Five hundred delegates from every part of the United States are gathering here for the opening Sunday afternoon at the Cleveland Public Auditorium of the thirty-third annual convention of the Zionist Organization of America. Because of the critical situation that exists with regard to Palestine and because of the demand for a united front in the Zionist ranks, there is an unprecedented interest in the annual gathering, and the sessions are expected to be of a stormy nature, particularly when the delegates debate the proposals on Zionist administration submitted by Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who was ousted from the leadership of the Zionist Organization exactly nine years ago—also at a convention in Cleveland.
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE REPORTS
A report by the Administrative Committee of the Zionist Organization, which is to be submitted to the convention, covers the financial, political and cultural work of the Organization during the past year. At the same time there is a review of what the administration which came into power in 1921 accomplished during this period. Between May, 1921 and April 30, 1930, the records show that under the auspices of the Zionist Organization of America, through the Keren Hayesod and the United Palestine Appeal, the amount of $20,044,160.32 was raised for reconstruction work in Palestine. Comparison is also made with the amounts raised by the previous administration, which was headed by Supreme Court Justice Brandeis. These figures show that between August, 1914, and May, 1921, the Provisional Zionist Committee and the Palestine Restoration Fund raised $5,738,998.32.
Discussing the attitude of the British Government in the administration of Palestine, and the policies of the Government toward establishing the Jewish National Home, the report of the Zionist Organization declares:
BRITAIN’S ATTITUDE DISQUIETING
“The attitude adopted by Great Britain with regard to Palestine ever since the August disturbances has proved ever more disquieting. The nullification attitude reached its climax in the middle of May when the British Colonial Office suspended Jewish labor immigration into Palestine, and rescinded immigration certificates that had been authorized previously by High Commissioner Chancellor as economically justified. A few weeks later the British Government issued a White Paper in which it accepted practically all the findings of the Shaw Commission of Inquiry which had been sent to Palestine to ascertain the origin of the disturbances of August.
“Both acts are universally regarded by Zionists as a violation of the spirit and the letter of the Mandate and tend to impair the confidence of Jewry in the sincere intentions of the Mandatory Power to carry out the promise which it made and which was sealed by the nations of the world, including the United States Government.”
The report points out that a demand has been made in various Jewish quarters that the Mandate over Palestine be withdrawn from England. Considering the steps which should be taken by the Zionist Organization at the Convention, the report says: “Whether American Zionists care to give closer consideration to this aspect of the problem should be taken up at the convention. Another course open to Zionists is to appeal in a body to the United States Government for its intervention with Great Britain in regard to the latter’s administration of Palestine. This course suggests itself both on moral and legal grounds, particularly in view of the sympathy which both President Hoover and Vice-President Curtis have repeatedly shown to Jewish aspirations in Palestine.”
The convention opens Sunday afternoon with greetings by former City Manager William R. Hopkin, Rabbi Barnett Brickner and Ezra Shapiro.
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.
