Page 17 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - February 14
P. 17
work at the Colonial Office, but in the end with Relations.
no solution to the stalemate in sight, the anti- He returned to Palestine to take up his teaching
Zionist Colonial Secretary Lord Passfield post, but at his first lecture, the subject of which
decided to fire him. In his letter of dismissal he was, ‘Jerusalem, City of Peace,’ after he had
wrote: been introduced to his students by Magnes, he
you are well aware of the peculiar racial and was met by a storm of abuse from militant
political conditions of Palestine, and with the Revisionist students who told him to ‘go and talk
difficulties with which the Administration has peace with the Arabs and the Mufti of
in consequence to bear. The late Secretary of Jerusalem.’ This was accompanied by catcalls,
State satisfied himself, after the most careful stink bombs and sheaves of pamphlets being
consideration, that for reasons in no way thrown, which led to the police being called to
affecting your personal character or record, restore order.
these difficulties would not be diminished by The protest in all probability was not directed
your retention of the office of Attorney- against Bentwich personally, but was more anti-
General. British and anti Brit-Shalom. However it was a
And so in other words, the CO, Chancellor, bad start and although the ringleaders were
McDonnell and the Arab Executive had won, thrown out of the first lecture, there were
and Bentwich writing to Chancellor in January thereafter strikes and a boycott of his lectures by
1932 said: a section of the students.
‘my fifteen years working for Palestine has After the completion of his initial lecture series
ended in disgrace.’ Bentwich was not to work in Palestine for a
Prior to this sacking the CO and Chancellor had number of years. During those years, in addition
approached the President of the Hebrew to his legal activities, he was the Director of the
University Judah Magnes, suggesting that it League of Nations High Commission for
might be a good idea for the University to give Refugees from Germany from 1933-1935, and
Bentwich a job on its teaching staff. Magnes, a worked at the British Ministry of Information
good friend of Bentwich’s – the two of them during the Second World War. After the War he
were members of the Brit–Shalom, a body again taught at the Hebrew University.
working towards improving relations between Although the Bentwiches lived in England for
Jews and Arabs in Palestine - told Chancellor the latter part of their lives, they were frequent
that the University objected to having Bentwich visitors to Israel. Norman was a prolific author,
dumped on them in order to get him out of an and was Chairman of the British Friends of the
awkward situation, and nothing came of the Hebrew University, and President of the North
initiative. Western Reform Synagogue (Alyth Gardens).
Bentwich stayed in London for the whole of Norman Bentwich was a brave and determined
1931. In early 1932 a British philanthropist set man who fought for his Zionist principles
up a chair at the Hebrew University for the study against a combination of anti-Zionists and anti-
of international and industrial peace and he was Semites who were to be found in Palestine
offered the post of Professor of International throughout the period of the British Mandate.
17
