More than 550 delegates from all parts of the world meet in the Municipal Theater tomorrow evening in the first session of the 21st biennial World Zionist Congress, which will formulate a program of action against Britain s new Palestine policy.
The Congress opens three weeks before the sessions of the League of Nations Council and Assembly at which final action will be taken on the Mandatory Power’s plan to establish an independent Palestine state with the Jew relegated to the position of a one third minority their immigration halted after entry of 75,000 within five years.
Condemning the new policy as a breach of faith a violation of the mandate and the Balfour Declaration and a surrender to Arab terrorism the Congress will give its chief attention to discussing tactics to be used in a campaign to seek rejection of the White Paper by the League at its September session and a further program of resistance in the event the League approves the British policy.
The preliminary conferences of the various Zionist factions represented at the Congress produced a division of opinion on the methods to be used in the fight against the White Paper Some of the Zionists, especially the Mizrachi, are determined to introduce in Palestine a policy of passive resistance similar to that employed by Gandhi in India Many Zionists believe that this program which carefully excludes everything that could lead to terrorism, would bring Jewish resistance to a point where it would not only render the White Paper ineffective but may even force Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald to resign.
Opposing this program, however are other groups in the Zionist movement which believe in a more moderate form of resistance. They argue that the international situation is such that Britain could hardly maintain an “anti Jewish” policy for any length of time in Palestine which is an important strategic point on the Mediterranean Hence it is argued it will not take long for the British Cabinet to realize that it must rectify the mistake represented by the White Paper and regain the friendship of the Jews as trusted elements able faithfully to guard the Palestine coastline from sabotage. It is held that Britain could not depend on the Arabs in the event of international complications.
This moderate viewpoint, which is based on the idea of marking time, is compared by its advocates to that of the Czechs in the German “protectorate.” Just as the situation which has been forced upon the Czech is not accepted by the Czech people, so the situation which Britain is forcing upon the Jews would remain “unaccepted” by the Jewish people until the opportunity arose to change it.
Leading members of the American delegation to the Congress served notice that they were opposed to non cooperation or passive resistance as a method of combating Britain’s policy although they were prepared to fight it by other means. Spokesmen for the delegation were Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver of Cleveland and Abraham Goldberg of New York.
Addressing a session of the General Zionist Confederation last night, Dr. Silver advised the Zionist world to wait for a more favorable turn in the international situation to aid the fight on the British policy, which he said, was the result of the general international situation. “We cannot accept the White Paper,” Dr. Silver said, “but nevertheless we must continue to cooperate with the Mandatory Government in order to avert chaos in Palestine and demoralization of cur work with the Palestine Jewish Community. Passive resistance will hurt none so much as ourselves. We must work in Palestine both with the British Government and the Arabs, or with one or the other Alone we face disaster.”
Mr. Goldberg declared the British policy could be combated if the Jews did not “give way to despair if we mobilize all our means and forces and if the Congress differentiates between the British people and the British Government.”
Leading the fight against the British policy will be Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, who in his opening address tomorrow evening, will appeal to Britain to reconsider her decision at the eleventh hour, before the League has the last word and take into consideration not only the Jews loyalty to England and the millions of dollars spent by Jews in converting Palestine into a prosperous country but also the present persecution of Jews in Central Europe and the need of millions of Jewish refugees and potential refugees for a land where they could be welcomed and absorbed.
With the Congress scheduled to last two weeks half of its time will be given to sessions behind closed doors at which important discussions will be held and decisions taken dealing with the Jewish fight in Palestine.
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.
