Three-power Decision on Palestine Urged by Dr. Silver at Hadassah Convention

The 30th annual convention of Hadassah opened today at the Hotel Cleveland with 500 delegates, representing 125,000 members, in attendance. The four-day meeting is expected to authorize a three-point program of Zionist political activity, post-war medical and child welfare work in Palestine and extension of the group’s war work and educational activities here.

Speaking at the evening session, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver declared that the United States, Britain and Russia must assume joint responsibility for settlement of the Palestine question. Palestine, Dr. Silver said, is not a British colony and it is questionable that in view of her experiences in the administration of the country in the past 25 years that she will be able, alone, to find a satisfactory solution.

Charging that continuation of the White Paper policy will produce impractical and futile plans for the resettlement of Jews after the war, Dr. Silver declared that a common policy with regard to Palestine by the major powers “would make possible a decisive solution, dictated by true statesmanship and backed by overwhelming authority. Together, they could brush aside all the tangled web of disingenuousness, legal shuffling and obstructionism with which a stodgy colonial bureaucracy has surrounded and almost stifled a noble and enkindling ideal. They would not only proclaim the Jewish Commonwealth but they would extend to it that material aid and credit which they will undoubtedly extend to other countries to assist them in building or rebuilding their national economy.”

Mrs. Moses P. Epstein, president of Hadassah, told the delegates in her presidential address, that Zionists have a right and duty to ask for a clear blueprint now, before final victory comes, on the Jewish problem. Rabbi Barnett Brickner, administrative chairman of the National Jewish Welfare Board, hailed the formation of the Jewish Brigade by Britain.

Presenting Hadassah’s annual financial report, Mrs. Samuel J. Rosensohn of New York, national treasurer, announced that the organization has received a total of $3,039,010 with which to carry on its Palestinian projects for the next 12 months. Of this sum, approximately $934,420 is for the work of the Hadassah Medical Organization; $1,230,834 is for the Youth Aliyah movement for the education and maintenance of Jewish refugee children; $223,223 for child welfare and vocational education work; and $445,229 for the Jewish National Fund for its land program.