More than $20,680,000 were spent by the Jewish Agency, the Keren Hayesod and the Jewish National Fund for the development of Palestine during the last three years since the outbreak of the war in September, 1939, it was reported here today by Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, national chairman of the United Palestine Appeal. About one-half of this sum was spent by the Jewish National Fund for the purchase of land. The other half, provided by the Jewish Agency and the Karen Hayesod, was expended for transportation of refugees, colonization, labor, trade, industry, education, security and religious needs.
“It is a source of satisfaction to the United Palestine Appeal that through its channel the Jews of America contributed the largest percentage of $20,684,000 expended for every branch of development in Palestine since September, 1939,” Dr. Silver stated. In the past, some American Jews may have regarded themselves the benefactors of homeless refugees who had found freedom and opportunity in the Jewish National Home. Today all of us realize that we in America are the beneficiaries of the fighting capacities of the Jewish community in in Palestine, which is, unreservedly and with increasing resourcefulness, an invaluable ally in the conduct of the war.
“With the American armed forces represented today on the soil of the Jewish homeland in Palestine, it is all the more gratifying to the Jews of America that their generosity during the past quarter century, and particularly during the past three years of the war, helped to create in Palestine a reservoir of strength which is of inestimable importance today to the United States and to the United Nations as a whole. American soldiers stationed in Palestine alongside soldiers of other of the United Nations know that they are in the midst of a community which is not only wholeheartedly on their side, but which is sacrificing blood and treasure for a common cause.” Dr. Silver declared.
Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes will be the guest of honor at the meeting of the National Council of the United Palestine Appeal to be held in New York City at the Hotel Biltmore on December 6, it was announced by Dr. Silver. Mr. Ickes will address the assembled communal leaders on the importance of mobilizing all of the resources of American Jewry in support of the Jewish war effort 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.
