They had based their demand for Palestine on the legend that “a place of refuge” must be found for Jews “persecuted in Russia” (an obvious non sequitur but good enough for “the mob”), and now there was no “persecution in Russia.”

Please remove spaces between words.
TheyhadbasedtheirdemandforPalestineonthelegendthat“aplaceofrefuge”mustbefoundforJews“persecutedinRussia”(anobviousnonsequiturbutgoodenoughfor“themob”),andnowtherewasno“persecutioninRussia.”