A total of 1,962 Jews left America to settle in Palestine during the last twelve months, according to a report to be submitted to the thirty-eighth annual convention of the Zionist Organization which opens this morning (Sunday) at the Ritz Carlon Hotel in Atlantic City.
Of this number, 1,601 entered Palestine as capitalists, bringing with them a total of not less than $5,500,000.
The average number of inquiries with regard to immigration into Palestine made by American Jews in the Palestine Department of the Zionist headquarters is given as 150 per week in the report which was compiled by Dr. S. Bernstein, director of the Palestine Office in New York.
The membership of the Zionist Organization of America has increased from 7,000 in 1932 to 18,000 in 1935, according to the presidential message which was to be delivered Saturday night by Morris Rothenberg, president, at a meeting of the national executive committee. The income of the Zionist Organization of America during the last twelve months was $112,000, according to Mr. Rothenberg.
The sum of $17,500 was sent to the World Zionist Executive in London for Shekolim. A total of $17,000 was expended during the year on The New Palestine, weekly organ of the Z.O.A.
Mr. Rothenberg, in his presidential message, reviews the achievements of the Jews in Palestine during the past year and recommends the complete reorganization of the structure of the Z.O.A. He also suggests a new form of representation in the Jewish Agency in order to make the latter a more effective instrument.
More than 400 deleagtes are expected to participate in the convention, which will last through July 2. Emphasizing the precarious position of the Jews in Germany and in Poland, Mr. Rothenberg finds that Palestine is now the only place where Jews can find refuge.
Mr. Rothenberg voices sharp opposition against the newly revived proposal of the Mandatory Power to establish a Legislative Council in Palestine. The time is not yet ripe for such an institution, Mr. Rothenberg says in his message. “A Legislative Council in which Jews will be a minority must be resisted by the Jewish people to the uttermost,” he emphasizes.
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.
