Action on major issues affecting the future status of the Zionist movement and its relationship to the State of Israel will be taken at the 54th annual convention of the Zionist Organization of America which opens here tomorrow. More than 1,500 delegates from all parts of the country are expected to attend the four day sessions.
The issues to be discussed will take on special significance in view of the fact that the convention meets on the eve of the forthcoming World Zionist Congress. Among the major items on the agonda are: the future of the world Zionist movement’s structure, the role of the Z.O.A. on the American scene, and increased aid of American Jewry to Israel.
Paying tribute to the role of the Zionist Organization of America in the creation of the State of Israel and in safeguarding its future existence, three members of President Truman’s Cabinet-Oscar Chapman, Secretary of the Interior, Charles F. Brannan, Secretary of Agriculture and Charles Sawyer, Secretary of Commerce–voiced confidence that Israel will overcome its economic difficulties with the help of America.
Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman, expressing his appreciation “as an American, for the great work the Z.O.A. has done on behalf of the State of Israel,” declared: “Israel’s achievements in the few short years of its existence has been an inspiration to the troubled world. Its accomplishments in establishing the now nation on the firm foundation of democracy merits the acclaim and wholehearted support of all men of good will.” The Secretary of the Interior further voiced confidence that the Z.O.A.’s efforts will not diminish in the years to come. “Your aid to Israel will result in strengthening the cause of freedom throughout the world.”
ISRAEL’S ACHIEVEMENTS LAUDED; ECONOMIC PROGRESS PREDICTED
From Secretary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannon came the message that the United States and other democratic nations of the world “look with deep interest and sympathy upon the magnificent efforts the now State of Israel is making to solve not only the heavy problem inherent in the birth of a nation, but in addition, to provide a homeland for hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from other countries.” Secretary Brannan emphasized the fact that “within recent months the United States and Israel governments have concluded a Point Four general agreement under which American exports will cooperate with Israel personnel in programs of economic development.”
While listing Israel’s economic accomplishments in the last three years, Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer, however, asserted that Israel is still confronted with difficult tasks before it can establish itself as a “productive economic member in the family of free nations.” The Cabinet official said that “the new nation had progressed steadily from dependence on emergency-relief to an interim program of large scale public works,” and “in recent months to a businesslike basis of conducting its economic affairs.” He voiced doop conviction that Israel, “with the help of the Zionist Organization of American, will achieve whatever is needed for economic progress.”
The wholehearted support of the entire American labor movement to the struggle which Israel is waging “to achieve peace, security and progress for its people” was pledged in messages by William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, and Philip Murray, president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
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.
