DR. J. FRANK NORRIS Encouraged
The Recognition Of Israel, By Harry Truman
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J. FRANK NORRIS, HARRY TRUMAN, AND ISRAEL
Eleven minutes after David Ben Gurion, speaking in a “heavily guarded art museum in Tel Aviv,” announced the birth of the modern State of Israel, President Harry S. Truman signed a document officially recognizing the new nation. The single typewritten page, on display these days at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, shows the President’s cursive corrections - including a wording change from “new Jewish state” to “State of Israel” – and the directive “Approved May 14, 1948.”
This was a bold step for the American President, one opposed by powerful members of his own administration.
J. Frank Norris, the fundamentalist pastor from Fort Worth, Texas, had spent many years promoting the Jewish cause and he applauded the President’s courage. Many prominent fundamentalists shied away from eschatological interpretations of global events, especially in the early years of the movement. But not Norris; he was an ardent and outspoken pre-millennialist.
And he was an unabashed proponent of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine.
Ever fascinated by international affairs, Dr. Norris considered himself to be somewhat of an expert in the field. His sermons and writings regularly featured commentary on the world situation. In the aftermath of World War One, he came to believe that the “primary significance” of that conflict was the potential for “the ultimate return of Palestine to the Jews.”
The Balfour Declaration of 1917, positioning the British government as favorable to a homeland for the Jews in Palestine, seemed to pave the way for what Norris saw as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Even as Jewish hope gave way to cycles of delay and frustration during the time of the British Mandate over Palestine (which began in 1918), Norris didn’t waver from his views.
Not all fundamentalists of the day were sympathetic to the plight of the Jews, some even flirted with what would surely be called anti-Semitism by today’s standards. For example, William Bell Riley, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founder of the first viable fundamentalist organization – the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association (1919) – along with Arno C. Gaeblein, and other prominent preachers and teachers of the day, periodically promoted the infamous Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion – a spurious document purporting to prove a Jewish conspiracy for world domination. This forgery has long been a favorite of those seeking “alternative” views of history and reality, and has been used as a pernicious proof-text for a wide range of malignant writings from Hitler’s Mein Kampf, to Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent, to those peddled by modern day skin-heads and race-baiters.
J. Frank Norris…managed to resist the temptation to buy into a Jewish/Bolshevik conspiracy theory idea that some fundamentalists seemed to find compelling. In fact, he had no problem attacking his brethren on this issue, writing in his paper in 1937: “I confess my amazement that certain intelligent outstanding fundamentalist pastors have joined this age-long and divinely cursed persecution.”
In the aftermath of the Second World War, and in the wake of horrific revelations of the Holocaust, Norris directed his passion for global politics toward applying pressure for the advancement of the cause of the Jews and a national homeland for them in Palestine. He traveled widely across the country, promoting this cause and was skilled at using the media of the day; a master of the sound byte. An article in the New York Post carried the headline, Baptist Official Says Jews Have Just Palestine Claim and the Washington Star similarly reported, Palestine Belongs to Jews by Divine Right: Dr. Norris.
But Norris undoubtedly considered his most important contribution to the issue, beyond raising general public awareness, to be a letter he wrote to President Truman in October of 1947.
Harry S. Truman was a shrewd and savvy politician, with an autodidactic appreciation for history. As a boy, when his chronic near-sightedness kept him from some strenuous activities, he would lose himself in books. Among his favorites was a “gold-trimmed, four-volume history called Great Men and Famous Women.” One of the great men chronicled was Cyrus the Great, King of Persia who “enabled the Jewish people to leave their exile and go back to Palestine.” There is evidence that this ancient story was on his mind as he dealt with the current events of his administration.6
We have no way of knowing how much influence any one piece of correspondence, or singular meeting, had on Mr. Truman’s thinking, but Norris’s letter to the President made his case from a Biblical vantage point at a crucial time.
J. Frank Norris had just returned from a trip that took him to Europe and the Middle East, a journey he had made many times in his life. By 1947 he had been pastor of the First Baptist Church in Fort Worth for thirty-eight years, and the Temple Baptist Church in Detroit for thirteen years. The combined membership of the congregations was more than twenty-five thousand. With such a following it was not difficult for Norris to obtain “official” letters from governmental leaders when he traveled. Such letters served to open doors for him.
Having received a wire from President Truman’s Appointments Secretary Matthew J. Connelly soliciting a briefing about his recent trip, Norris responded with a written synopsis of the entire history of the Jews and analysis of the various issues related to the land of Palestine in the modern era.
He began by expressing his gratitude to the President for the “personal letter of August 5th, which was of invaluable assistance in all my travels.” Then, plunging into his theme, he defined the issue as simply: “whether we will take the authority of the Bible of our mothers or the Koran with the sword and flame.” He summarized for the President the Biblical position that the Jewish people have “title” to the land, citing key Scriptural passages dealing with God’s promises and covenants.
Norris then shifted his argument from the ancient text to the modern context suggesting that “a second and very important authority in addition to Scriptural authority, Great Britain was given mandate over Palestine for the purpose of Jewish immigration into that land and for making it a national home,” this mandate being “confirmed by the United States Government and by the 57 Nations of the League of Nations.”
He recalled the events of 1939 and the “two-fold appeasement” of then British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Norris argued that Chamberlain had not only fumbled the ball with Hitler – bringing on World War II – but also by limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine at a crucial time. He had acted out of cowardice toward the Arabs, who “were allies of Hitler.”
This particular passage most likely resonated with the President because it was very much in line with what Truman thought and said when the British government released a White Paper on the issue of Palestine in May of 1939. In essence, that policy statement advocated severe limitations on Jewish immigration to Palestine; this at a time when European anti-Semitism was reaching critical mass.
Truman, then a Senator from the state of Missouri, issued a forthright condemnation that was inserted into the Congressional Record: “Mr. President, the British Government has used its diplomatic umbrella again,” (this being an unmistakable dig at Mr. Chamberlain) “…this time on Palestine. It has made a scrap of paper out of Lord Balfour’s promise to the Jews. It has just added another to the long list of surrenders to the Axis powers.”
Norris also referred to the Holocaust in his letter, accusing the Arabs of being complicit in the atrocities as allies of the Nazi regime “with their hands dripping with the blood of the Jews – six million of them murdered.”
Having made his case from history, ancient and recent, Norris concluded his letter with a Cold War warning. He told the President, “I interviewed many Arab leaders, and without question I found that the whole crowd are (sic) for Stalin, just like they were formerly for Hitler. Russia is doing everything at her command to foment the trouble.”
He concluded his correspondence with an appeal:
“The time has come, and long past, when the United States should keep its promise and take a firm stand for law and order in that land that has given the world its Bible and Savior.”
A few days later Norris received a reply on White House letterhead:
“Dear Dr. Norris:
I am most grateful for your thoughtful letter of October second. I deeply appreciate having the benefit of this expression of your views because I know that you have given long and extensive study to the Jewish-Palestinian question.
Very Sincerely Yours, Harry Truman.”
Seven months later, Harry Truman, in a singular act of political courage, and against the advice of men he admired, recognized the new State of Israel. Whatever the reasons for his decision that day, there is no doubt that he was a man with a sense of the past. The internal world of thought, nurtured as a child through the reading of history, was very present in the man. Shortly after leaving office in 1953, while visiting a Jewish school in New York City, he was introduced as “the man who helped to create the State of Israel” – Truman interrupted and said: “What do you mean ‘helped create?’ I am Cyrus! I am Cyrus!”
J. Frank Norris was dead by this time [he had died in August of 1952]. His life and ministry were filled with controversy [Norris was usually right]. [Yet] when it came to understanding current events and international affairs interpreted through the prism of scripture, he demonstrated a capacity to discern important signals and trends, even while other notably great men seemed to miss the point. His early grasp of issues related to the potential for a modern homeland for the Jews in Palestine is a prime example of this skill.
As had been his pattern with most political leaders, there had been times when he supported Harry S. Truman and there had been other times when he did not. But in 1948, he clearly admired the Man from Missouri, telling one associate a few months after the State of Israel had been proclaimed:
“I heard old Harry Truman – at two o’clock in the morning – giving his acceptance speech. He said: ‘We’ll whip the Republicans and make ‘m like it…wish I had old Harry to work for me in my church! We’d wave at – and call by name – every taxi driver in Fort Worth and get ‘m saved and baptized into First Baptist Church! Old Harry said: ‘the buck stops here’ – suits me. Let‘r stop with J. Frank Norris! ‘If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.’ Harry said that, too.”10
Harry [Truman] and J. Frank [Norris] – the President and the Preacher – were, in many ways, [men of courage and determination].
(END OF ARTICLE)
[This article is reprinted with Rev. David Stokes’ permission, with the provision that Dr. Hymers’ slight comments and a few deletions be permitted. It has been excerpted from Stokes' article, “J. Frank Norris and Israel – 1948,” featured in the Baptist Bible Tribune, May 2008.]
This was a bold step for the American President, one opposed by powerful members of his own administration.
J. Frank Norris, the fundamentalist pastor from Fort Worth, Texas, had spent many years promoting the Jewish cause and he applauded the President’s courage. Many prominent fundamentalists shied away from eschatological interpretations of global events, especially in the early years of the movement. But not Norris; he was an ardent and outspoken pre-millennialist.
And he was an unabashed proponent of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine.
Ever fascinated by international affairs, Dr. Norris considered himself to be somewhat of an expert in the field. His sermons and writings regularly featured commentary on the world situation. In the aftermath of World War One, he came to believe that the “primary significance” of that conflict was the potential for “the ultimate return of Palestine to the Jews.”
The Balfour Declaration of 1917, positioning the British government as favorable to a homeland for the Jews in Palestine, seemed to pave the way for what Norris saw as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Even as Jewish hope gave way to cycles of delay and frustration during the time of the British Mandate over Palestine (which began in 1918), Norris didn’t waver from his views.
Not all fundamentalists of the day were sympathetic to the plight of the Jews, some even flirted with what would surely be called anti-Semitism by today’s standards. For example, William Bell Riley, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founder of the first viable fundamentalist organization – the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association (1919) – along with Arno C. Gaeblein, and other prominent preachers and teachers of the day, periodically promoted the infamous Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion – a spurious document purporting to prove a Jewish conspiracy for world domination. This forgery has long been a favorite of those seeking “alternative” views of history and reality, and has been used as a pernicious proof-text for a wide range of malignant writings from Hitler’s Mein Kampf, to Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent, to those peddled by modern day skin-heads and race-baiters.
J. Frank Norris…managed to resist the temptation to buy into a Jewish/Bolshevik conspiracy theory idea that some fundamentalists seemed to find compelling. In fact, he had no problem attacking his brethren on this issue, writing in his paper in 1937: “I confess my amazement that certain intelligent outstanding fundamentalist pastors have joined this age-long and divinely cursed persecution.”
In the aftermath of the Second World War, and in the wake of horrific revelations of the Holocaust, Norris directed his passion for global politics toward applying pressure for the advancement of the cause of the Jews and a national homeland for them in Palestine. He traveled widely across the country, promoting this cause and was skilled at using the media of the day; a master of the sound byte. An article in the New York Post carried the headline, Baptist Official Says Jews Have Just Palestine Claim and the Washington Star similarly reported, Palestine Belongs to Jews by Divine Right: Dr. Norris.
But Norris undoubtedly considered his most important contribution to the issue, beyond raising general public awareness, to be a letter he wrote to President Truman in October of 1947.
Harry S. Truman was a shrewd and savvy politician, with an autodidactic appreciation for history. As a boy, when his chronic near-sightedness kept him from some strenuous activities, he would lose himself in books. Among his favorites was a “gold-trimmed, four-volume history called Great Men and Famous Women.” One of the great men chronicled was Cyrus the Great, King of Persia who “enabled the Jewish people to leave their exile and go back to Palestine.” There is evidence that this ancient story was on his mind as he dealt with the current events of his administration.6
We have no way of knowing how much influence any one piece of correspondence, or singular meeting, had on Mr. Truman’s thinking, but Norris’s letter to the President made his case from a Biblical vantage point at a crucial time.
J. Frank Norris had just returned from a trip that took him to Europe and the Middle East, a journey he had made many times in his life. By 1947 he had been pastor of the First Baptist Church in Fort Worth for thirty-eight years, and the Temple Baptist Church in Detroit for thirteen years. The combined membership of the congregations was more than twenty-five thousand. With such a following it was not difficult for Norris to obtain “official” letters from governmental leaders when he traveled. Such letters served to open doors for him.
Having received a wire from President Truman’s Appointments Secretary Matthew J. Connelly soliciting a briefing about his recent trip, Norris responded with a written synopsis of the entire history of the Jews and analysis of the various issues related to the land of Palestine in the modern era.
He began by expressing his gratitude to the President for the “personal letter of August 5th, which was of invaluable assistance in all my travels.” Then, plunging into his theme, he defined the issue as simply: “whether we will take the authority of the Bible of our mothers or the Koran with the sword and flame.” He summarized for the President the Biblical position that the Jewish people have “title” to the land, citing key Scriptural passages dealing with God’s promises and covenants.
Norris then shifted his argument from the ancient text to the modern context suggesting that “a second and very important authority in addition to Scriptural authority, Great Britain was given mandate over Palestine for the purpose of Jewish immigration into that land and for making it a national home,” this mandate being “confirmed by the United States Government and by the 57 Nations of the League of Nations.”
He recalled the events of 1939 and the “two-fold appeasement” of then British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Norris argued that Chamberlain had not only fumbled the ball with Hitler – bringing on World War II – but also by limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine at a crucial time. He had acted out of cowardice toward the Arabs, who “were allies of Hitler.”
This particular passage most likely resonated with the President because it was very much in line with what Truman thought and said when the British government released a White Paper on the issue of Palestine in May of 1939. In essence, that policy statement advocated severe limitations on Jewish immigration to Palestine; this at a time when European anti-Semitism was reaching critical mass.
Truman, then a Senator from the state of Missouri, issued a forthright condemnation that was inserted into the Congressional Record: “Mr. President, the British Government has used its diplomatic umbrella again,” (this being an unmistakable dig at Mr. Chamberlain) “…this time on Palestine. It has made a scrap of paper out of Lord Balfour’s promise to the Jews. It has just added another to the long list of surrenders to the Axis powers.”
Norris also referred to the Holocaust in his letter, accusing the Arabs of being complicit in the atrocities as allies of the Nazi regime “with their hands dripping with the blood of the Jews – six million of them murdered.”
Having made his case from history, ancient and recent, Norris concluded his letter with a Cold War warning. He told the President, “I interviewed many Arab leaders, and without question I found that the whole crowd are (sic) for Stalin, just like they were formerly for Hitler. Russia is doing everything at her command to foment the trouble.”
He concluded his correspondence with an appeal:
“The time has come, and long past, when the United States should keep its promise and take a firm stand for law and order in that land that has given the world its Bible and Savior.”
A few days later Norris received a reply on White House letterhead:
“Dear Dr. Norris:
I am most grateful for your thoughtful letter of October second. I deeply appreciate having the benefit of this expression of your views because I know that you have given long and extensive study to the Jewish-Palestinian question.
Very Sincerely Yours, Harry Truman.”
Seven months later, Harry Truman, in a singular act of political courage, and against the advice of men he admired, recognized the new State of Israel. Whatever the reasons for his decision that day, there is no doubt that he was a man with a sense of the past. The internal world of thought, nurtured as a child through the reading of history, was very present in the man. Shortly after leaving office in 1953, while visiting a Jewish school in New York City, he was introduced as “the man who helped to create the State of Israel” – Truman interrupted and said: “What do you mean ‘helped create?’ I am Cyrus! I am Cyrus!”
J. Frank Norris was dead by this time [he had died in August of 1952]. His life and ministry were filled with controversy [Norris was usually right]. [Yet] when it came to understanding current events and international affairs interpreted through the prism of scripture, he demonstrated a capacity to discern important signals and trends, even while other notably great men seemed to miss the point. His early grasp of issues related to the potential for a modern homeland for the Jews in Palestine is a prime example of this skill.
As had been his pattern with most political leaders, there had been times when he supported Harry S. Truman and there had been other times when he did not. But in 1948, he clearly admired the Man from Missouri, telling one associate a few months after the State of Israel had been proclaimed:
“I heard old Harry Truman – at two o’clock in the morning – giving his acceptance speech. He said: ‘We’ll whip the Republicans and make ‘m like it…wish I had old Harry to work for me in my church! We’d wave at – and call by name – every taxi driver in Fort Worth and get ‘m saved and baptized into First Baptist Church! Old Harry said: ‘the buck stops here’ – suits me. Let‘r stop with J. Frank Norris! ‘If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.’ Harry said that, too.”10
Harry [Truman] and J. Frank [Norris] – the President and the Preacher – were, in many ways, [men of courage and determination].
(END OF ARTICLE)
[This article is reprinted with Rev. David Stokes’ permission, with the provision that Dr. Hymers’ slight comments and a few deletions be permitted. It has been excerpted from Stokes' article, “J. Frank Norris and Israel – 1948,” featured in the Baptist Bible Tribune, May 2008.]
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN J. FRANK NORRIS AND HARRY TRUMAN
The following communication occurred between the fundamental Baptist pastor J. Frank Norris and President Harry Truman in 1947 when Truman was deciding whether to recognize the modern state of Israel. Truman asked for Norris’s opinion on the Israel situation.
NORRIS'S LETTER ON ISRAEL TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN
First Baptist Church
4th and Throckmorton Streets
Fort Worth, Texas
Oct. 2, 1947
Hon. Harry S. Truman President United States Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. President:
Mr. Matthew J. Connelly wired me New York October 1st and suggested that I write you certain matters of my trip to Palestine.
First, I want to thank you for your very kind personal letter of August 5th, which was of invaluable assistance in all my travels.
I have given extensive study to the Jewish Palestinian question. The issue is whether we will take the authority of the Bible of our mothers or the Koran with the sword and flame.
In that whole controversy the big issue is who owns the land, who has the title to that land? If that question is settled there is no other question.
The Lord God Almighty in Genesis the 17th chapter, specifically states that the title to Palestine is given not to Ishmael, the ancestor of the Arabs, but to Isaac and his seed for ever.
“And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (Gen. 17:19)
This covenant was confirmed to Isaac, Genesis 26:3:
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
This covenant was also confirmed to Jacob, Genesis 28:13:
“And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
The covenant was likewise confirmed to Moses in Deuteronomy 30:3-5:
“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
David specifically states the title to that land is to the Jews and the descendants of Jacob: Psalm 105:9-12:
“Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
Thirteen hundred years ago the Arabs were usurpers, Mohammet with fire and sword, and they were robbers of property that belongs to the Jews.
A second and very important authority in addition to Scriptural authority, Great Britain was given a mandate over Palestine for the purpose of Jewish immigration into that land and for making it a national home.
This mandate was confirmed by the United States Government and by the 57 Nations of the League of Nations.
The tragedy and the cause of all the present trouble is that Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister, put on a two-fold appeasement in 1939:
First, with Hitler, and that brought on World War II.
Second, with the Arabs, who were the allies of Hitler.
Chamberlain violated the international law giving that land as a national home for Jews in 1939, and said only 70,000 Jews would be permitted to go for the next five years, and after that none except by the consent of the Arabs. But the mandate made no such restrictions.
Therefore the present Jewish immigration into Palestine is not “illegal”; it’s legal.
Based on the mandate given to Great Britain over Palestine, and confirmed by the United States Government and confirmed by the League of Nations, the Jews invested six hundred and fifty million dollars in Palestine, built cities, public works, and the curse of God Almighty is on every hand that violates this most solemn agreement-the mandate three times over confirmed.
Now, Mr. President, it certainly is a matter that should cause us to stop and think that the Arab leaders from the Grand Mufti on down were allies of Hitler, and it ill becomes them to come now into court with their hands dripping with the blood of the Jews, six million of them murdered by Hitler.
I interviewed many Arab leaders, and without question I found that the whole crowd are for Stalin, just like they formerly were for Hitler.
While this country was fighting Hitler, thirty thousand young Jews from Palestine volunteered and went to the battle front and not a single Arab regiment.
If the Arabs and Jews in Palestine were left alone they would get along and settle their troubles.
Russia is doing everything at her command to foment the trouble.
The time has come, and long past, when the United States should keep its promise and take a firm stand for law and order in that land that has given the world its Bible and Saviour.
Yours very sincerely,
(Signed by J. Frank Norris)
JFN:r
REPLY FROM TRUMAN TO NORRIS
The White House Washington
October 7, 1947
Dear Dr. Norris:
I am most grateful for your thoughtful letter of October second. I deeply appreciate having the benefit of this expression of your views because I know that you have given long and extensive study to the Jewish Palestinian question.
Very sincerely yours,
(Signed by President Harry Truman)
Harry Truman President
For additional information see:
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/recognition-israel/
NORRIS'S LETTER ON ISRAEL TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN
First Baptist Church
4th and Throckmorton Streets
Fort Worth, Texas
Oct. 2, 1947
Hon. Harry S. Truman President United States Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. President:
Mr. Matthew J. Connelly wired me New York October 1st and suggested that I write you certain matters of my trip to Palestine.
First, I want to thank you for your very kind personal letter of August 5th, which was of invaluable assistance in all my travels.
I have given extensive study to the Jewish Palestinian question. The issue is whether we will take the authority of the Bible of our mothers or the Koran with the sword and flame.
In that whole controversy the big issue is who owns the land, who has the title to that land? If that question is settled there is no other question.
The Lord God Almighty in Genesis the 17th chapter, specifically states that the title to Palestine is given not to Ishmael, the ancestor of the Arabs, but to Isaac and his seed for ever.
“And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (Gen. 17:19)
This covenant was confirmed to Isaac, Genesis 26:3:
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
This covenant was also confirmed to Jacob, Genesis 28:13:
“And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
The covenant was likewise confirmed to Moses in Deuteronomy 30:3-5:
“That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
David specifically states the title to that land is to the Jews and the descendants of Jacob: Psalm 105:9-12:
“Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
Thirteen hundred years ago the Arabs were usurpers, Mohammet with fire and sword, and they were robbers of property that belongs to the Jews.
A second and very important authority in addition to Scriptural authority, Great Britain was given a mandate over Palestine for the purpose of Jewish immigration into that land and for making it a national home.
This mandate was confirmed by the United States Government and by the 57 Nations of the League of Nations.
The tragedy and the cause of all the present trouble is that Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister, put on a two-fold appeasement in 1939:
First, with Hitler, and that brought on World War II.
Second, with the Arabs, who were the allies of Hitler.
Chamberlain violated the international law giving that land as a national home for Jews in 1939, and said only 70,000 Jews would be permitted to go for the next five years, and after that none except by the consent of the Arabs. But the mandate made no such restrictions.
Therefore the present Jewish immigration into Palestine is not “illegal”; it’s legal.
Based on the mandate given to Great Britain over Palestine, and confirmed by the United States Government and confirmed by the League of Nations, the Jews invested six hundred and fifty million dollars in Palestine, built cities, public works, and the curse of God Almighty is on every hand that violates this most solemn agreement-the mandate three times over confirmed.
Now, Mr. President, it certainly is a matter that should cause us to stop and think that the Arab leaders from the Grand Mufti on down were allies of Hitler, and it ill becomes them to come now into court with their hands dripping with the blood of the Jews, six million of them murdered by Hitler.
I interviewed many Arab leaders, and without question I found that the whole crowd are for Stalin, just like they formerly were for Hitler.
While this country was fighting Hitler, thirty thousand young Jews from Palestine volunteered and went to the battle front and not a single Arab regiment.
If the Arabs and Jews in Palestine were left alone they would get along and settle their troubles.
Russia is doing everything at her command to foment the trouble.
The time has come, and long past, when the United States should keep its promise and take a firm stand for law and order in that land that has given the world its Bible and Saviour.
Yours very sincerely,
(Signed by J. Frank Norris)
JFN:r
REPLY FROM TRUMAN TO NORRIS
The White House Washington
October 7, 1947
Dear Dr. Norris:
I am most grateful for your thoughtful letter of October second. I deeply appreciate having the benefit of this expression of your views because I know that you have given long and extensive study to the Jewish Palestinian question.
Very sincerely yours,
(Signed by President Harry Truman)
Harry Truman President
For additional information see:
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/recognition-israel/