286 • 16 THE CONTEST FOR PALESTINEthat "we must assist the British in the war as if there were no White Paper
and we must resist the White Paper as if there were no war." Thousands of
Palestinian Jews volunteered for the British armed services, taking high-
risk assignments in various theaters of war. Some also undertook danger¬
ous missions to rescue Jews from European areas controlled by Hitler and
his allies. As the Nazi threat receded, a few frustrated Zionists turned to
terrorist acts, such as assassinating the British minister-resident in Cairo.
The Growing US Role
As it became clear that Britain would not lift its restrictions on Jewish im¬
migration into Palestine or relent in its opposition to a Jewish state, the
Zionists increasingly looked to the US for support. Zionism had not at¬
tracted many American Jews earlier, but the rise of Hitler had alerted them
to the dangers of anti-Semitism running rampant. Most American Jews
still had friends or relatives in lands falling under Nazi control. Although
they did not foresee that Hitler would try to kill them all, they did worry
about their safety. If Germany, once among the safest countries for Jews,
now persecuted them, was there any country in which Jews could always
live as a minority? Maybe a Jewish state would not be such a bad idea after
all, American Jews reasoned, even if few of them planned to settle there.
In 1942 American Zionists adopted what was called the Biltmore Pro¬
gram, calling on Britain to rescind the White Paper and to make Palestine
a Jewish state. Soon the World Zionist Organization endorsed this resolu¬
tion. US politicians, aware of the feelings of their voters but not those of
the Arab majority living in Palestine, began clamoring for a Jewish state.
This was not just a knee-jerk response to the "Jewish vote," for many
Christians hoped that the formation of a Jewish state would atone for
Hitler's vile deeds (their full extent was not yet widely known) and for the
past persecution committed by so many others. Why did they not admit
more Jewish survivors into the US? This might have alleviated the Pales¬
tine problem, but it also would have undermined what the Zionists
wanted, a Jewish state. Besides, anti-Semitism still existed in the US; most
Christians and even some Jews did not want to raise the immigration quo¬
tas for these Jewish refugees from Europe.
Civil War in Palestine
As World War II was winding down, violence in Palestine mounted. Zionist
terrorist groups, such as the Irgun Tzvei Le'umi (National Military Organi¬
zation) and the Stern Gang, blew up buildings and British installations in