American Jewry is deeply concerned in the issues and problems facing the proposed enlarged Jewish Agency. In these terms David M. Bressler, acting chairman of the United Jewish Campaign of New York, expressed his attitude towards the Non-Zionist Conference to be held at the Biltmore Hotel, New York, on October 20-21 in a statement made public by the headquarters of the Non-Zionist Conference.
“There are problems which we cannot sidestep,” declared Mr. Bressler. “Immigration is one of them. Whatever our attitudes toward Palestine may have been before the war, they cannot remain the same in view of the change in the conditions of emigration and immigration now prevailing throughout the world. We know that the Jews of Eastern Europe are barred from the Western World, certainly for the time being. True, Palestine is not equipped to absorb large numbers of immigrants. Yet the settlement of even 100,000 more Jews there within the next ten years would mean substantial relief to their brethren in the lands of their origin.
“American Jewry particularly cannot remain blind to this problem. Our doors are closed to our co-religionists. In many instances they are closed to our near relatives. Moreover, we know something about immigration and about the scientific solution of the problems arising from it. Regarding the proper approach to the question of Palestinian immigration as one of the major functions of a re-organized Jewish Agency, as indicated in the recommendations of the Joint Palestine Survey Commission, I feel that the Non-Zionist Conference is of deep concern to the American to the American Jew irrespective of his point of view on political Zionism.
“Moreover, the human factor must be considered. There are in Palestine at this time something like 150,000 Jewish men, women and children. Their future and their security cannot and should not be jeopardized because of any such academic considerations as Zionism or Nationalism. Before everything else, they are human beings and Jews, striving with all that is best in them to achieve spiritual and economic independence. The report of the Joint Palestine Survey Commission contains a constructive program of great promise to the Jewish population of Palestine, and should make a strong appeal to forward-looking men and women of vision, be they Zionists or non-Zionists.”
Plans for the erection of a synagogue in Waycross, Ga. have been approved at a gathering of members of the Jewish community.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
