A plea not to allow grief to waste the opportunity for carrying on the work that Lord Balfour had so much at heart was made at yesterday’s meeting of the Zionist Actions Committee by Mrs. Blanche Dugale, a niece of Lord Balfour. Coming from Lord Balfour’s death bed, Mrs. Dugdale said she “came because I know that everybody in this room feels with us on this day. Dr. Weizmann told me yesterday how you received the news.
“His feeling with and for the Jewish people was based on a very strong faith which was his confidence in the Jewish people. He felt absolutely certain that your cause would succeed because he believed in you and that the people behind you will all be united. Thank you a thousand times, both for myself and his family, for the way in which you have spoken of him.”
Dr. Weizmann declared that he would have another opportunity of speaking at greater length about the great loss the Jews had sustained. “The Jewish people were unable to pay homage to such a man of distinction through any form of decoration or monuments but Lord Balfour’s name will be cherished in every Jewish home throughout the world for all time.” Dr. Leo Motzkin, chairman of the Actions Committee, thanked Mrs. Dugdale for conveying her message.
The morning session of the Committee which had been interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Dugdale was continued with a debate on the Palestine Emergency Fund, the Committee listening to a report from Harry Sacher defining the Fund’s position. A resolution on the Fund and a policy of reconstruction was then adopted.
The collections for the Palestine Emergency Fund and the late start on the Keren Hayesod campaigns had somewhat hampered the Keren Hayesod work, declared Dr. Arthur Hantke, a member of the Keren Hayesod’s board of directors, in giving a report on the work. He pointed out that the United States had so far failed to make its usual contribution but he hoped to obtain the American share of the budget in the concluding months. He commended the great effort that South African Jewry is making on behalf of the Keren Hayesod and also the recent enthusiasm shown in Lithuania, Poland and Bessarabia despite economic depression.
Dr. Hantke appealed to Zionists, irrespective of parties, to do everything to advance the Keren Hayesod.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
