Two Viewpoints on Histadruth

published in the Bulletin of the Welfare Federation, rather than by your biased criticism.

The very report of the Welfare Federation from which you take your text speaks of the activities the Histadruth for which the Gewerkschaften Campaign collects its funds in this country, as follows:

“With the money raised through the National Labor Committee, the Federation of Jewish Labor in Palestine has provided modern agricultural and industrial tools and machinery for its cooperatives, built homes and community centers, established and maintained hospitals and sanitaria, schools and libraries, as well as a great variety of other welfare, agricultural and cooperative institutions. In addition, the Histadruth Hayoim has assisted in the care of thousands of Jewish immigrants to Palestine, teaching the newcomers manual trades, providing them with employment on farms and in factories, ministering to their health and spiritual needs and helping them to develop into useful citizens of their new homeland.”

Isaac Hamlin.

National Labor Committee for the Jewish Workers in Palestine

National Secretary.

New York, N. Y.,

Jan. 19, 1935.

druth, fortifying its political hold on the Zionist Organization.

Mr. Louis Lipsky years ago had already repeatedly and publicly taken a stand against these special drives. This point has not been pressed since the Zionists joined with the Joint Distribution Committee in a common appeal, the Zionists obviously not objecting if that part of the public which is particularly interested in Palestine makes its contribution to specific campaigns instead of to the United Jewish Appeal.

TAKES PART IN BUDGET WORK

The Labor Party, like the other parties, participates in the Zionist Congress in working out the budget of the Jewish Agency. But instead of devoting their entire energy to secure the budget, they devote themselves to specific drives launched under the auspices of their party. This is unquestionably an untenable position if maintained by a party which at this time controls the Executive of the Jewish Agency. It is somewhat different with a party like the Mizrachi which is anxious to maintain a school system in Palestine conducted on the basis of Jewish religion and tradition, while the feature which characterizes the Histadruth school system is rather negative from a Jewish viewpoint, being opposed to the fostering of a Jewish religious spirit. Mr. Shertok,. Histadruth member of the Zionist Executive, refused in court to take an oath on the Bible.

It would be more comprehensible if the National Labor Committee confined itself to obtaining funds from the working class which might not readily participate in a general drive, and also if it would turn over the funds to the Jewish Agency for administration and distribution.

SUBTERFUGE CHARGED

The National Labor Committee makes itself guilty of intellectual dishonesty when it says: “As to the justification of our work in this country, we prefer to stand by the impartial statement published in the Bulletin of the Welfare Federation.”

However, the Bulletin of the National Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds explicitly states “that the reports issued by them are based, for the most part, upon information contained in the reports and financial statements of the respective organizations. No attempt is made to evaluate the functions and budgetary requirements of these agencies.”

BASED ON HISTADRUTH REPORT

It is obvious from this forward that the report to which the National Labor Committee refers is based on the statement of the National Labor Committee itself and does not originate with the National Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, and is not based on the Council’s own study of the work performed by the Histadruth in Palestine.

The stand taken by the Jewish Daily Bulletin is in no wise due to any antagonism to the labor element in Palestine. Quite the contrary. The Jewish workman in Palestine is the most vital asset the country possesses and without a Jewish labor class in Palestine Zionism would be meaningless. Fullest appreciation of the value of the labor element in Palestine does not imply approval of each and everyone of the activities or policies pursued by the Histadruth. The Bulletin’s criticisms are based on the abuses which the control of the Histadruth over the Executive has brought about, leading to one-sidedness in many directions, and its argument against special drives are based on the abuses which the control of the Histadruth over the Executive has brought: about, leading to one-sidedness in many directions, and its argument against special drives are based on the recognition that it is bound to lead to unnecessary overlapping and duplication and waste of funds caused by the maintenance of special campaign organizations.

A complete understanding of the work performed in Palestine with the funds raised in the United States would be possible only if the statement of the National Labor Committee disclosed what funds are being raised in other countries and are derived from the membership dues of the Histadruth. It would then be possible to judge whether the sums spent on Workers’ Communal Buildings and sanitariums could not be taken care of from the funds obtained by the Histadruth from the Jewish workingmen in Palestine.

The good of Palestine will be more effectively promoted if a feeling of a spirit of self-reliance is instilled in the Jewish population instead of there being created a situation in which funds are collected from abroad even when they can be obtained in Palestine.