Under the editorship of Freda Kirchwey in the 1940s, The Nation was the most pro-Zionist publication in the United States. By the spring of 1948, the magazine was calling for partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab countries and castigating on nearly a weekly basis the British mandatory government and anti-Zionist elements in the US State Department that were militating against both partition and recognition of the Jewish state. In the May 8, 1948, issue containing the following editorial note, The Nation attached a special 30-page supplement it had submitted to the United Nations revealing British sabotage of partition and advance knowledge of the Arab invasion plan. It would take many decades before The Nation allowed itself to interrogate the casual use of such phrases as “established, responsible administration” and “Arab invaders,” which appear in the following editorial.

Jewish authorities have taken over most of the services; they collect taxes; they have even issued stamps for use within their boundaries, and have announced the restoration of foreign mail service. More impressive still, they have set up an agency to control the properties of Arabs who fled as the Jews took over; businesses are being managed where possible; vineyards and other farms are being tended and their produce used, but the assets conserved for the legal owners. This, I should say, is the final proof of an established, responsible administration. At the same time, the Jews are fighting the Arab invaders and their local allies with courage and success. That they can hold out for a long time is certain. American army officers who have lately inspected the Jewish forces and training centers have reported a high morale and intelligent preparation. Already, Arab leaders are letting it be known that while they are committed to a holy war to blot out the Jewish State, they will go about it gradually, accomplishing their end, as Assam Pasha said the other day, “by attrition.”

May 14, 1948

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