Palestine

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 December 1947.

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Photo of Mr Reginald Manningham-Buller Mr Reginald Manningham-Buller , Daventry 12:00, 11 December 1947

I should like to say one further thing. The hon. Member for Acock's Green (Mr. Usborne) referred to the Anglo-American Commission on which the hon. Member for East Coventry (Mr. Crossman) and I served. He said that he had been informed by a speaker whose name he was reluctant to reveal, that our reason for rejecting partition was because we feared if there was an Arab State it would mean Russian intervention. That is a wonderful story, but I am sure the hon. Member for East Coventry will agree that there is absolutely no foundation for it. It is a pity that the hon. Member for Acock's Green should circulate reports of that sort when, if only he will turn to page 43 of the Report which we signed, he will find this: Partition has the appeal at first sight of giving the prospect of early independence and self-government to Jews and Arabs, but in our view no partition would have any chance unless it is basically acceptable to Jews and Arabs. There is no sign of that today. That states quite accurately the reasons why we at that time, expressing our personal views, were opposed to partition.

Most hon. Members who have spoken have done so with great feeling of anxiety as to what will happen in the future. At this time, at this season of the year, the thoughts of all Christian people turn towards Palestine with memory of events that happened there nearly 2,000 years ago. In a short time we may once again hear on the wireless the bells of Bethlehem carrying their message to us all, and it is a terrible thing to think that that land, that Holy Land, is still torn by struggle and by faction. But I believe that the course that we should follow is absolutely clear. As I said, we must adopt the decision of the United Nations. We have no alternative to that. We must assist the Commission and facilitate the achievement of their most difficult task. We must hope and pray that the controversy and conflict between those two Semitic races will not lead to war, bloodshed and the loss of very many lives. We must pray that our assistance, advice and guidance may perhaps be usefully employed on a future occasion in the promotion of peace and prosperity in that land and its development, and that in spite of what has happened in the last years, in spite of the fears which some of us have, when we come to leave Palestine the inhabitants of that country will forget the friction in which we were involved—almost entirely because of their controversy with each other—and will reflect upon the good work that was done by British men and women in the course of the long years during which we held the Mandate and, in the most difficult circumstances, tried to administer justice in its true sense.