ZOA and Hadassah Conventions Review Zionist War-time Activities in America

War-time progress of Zionist activities in the United States and the contributions made by the Zionist movement in America to the war effort of the United Nations, were reviewed here today at the opening sessions of the annual conventions of the Zionist Organization of America and of the Hadassah which are being held at the Hotel New Yorker and Hotel Pennsylvania, respectively.

Pledging “fullest support and cooperation to the United Nations and to the commander-in-chief, President Roosevelt in this national crisis, “the 1,000 delegates attending the opening convention session of Hadassah, adopted a resolution recommending complete mobilization of the group’s 105,000 senior and junior members “in every phase of the war effort.”

Reports presented to the convention of the Zionist Organization of America emphasized that despite their preoccupation with the war needs of the United States, members of the ZOA continued large scale Zionist activities. More than 11,000 new members joined the organization in the courses of the year, and for the first time in the history of the Zionist movement, the ZOA has achieved a membership of 50,000. The deficit of the organization has been reduced from $85,000, last year, to $35,000 at present.

Delegates to the ZOA convention also heard a report on the negotiations initiated by Dr. Weizmann with representatives of the American Jewish Committee, B’nai B’rith and Jewish Labor Committee for the purpose of arriving at an agreement on a unified program of action for American Jewry, particularly in regard to the post-war period. “A good deal of progress has been made in these discussions, but it is still uncertain whether it will be possible in the end to establish a complete identity of views,” the report emphasized.

The keynote address at the Hadassah convention was delivered by Mrs. David de Sola Pool, national president. She called upon the Zionist movement “to answer the cry of the Jewish masses for release from suffering” and pointed out that “no group has more at stake in the post-war world than the Jews.” Mrs. Nathan D. Perlman, American Affairs chairman of Hadassah, urged co-operation with nationally recognized groups that are studying post-war problems. She disclosed that 83 of Hadassah’s 600 chapters and groups have to date sold $2,631,514 worth of War Bonds and Stamps and that the organization expects to quadruple the total sales when final figures are in from the rest of the units.