A Week’s Events in Review

A colorful group of six outstanding Jewish leaders arrived from Europe this week in connection with various important Jewish conferences which are to begin next week and the outcome of which will be of importance to the oppressed Jews in Europe and to Jewish work in Palestine.

The six are Neville Laski, president of the Beard of Jewish Deputies; Dr. Maurice Hexter and Berl Locker, members of the Executive of the Jewish Agency; Dr. Bernard Kahn, European director of the Joint Distribution Committee; Dr. Joseph Rosen, director of the Agro-Joint in Soviet Russia, and Dr. M. Nurok, a leading figure in the World Mizrachi movement.

While some of the visitors came here to participate in the sessions of the Administrative Committee of the Jewish Agency, which opens in New York on December 31, others—especially Dr. Kahn and Dr. Rosen—have come with plans to advise American Jewry what it can and should do for the suffering Jews of Poland, Germany, Austria and other countries.

GOLDSMID, BRODETSKY ABSENCES MISSED

Regret is felt in various Jewish circles that Sir Osmond d’Avigdor Goldsmid, one of the outstanding leaders in British Jewry and president of the Jewish Colonization Association, was prevented by illness from coming to the United States. At the same time, surprise is expressed that Professor Selig Brodetsky, one of the most able members of the Executive of the Jewish Agency, has also failed to come to New York.

The absence of Professor Brodetsky from the sessions of the Administrative Committee will be regretted by the many who expect to get a clear picture of the political problems concerning Palestine. Professor Brodetsky, head of the political department of the Jewish Agency in London and spokesman for the Jewish Agency in the Colonial Office, could tell members of the Administrative Committee many details which would throw proper light on present relations between the Jewish Agency and the mandatory power, and which would also disperse the existing belief that the Executive of the Jewish Agency has no influence whatsoever on the Palestine government and on its plans.

SESSIONS WILL DISCUSS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

Whether the real reason for Professor Brodetsky’s absence is the one which is officially given, or whether there are other motives which caused him to cancel his trip to the United States at the eleventh hour, it will be quite correct to say that the sessions will not be complete without a detailed report on the exact political situation of the Jews in Palestine.

There are so many political questions in which the American members of the Administrative Committee are interested that the presence of a representative from the political department of the Jewish Agency, either from Palestine or from London, would have made the sessions of the Committee more constructive.

One of the problems which will probably be seriously discussed will be that of the projected Legislative Council in Palestine. Though the establishment of a Legislative Council has been postponed, it is quite clear that the postponement is not for a long time. It is also clear that the postponement, coming as it did as a surprise to the Jewish Agency, was not directly a result of the opposition of the Agency, but was due rather to the new constellation in Palestine which resulted from Nashashibi’s defeat in the municipal elections.

NON-ZIONIST GROUP IN BETTER POSITION

Kept in the dark and never consulted officially by the Palestine government as to its opinion regarding the Legislative Council, the Executive of the Jewish Agency knows very little even now about the actual intentions of the government with regard to this project. The project may, however, affect Jewish interests in Palestine most seriously, since it would put the Jews on the status of a national minority in their own country and would enable the Arabs to enact certain legislative measures which would hinder the growth of the Jews there and would, first of all, make it more difficult for Jews to become Palestininan citizens.

It is for this reason that the Administrative Committee of the Jewish Agency, when opening its sessions in New York next week, may like to know exactly how the matter of the Legislative Council stands. The Administrative Committee may also like to know what the Executive is doing to check speculation in Palestine, which has assumed most dangerous proportions.

For the first time these sessions of the Administrative Committee of the Jewish Agency are being held on American soil. This places the non-Zionist section of the Jewish Agency in a much better position than when the sessions take place in Europe. Contrary to the case in Europe, the non-Zionist section of the Jewish Agency is much stronger in America than the Zionist section.

SEEK THE TRUTH OF SYRIAN NEGOTIATIONS

The question of strengthening the position of the non-Zionist members of the Palestine Executive and of appointing non-Zionist members to the London Executive may be brought up for discussion at the present sessions, since the non-Zionists are meagerly represented in the Jerusalem Executive and have no representation at all in London. This may become an important issue, especially since the agreement existing between the Zionists and the non-Zionists provides definitely that the non-Zionists are entitled to the same number of members in the Executive of the Jewish Agency as the Zionists.

The Administrative Committee of the Jewish Agency will hold its sessions in Executive, and it is difficult to predict as to whether the question of the settlement of the Jews in Syria will also be discussed there. It would, however, be interesting to know the entire truth as to why the negotiations for the admission of ten thousand Jews into Syria were conducted not by Zionists but by Jewish groups in Paris which have nothing to do with Zionism. It would also be of interest to know who is backing the plans for the settlement of Jews in Syria and who the Jewish groups are who last week bought the first twelve thousand dunams of land there.

PALESTINE MONEY MAY FLOW TO SYRIA

The interest in Jewish colonization in Syria is important not only because Syria adjoins Palestine, but also because a good deal of capital now lying idle in the banks of Palestine may be diverted by its owners to Syria. The flow of Jewish capital into Syria, not along lines which would be helpful to Palestine, may affect the present Palestine boom, especially since those Jews who migrate to Palestine as “capitalists” are more interested in business than in the idea of a Jewish national home.

The Syrian project may therefore be aired during the discussions. Similarly, other projects concerning Jewish migration into countries neighboring Palestine may provoke questions and discussion. The possibility of opening Transjordan for Jewish enterprise may also come up.

The sessions of the Administrative Committee next week will overshadow all other Jewish events. They will be followed by important conferences of the Joint Distribution Committee, the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Welfare Funds.