The Near East devoted its leading article to “The Land of Promise”:—
“On the other hand, Palestine is for all true Jews a spiritual centre, and deep down in their being they associate with it, if not their own individual place of residence, at least the home of a sufficient number of Jewish people to make it the focus of Jewish life and Jewish civilization. Such a Jewish commonwealth can only grow up to fulfil its destiny under the protection of a strong and ordered State, which will guarantee it immunity from outside interference, security of life and property, and the impartial administration of justice. For its own material development it must look to itself, and in this connection it will be recalled that Jewish agricultural and urban settlements already exist in Palestine, and are a nucleus ready to hand for the new commonwealth. They point to the probable lines on which the development of the country will take place, expedited or retarded, according to the degree of assistance on which Zionism can count. The valley is full of bones, and, lo! they are very dry; many stages have to be passed through before these dry bones stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Of Palestine it will then be true that ‘This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited.’ Towards that consummation it would seem that Great Britain in the dispensation of Providence will have played no small part.”
Palestine, the organ of the British Palestine Committee, was, not surprisingly, filled with enthusiasm and eloquence, for the Government pronouncement is the culmination of all its efforts:—
“The decision of the British Government marks a turning-point in the history of the Jewish people, and will, we believe, be for ever memorable in the history of the British Empire.... The declaration is complete in form and substance. It can provoke no opposition from any quarter, and it will bind the Jews of the world in sympathy to the country which has thus taken the lead in their national redemption.... And when the Declaration becomes an act, when a Jewish Palestine from being an aim becomes a fact, then all the complex of strategic, political, and commercial interests which are concentrated for the British Empire in the Suez Canal and Palestine will have found their solution. This declaration is a memorable event in the history of the British Empire as it is in the history of the Jewish people and of humanity. We may be of good hope that it will at no very distant date become a fact, for the army of England has even now battered in the gates of Palestine. The statesmanship of this declaration of the Jewish nation’s right to Palestine is a statesmanship of deed, not of words.”
The Church, Catholic, and Nonconformist papers have devoted much space to the Government decision. In the opinion of The Challenge:—
“If there is a considerable part of the Jewish people eager to make Palestine again their home, then we are glad that the Allied Governments should have made it possible for them to do so, supposing that the course of the war leaves that possibility still open. It must be for the Jewish people themselves to decide how much or how little advantage they will take of the offer which is made to them. Meanwhile no one can avoid feeling a thrill at a prospect so closely affecting the destiny of the chosen race. That wonderful people pursues its way through all the history of the world, and whatever concerns them is of universal interest.”
According to The Christian:—
“By this dramatic declaration an age-long dream comes within the view of actual fulfilment. It ought to be apparent to everybody that the persistence of a people like the Jews during two thousand years—a fact unparalleled in history—despite every attempt to crush them, holds a meaning far deeper than that which the secular historian offers. The purposes of God are being worked out, and we can begin to see light.”
In The Church Family Newspaper the Rev. E. L. Langston, under the heading “Jews and Palestine: Epoch-making Announcement,” said:—
“The declaration of His Majesty’s Government as to the future of Palestine must have far-reaching and vital effects....”