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Meirson, Speaking to CJFWF Parley, Says Palestine Jews Need Urgent Aid from U.S.

January 26, 1948
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Mrs. Goldie Meirson, chief of the Jewish Agency political department in Jerusalem, who has Just arrived in the United States, told the l6th annual General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds that the Palestine Jews are a people upon whom war has been declared by the Arab world and predicted that they will be able to stand their ground if help is forth-coming from the Jews of America. "Jews the world over, particularly Jews in America, must do for us what the United States did for England When she stood alone," she said. "We are at war, but there is not a Jew in the Yishuv who does not believe we will win.

"Time is the most important factor in this issue," Mrs. Meirson continued. "The millions which we will get from American Jews in a few months means very little now what we can get at once will decide how well we can hold out." She said Palestine’s Jews need $25,000,000 to $30,000,000 immediately for defense purposes. She pointed out that the Palestine Jewish community itself has raised over $l6,400,000 for defense purposes. Special voluntary taxes raise $80,000 monthly now, and will he up to $100, 000 soon.

SLAWSON, EPSTEIN KOPKIND REPORT ON FIGHT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM

Dr. John Slawson, executive vice-president of the American Jewish Committee, warned the 650 delegates that although the organized forces of bigotry and anti-Semitism are presently at a low ebb, social discrimination of the "Gentleman’s Agreement" variety is far in excess of what might be expected in a democracy.

Henry Epstein, chairman of the National Community Relations Advisory Council, analyzed the recent report of President Truman’s Commission on Civil Rights, declaring that the fundamental principles embodied in America’s historical documents are weapons with which a democratic people can confront the philosophy of totalitarianism.

Bernard P. Kopkind of New Haven, vice-chairman of the NCRAC, reporting on the activities of his group, said that increasingly effective effective integration of Jewish community relations work was being brought about through continual strengthening of NCRAC, which is the national coordinating organization for community relations programs.

Stanley C. Myers of Miami was re-elected Council President for 1948.Others re-elected were: vice-presidents, Harold J. Goldenberg, Minneapolis, Robert J. Koshland, San Francisco, Samuel J. Schneirson, New York, and William Rosenwald, New York; secretary, Julian H. Krolik, Detroit; treasurer, Sylvan Gotshal, New York; and executive director, Harry L. Lurie.

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