Never in the thirtyfour years of its history has a Zionist Congress been so dramatically moved and weighed down by fate, Nahum Sokolow, the seventy-year old chairman of the Zionist Executive, declared in officially opening the 17th Zionist Congress tonight with a plea to the Jews of the world not to despair when they meet with defeat because a fight for a just cause is bound to lead to victory.
Nearly 300 delegates and 2,500 guests from all parts of the world, as well as over 200 newspapermen, were gathered in Mustermesse Hall, Basle, the city where the First Congress was cradled in 1897, when Mr. Sokolow, a veteran of numerous Congresses, appeared on the rostrum to make the opening address.
“FORWARD, NOT BACKWARD”
Saying that some people may call this optimism, Mr. Sokolow declared that “it is in optimism that the secret of the preservation of our people lies. Hopelessness and Zionism are opposite contrasts; forward and not backward is the motto of Zionism. The present Congress is one of realities and means to look facts directly in the face more than ever.”
Mr. Sokolow then went on to describe the occurrences since the 16th Congress met in Zurich in 1929: the Palestine riots of that year and the motives that inspired them as well as the work of the various commissions that followed in the wake of the disturbances, and the Jewish protest movement, which he declared was dignified and a preventive.
The Jewish protest was not directed against the Arab people, he emphasized, because “we believe that the safest basis for peace is a policy of mutual understanding and mutual self-respect between the Jewish and Arab peoples.” Mr. Sokolow then charged the Shaw Commission which investigated the Palestine riots, with conducting a probe outside of its sphere of inquiry and thus creating confusion as a result of which the main purpose of the investigation was shunted into the background. In this connection he recalled that a Jew from Kishinev had said to him: “God save us from commissions and we’ll save ourselves from pogroms.”
DEFINES NATIONAL HOME
Towards the conclusion of his address, Mr. Sokolow endeavored to define the meaning of the term Jewish National Home, which he said was identical with the Zionist program of creating a national home for the Jewish people, which should be “a visible embodiment of Jewry in a place where the Jew has not only private rights but public rights and should feel himself at home and not be considered a burdensome foreigner; a Jewish National Home does not mean a home for the aged but a home for creation and for upbuilding which is constantly developing.”
The Mandatory Power must bear in mind the possibilities of expansion in Palestine and the necessity for free and undisturbed creation, Mr. Sokolow emphasized. “For such a movement a certain elasticity of its form is of extreme importance,” he said. “The Jewish National Home should become as big as can be achieved by honest labor. It is essential also that no assimilation or adaptation to existing circumstances should occur but that the milieu’s influence should be reduced to a minimum, this being one of the main purposes and motives of the Jewish National Home.”
After dealing with the achievements of the chalutzim (Zionist pioneers), and stressing the necessity for continuing their labor through support of the Zionist funds, Mr. Sokolow concluded his address by pointing out the difference between the fighting methods used by the Jews and those used by other nations.
The large Mustermesse auditorium seating 1,500 people was crowded to capacity when Leo Motzkin, chairman of the Zionist Actions Committee, opened the Congress promptly at 8.30 P. M. (3.30 P. M. New York time). Mr. Motzkin introduced Mr. Sokolow as the opening speaker, who read his address from a paper in German while the delegates and guests sat listening with the greatest of attention.
APPLAUD WEIZMANN
Five minutes before the opening of the Congress Dr. Chaim Weizmann entered the hall with the entire Zionist Executive following him to the tribune. As Weizmann entered the hall the entire gathering rose en masse and applauded vociferously for several minutes. The loges were occupied by many prominent guests and diplomatic officials. Among those in boxes were Dr. Maurice Hexter, Dr. Werner Senator, treasurer of the Jewish Agency; diplomatic representatives of Italy, Czecho-Slovakia and other countries, and M. Marchlewski, Polish consul-general in New York.
Two representatives of the League of Nations were present as official observers, the chief of the information office, P. E. Commerth, and W. C. Weaver, director of the labor office. The British Foreign Office was also represented by a high official observer.
Greetings were brought to the Congress by Sir Howard Kennard, British ambassador to Switzerland, Councilor Imhof, representative of the Basle canton, who attended the first Congress in 1897, Dr. Lucien Levaillant, the representative of the Swiss Jewish community, and Dr. Marcus Cohn, president of the Swiss Zionist Organization. All were introduced by Mr. Sokolow.
Ambassador Kennard’s address was brief and contained the usual statements about the Mandatory Power’s readiness to fulfil its obligations but he failed to make mention of the Jewish National Home.
The Congress concluded its sessions at 11 P.M. (6 P.M. Eastern Daylight Saving Time) with the singing of the Hatikvah, which followed the report of Dr. Arthur Ruppin. Dr. Ruppin outlined how the world’s crisis had affected the income of the Keren Hayesod and stressed the fact that Palestine’s industry was developing.
He pointed out that new markets were necessary for Palestine products and added that the economic situation had been more or less stabilized. He stated that the Keren Hayesod’s income for this year was $1,250,000. Dr. Ruppin also reported that out of 45 Jewish colonies, 11 were already self-supporting and the rest will be self-supporting this year when they receive the necessary $225,000.
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.
