The first step to inaugurate a series of international negotiations through Great Britain and the League of Nations, with the aim of settling in Palestine as large a number of Jewish refugees as the country can absorb, has been taken by the Zionist Organization of America. This action was embodied in the form of a resolution drafted by a subcommittee consisting of Morris Rothenberg, President of the Zionist Organization of America; Louis Lipsky, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Jacob de Haas, Abraham Goldberg, Morris Margulies, Carl Sherman and Robert Szold and was made public by Mr. Rothenberg.
The document calls on the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the authorized public body which, in cooperation with the Administration of Palestine, is to effect the establishment of the Jewish National Home, to request the Mandatory Government:
First, to make possible the immediate admittance into Palestine of a maximum number of refugees from Central Europe, to relieve the destitute condition of tens of thousands of Jews created by forces of anti-Semitism.
Second, to submit to the League of Nations the facts in the present Jewish situation and in cooperation with it to formulate a program of international action for its solution.
Third, to ask the League to establish a commission for the settlement in Palestine of as large a number of refugees as possible in line with the precedent created by the League of Nations in the matter of repatriation of Greek refugees when the Commission organized by the League of Nations as an independent commission was headed by an American.
AMERICA’S HELP ASKED
The resolution of the Zionist Organization of America also appeals to the American Government to support such plans as may be devised jointly by the League, the Mandatory Government and the Jewish Agency for Palestine for the solution of the present pressing problem brought about by persecution and economic discrimination.
In making the resolution public, Morris Rothenberg, President of the Zionist Organization, referred to it as “a document which may inaugurate an action that will be historic in character.” The full text of the resolution reads:
“The tragic occurrences in Germany serve to place the Jewish problem in its specific aspect as an international question upon the agenda for immedicate consideration. The new German Government, disregarding the Constutional rights of individuals and groups, deliberately and without shame has adopted a relentless policy of depriving its Jewish citizens of all classes of their fundamental civic, political and economic #ights. It is proceeding with its program with a ruthlessness that #rings to life again the barbarism of ##edieval times.
“Never before have the heavy clouds of anti-Semitism so darkened the perspective of Jewish life as they do today. Conditions are being created that lead inevitably to a dislocation of Jewish life, producing immediate indigence and misery and leading to simultaneous flight to points of refuge that are not available. Thousands of expatriated Jews clutter the highways of Europe, presenting a spectacle of human suffering shocking to humanity and civilization.
ZIONISTS WILL RESIST
“These conditions of mass despair and hopelessness affecting countless Jews must receive the immediate attention not only of organized Jewry, but also of every civilized nation imbued with feelings of humanity.
“The Zionist Organization stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jews of the world in defense of the elementary rights of Jews everywhere. ###ill resist to the utmost of its ### all infringement upon the Jewish status in the lands of the Diaspora. It will protest with all the moral power it possesses against the brutalities and inhumanities connected with their displacement in the various lands, of Eastern and Central Europe. But without relinquishing any of their rights in the lands of their birth or adoption, the time has come for the Jewish people to appeal to the peoples of the world to consider in what manner the Jewish National Home may serve for the immediate relief of the appalling conditions that have been created by the forces of anti-Semitism.
“The founder of the Zionist Organization, Theodor Herzl, declared that the Jewish problem in its essence is not only the concern and interest of the Jewish people, but represents an issue and a problem which affect the peace and stability of the entire world. The formula for the solution of the Jewish problem was contained within the Basle Program and an appeal was made therein to world Jewry for self-help and self-emancipation, and to the people of the world for sympathy and effective cooperation. The Zionist proposal that a National Home be established in Palestine became a formal actuality in 1917 when the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration. This Declaration was finally embodied in the Mandate given to the British Government by the League of Nations.
“Through the adoption by the American Congress of a joint resolution endorsing the purposes of the Balfour Declaration the American people expressed their sympathy with the rebuilding of a National Home in Palestine for the Jewish people. Under the protection of the Mandate there has developed in Palestine a settlement in which 200,000 Jews are living under conditions of freedom upon foundations of self-support and labor. The National Home is the objective of the Jewish people who see in Zion rebuilt the fulfillment of prophecy and destiny, and it is also the focal point for countless Jews, rendered homeless by forces of racial hatred.
WORLD ACTION REQUIRED
“Palestine is now the only land of opportunity open to the victims of unexpected and violent eruptions which bring about wholesale displacement of masses of Jews. These exiled people stand at every frontier clamoring for admittance, constituting a problem which no individual nation has undertaken to solve and satisfy.
“Since the disturbing problem is not of Jewish making and it affects the life of all nations, this is a matter which demands international action. It is called for not only as a measure of humanity and salvation for homeless Jews, but will serve partially to release the world from the evils of race-hatred and prejudice which menace its peace and welfare. It calls for the cooperation of the Mandatory Government and the League of Nations and of all associations interested in international peace in the steps to be taken for the prompt consideration of the problems involved in this tragic situation.
“In the light of these facts, the Zionist Organization of America calls upon the Executive of the Jewish Agency:
“First: That it approach the Mandatory Government, which has shown evidence of a deep understanding of the problem that confronts the Jewish people at this crucial hour, to make possible the immediate admittance into Palestine of a maximum number of refugees.
LEAGUE ASKED TO ACT
“Second: That it appeal to the Mandatory Government to submit to the League of Nations the facts in the present Jewish situation, and in cooperation with it to formulate a program of international action in line with such precedents as have been created by the League of Nations for dealing with expatriated peoples and their removal to territories in which they may be able to live in freedom and equal opportunity.
“Third: That it appeal to the Mandatory Government to call upon the League of Nations to organize and establish a commission, on which the United States be invited to be represented, with power to undertake the execution of a plan for the settlement in Palestine of as large a number of Jews as Palestine may be placed in a position to absorb; and that such commission be given authority by the League of Nations, in cooperation with the Mandatory Government and the Jewish Agency for Palestine, to find the means to finance the operation.
“Fourth: Bearing in mind the support given to the Zionist cause at various occasions by the American Government, and especially through the joint resolution adopted by the American Congress, and subsequently expressed in a special treaty entered into between the United States and the Mandatory Government for Palestine, the Zionist Organization of America appeals to the American Government to give its support and cooperation to such plans as may come through the joint action of the League of Nations, the Mandatory Government and the Jewish Agency for Palestine, for the solution of the pressing problem arising out of present conditions in Jewish life.”
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.
