Ivan Rand and the UNSCOP Papers

Part 3

Excerpt from FAITH AND FULFILMENT

The following background information about Christian Zionist involvement in UNISCOP's work, though not a part of the CJN publication, is presented here to show that Christian action and support for a new State of Israel existed even prior to the 1947 UN "Resolution For The Partition of Palestine".

Indeed, even earlier it was Christian Zionists in the British Government, including Cabinet Members, whose Biblical roots and understanding, led to the passing of the famous Balfour Declaration in 1917 saying in part: "Her Majesty's government views with favour the establishment of a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine"; the said provision being incorporated into the adoption of the 1923 British Mandate Provision (which endured until May 14, 1948)

For additional examples of Christian Zionist involvement please see our JUDEO-CHRISTIAN STUDIES Section, particularly the article "The Role of Gentile Christians in The Rebirth of the State of Israel"

CANADA

One of the non-Jewish residents of Jerusalem during the late 1940s, the end of the British Mandate and the first years of Israel's Independence, was a Canadian clergyman, the Rev. William L. Hull. He ran a little Bible shop, first in the Arab section of Jerusalem, and later, when Arab rioting forced him to seek refuge in the Jewish area of the city, on the “Street of the Prophet.” Hull was an old-timer in Jerusalem; everybody knew him and he knew everybody, whether Jew or Arab. For a number of years he published a little periodical, The Voice of Zion, coincidentally the very name later assumed by the Radio Station of the new State of Israel!

Hull was the only Canadian then living in Jerusalem. He was a fundamentalist Protestant, steeped in the Scriptures, at the same time an alert observer of the events which were unfolding around him. When his tour of duty in Jerusalem was over, he published his eye-witness account of what he lived through, as it turned out, years of great moment: The Fall and Rise of Israel. In this account Hull gives the historical background of Israel's return home, coupled with a description of the momentous chain of events that culminated in the Proclamation of the State. His book is a valuable and reliable account of the modern rise of Israel.

When UNSCOP was set up, its Canadian member was Justice I.C. Rand of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. Justice Rand had only scant information on the problem of Palestine, the Jewish people, the disaster that struck European Jewry under Hitler's Germany, and the urgent necessity for survivors to reach a safe haven for a new beginning in Palestine. The learned Judge was therefore fortunate, when he arrived in Palestine with UNSCOP, to find in Jerusalem a fellow Canadian, informed, well-versed in the problems, and equipped as well, with the vital spiritual dimension of The Return, without which much of its significance would be lost. Hull became Justice Rand's unofficial advisor and no doubt contributed substantially to the crystallization of the Judge's final stand on the Committee's recommendations: the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish and an Arab state. Writes Judge Rand in the Foreword to Hull's book:

It was a relief, then, when shortly after my arrival I had the good fortune to meet the author of this book. Here he was, a Canadian,... a clergyman,… a man of goodwill, well known to and knowing the many religious and racial groups in that amazing galaxy of rivalries and antagonisms. Whatever might be said of the soundness of his judgments, here, I thought, was one whom I could trust to express himself with honesty and frankness. Somewhat to my surprise, I listened to words of high admiration of the Jewish people, their standards of life and tremendous work they had done since returning to their ancient homeland.

In his Preface, Hull said he wished to write “so that the historical background leading up to, and the events which secured the establishment of the new State of Israel, may be more generally known.” He then affirms his Christian approach:

Throughout this book it is assumed that all great events in history happen by the permissive will of God, and are direct results of the faith or lack of faith of people or leaders. Prophets of the Old Testament sounded warnings from time to time against evil and unbelief, and of punishment which would follow these. The Old Testament writings and subsequent history are proof of the truth of their messages. In their prophecy they not only warned of punishment to follow evil, but also told of the wonderful grace of God which He would manifest in forgiving sin, both of individuals and nations. History, then, whether recording a punishment or a blessing, is the fulfillment of prophecy, and this point has been uppermost in my mind while writing this book.

This was Hull's credo, and this was the basis of his interpretation of the U.N. decision of 1947 to partition Palestine and to initiate a Jewish and an Arab state:

In no place in the world did the decision mean more than in Jerusalem. For centuries of time Jews all over the world had taken their oath: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem… “, and in Jerusalem were those who, inspired by the sacredness of this spot, had come to make their homes there in a life-time remembrance of their oath. … The night of November 29 we slept [Hull relates], but we must have been among the very few in Jewish Jerusalem who did. Our sleep was soon disturbed. There was seven hours difference in time, and it was after midnight when the result of the crucial vote was heard over the air from New York. Sleep fled, the street was full of riotous sound, but a riot of joy. Trucks passed, full of young and old, singing, shouting, waving flags, blowing trumpets. Above all rang out the triumphant cry: Medinat Ha'yehudim! Medinat Ha'yehudim! (A Jewish State!)… All that night and the next day Jewish Jerusalem gave itself over to a time devoted entirely to rejoicing. Young people danced the hora in the streets, British police and soldiers forgot their anti-Semitism and joined the Jews in their rejoicing, dancing and waving the blue and white flag of Zion. No one who was among the Jews in Jerusalem on Sunday, November 30, 1947, will forget it as long as he lives… We, too, joined the rejoicing crowds, and tears quickly came to our eyes as we met friends and shared their joy with them.

Thus the Rev. Hull, the Canadian Protestant, on the day he witnessed in Jerusalem the first sign of Israel's Homecoming, internationally sanctioned by the U.N.

When on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion pronounced independence, Hull wrote:

After two thousand years of longing, hoping, suffering, praying the State of Israel was born. “Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, for keeping us alive, preserving us and permitting us to attain this day.” Amen, Amen. … People wept unashamedly. It was a historic moment, unique in world history since the day Abraham was called by God from Ur of the Chaldees to leave his home and come to a land he knew not, there to build a nation through which all the world was to be blessed. This day one could almost hear the trumpets sounding, heralding the approach of the Messiah.”

Concluding, Hull says:

“We believe that true Zionism is a move of God and that those who are true Zionists with a love of the land God has given them will feel the urge to aid actively in Israel the rebuilding of Zion. In responding they will manifest a loyalty to God which transcends any earthly loyalty or obligation.”

FAITH AND FULFILMENT - Michael Pragai - Vallentine, Mitchell and Co. Ltd. London, England. 1985

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