Jewish Labor Delegation Finds Palestine Workers Most Hopeful

“In spite of the terrible experience of a year ago when an incited mob of Arabs swooped down upon them in slaughter, arson and pillage; in spite of the recent action of the Colonial Office of the British Government in closing the doors of Palestine to the thousands of Halutzim all over Europe waiting to be admitted; in spite of the many other problems with which they are confronted, the organized workers of Palestine are most hopeful and most thoroughly convinced of the successful achievement of their task, the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine on a basis of social justice.”

This was the statement issued this week by the delegation of the American Jewish Labor Committee on its return to this country from Palestine. The statement further declares:

“They are creating on all fronts. They are sowing the fields, planting orchards and building homes. They are applying the most up-to-date methods in agriculture and irrigation on a soil that has been completely neglected and left barren for many centuries. They are exploiting all the natural resources that have been lying dormant through the ages. They have harnessed the Jordan to give them light and power; they have found life-giving elements in the Dead Sea where hundreds of workers are now employed. They have drained the swamps and have cut their way into the chalk cliffs and stone quarries of the land, and at the same time they have been building spiritually as well as materially.

“They are erecting school houses for the young and spiritual centers for the grown-ups. From among the manual workers there is developing a group of teachers and poets and artists of the drama that can hold their own among those that have had better opportunities. The song of work and the joyful tune of creation is heard everywhere. It is almost impossible to see them without admiring them and without getting the contagion of faith in the final results of their efforts.”