A meeting of opponents of the German Pro-Palestine Committee was held here, the invitation to the meeting being headed: “Germanism and the dangers of the Palestine work.” Dr. Simon was in the chair.
Dr. Rosenthal, the preacher of the Jewish Reform community in Berlin, said that the Palestine question was one of the most important in Jewish life. He admitted that Zionism had achieved a great deal in the upbuilding of Palestine. “The Zionist movement contains people who have given their whole lives to their ideals,” he said. “But Palestine is the Holy Land to non-Zionists too. It is a land of great memories and it is loved by all peoples. Before there was any Zionism upbuilding work had been carried on in Palestine. It is necessary to provide an existence for our unfortunate co-religionists in Eastern Europe. Apart from that, however, Judaism is solely adherence to the Jewish religion. The essential task of Judaism is to uphold the Jewish faith and to uphold it worthily among the peoples. A Jewish nationalism must in effect become anti-religious. It is impossible for us to recognize a Jewish nation. We agree with the work in Palestine so far as it does not presume a Jewish nationalism. We are not in Germany as guests, we are at home among the German people. Germany is our homeland, we are bound with our hearts’ blood to the German State and people. Zionism has rent German Jewry.”
Pastor Haack of Breslau said that Christianity and Judaism are two instruments which unite to give forth a harmonious praise to the Creator. There is nothing to divide Christian and Jew. He felt himself closer to his Jewish brother than to one who is only a nominal Christian. “The German Jews are part of the German people. In the War the Jews were the bravest of Germany’s soldiers. The anti-Semites brought up the question of race, contending that the Jews belonged to another race. If they were to divide the German people according to its various component races, they would split up the whole people into innumerable fractions,” he said. “Palestine is in any case not a Jewish State. It is under British administration, under the control of the League of Nations. It is tragic to see Jewry split into two parties. The Jewish religion alone can unite all Jewry. The Jewish people should go on in the straight way, not letting themselves be diverted either by the anti-Semites or by the Zionists,” he said.
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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.
