 4. United States-Foreign relations-Great
Britain. 5. Palestine-Emigration and immigration.
6. United States-Foreign relations-1945–1953.
I. Title.
DS126.4.N23 1986 327.73041 86–6107
ISBN 0-7146-3298-8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior permission of Frank Cass and Company Limited.
iv
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
List of Abbreviations viii
Preface x
1. Palestine and the Problem of European Jewry, 1945 1
2. Power Rivalry in the Middle East 25
3. Britain Seeks a Policy for Palestine 43
4. The AAC Takes Shape: Britain Proposes, America Disposes 59
5. The “Suffering Peoples” React 83
6. The Evidence 97
7. The Public Hearings, Washington and London: Texas Prevails 115
8. Europe: A Bird’s Eye View of Misery 131
9. The Middle East and Palestine: Zeroing In 147
10. Lausanne: Unanimity First 175
11. Hanging Fire 195
12. The Report at Stake: London and Washington 205
13. The End of the Report: Anglo-American Discussions, June-July 223
1946
14. Provincial Autonomy 237
15. In Conclusion 257
Appendix: Itinerary of Committee 263
Bibliography 265
Index 273
vi
List of Illustrations
1. The Anglo-American Committee, Lausanne, April 1946.
2. The Committee on arrival in Jerusalem, March 1946.
3. Crick, Crossman, Leggett and Crum, Jerusalem, March 1946.
4 & 5. The public hearings in Jerusalem, March 1946.
6. Members of the Committee with Druze religious leaders, the Galilee,
March 1946.
7. Evan Wilson and Richard Crossman at a kibbutz nursery.
8. Richard Crossman meeting local Arabs.
Map
Provincial Autonomy Plan (see chapter 14) endpapers
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Pictures 1, 2 and 4 are published by courtesy of the Central Zionist
Archives, Jerusalem. Pictures 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, and the Provincial
Autonomy Plan, are published by courtesy of the Middle East Centre, St
Antony’s College, Oxford.
Quotations from Richard Crossman, Palestine Mission, are reprinted by
permission of A.D.Peters & Co. Ltd.
Acknowledgements
Many individuals and institutes helped me in writing this book. Some
gave good advice; some gave access to documents; some financial
support. Without their help, this research would not have been
completed.
The Truman Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Friends of
the Hebrew University in Britain; the Oxford Centre for Post Graduate Hebrew
Studies; the Avi Foundation, Geneva; the Wolfson Trust, London; St. Antony’s
College, Oxford; the Truman Institute, Independence, Missouri; the Oriental
Institute at the University of Oxford; the Bryce and Read, the Beit and the
Arnold Funds of the University of Oxford, all generously lent their financial
support for which I am deeply grateful.
The librarians and archivists of many institutions assisted me far beyond my
expectations, and to them I owe a great debt of gratitude. My very special
thanks are extended to the staff of the Public Record Office, Kew, and of the
Middle East Centre of St. Antony’s College.
Mrs Haya Amir has painstakingly and skilfully edited my manuscript. Professor
Stuart Cohen also made helpful editorial contributions.
Mr Albert Hourani of St. Antony’s College, Oxford, allowed me access to
documents in his possession, and was always ready with good advice and
encouragement. I owe him a great deal.
My deepest gratitude is to Lord Bullock of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.,
Working with him has been an exciting intellectual experience. His patience
and persistent encouragement, both academically and personally, extended
beyond the usual relationship between mentor and student. I can only hope that
the book fulfils some of his expectations.
And perhaps everything is due to Nitza, Amos, and Hagai, who, with admirable
fortitude, endured—and survived—the years of spiritual, almost physical
presence in our home of the twelve members (“the twelve apostles”) of the
Anglo-American Committee.
List of Abbreviations
AAC Anglo-American Committee
ACPC American Christian Palestine Committee
ACS Army Council Secretariat
AJC American Jewish Committee
AJDC American Joint Distribution Committee
AZEC American Zionist Emergency Council
CID Criminal Investigation Department
C in C Commander(s) in Chief
CIGS Chief of Imperial General Staff
CM Cabinet Meeting
Cmd Command Paper
COS Chiefs of Staff
CP Cabinet Paper
CZA Central Zionist Archives
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
DPs Displaced Persons
FRUS Foreign Relations United States
GOC General Officer Commanding
HMG His Majesty’s Government
HQ Headquarters
IGCR Inter-Governmental Committee on Refugees
MP Member of Parliament
NRC National Record Centre
OSS Office of Strategic Services
PA Provincial Autonomy
PMM Prime Minister’s Meeting
Pt Part
ix
RG Record Group
RIIA Royal Institute of International Affairs
SACMEC St. Antony’s College, Middle East Centre
SOS Secretary of State
TJFF Trans-Jordan Frontier Force
UN, UNO United Nations Organization
UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency
UNSCOP United Nations Special Committee on Palestine
USNA United States National Archives
ZANY Zionist Archives, New York