Between the Lines

The organization department of the World Zionist Executive —the least important department in that body—is now causing the Zionist movement the most trouble.

While the political department, which is headed by Prof. Brodetsky in London and by Ben-Gurion and Shertok in Palestine, will be in a position to come to the next Congress with reports of positive achievements, and while this will also be true with regard to the immigration department, headed by Isaac Gruenbaum, and the financial department, headed by Eliezer Kaplan, the organization department of which Berl Locker is the head, will come to the next Congress with nothing but a negative record.

SPLITTING INSTEAD OF UNITING

The organization department, whose function is to see that the Zionist ranks are united and strong, has done nothing this year but antagonize and split the movement. Instead of finding ways to achieve peace with the Revisionists, the Mizrachi and with certain elements of the General Zionists, Mr. Locker has occupied himself with hatching all kinds of schemes for widening the gap between the different Zionist groups.

The “achievements” of the organization department at the present moment are:

1. The ousting of the Revisionists from the Zionist Organization.

2. A serious fight with the General Zionists in Poland who are refused the privilege of being considered a Sonderverband—a privilege which was granted the small Laborite group of Hashomer Hazair, but which Mr. Locker was unwilling to grant the General Zionists.

3. A conflict wtih the Mizrachi, the orthodox Zionist party.

4. A spirit of antagonism towards the non-Zionists in the Jewish Agency, which Mr. Locker has done his best to spread through confidential circulars and through his speeches at the last session of the Actions Committee.

“ACHIEVEMENTS” AND ACHIEVEMENTS

All these “achievements” of the organization department of the Zionist Executive come into relief when contrasted with the real achievements of the other departments. While the organization department has nothing to show but accomplishments of a negative character, the political department can justly boast of its success in obtaining the postponement of the establishment of a legislative assembly; the colonization department can point with pride to the Huleh deal; the financial department to the large loan obtained for the first time by the Zionist Organization from private bankers; the department for settling German Jews can boast of bringing not less than 23,000 Jews from Germany into Palestine; the immigration department, too, can show to its credit a larger number of certificates received and an exceptionally large number of Jewish immigrants.

A TASK FOR CONGRESS

The failure of the organization department to keep in step with the other departments of the Zionist Organization would under other circumstances no doubt be a matter of serious discussion before the forthcoming Zionist Congress. Much criticism would no doubt be voiced against this department and against Mr. Locker who is responsible for the polices pursued by it.

With the next Zionist Congress, however, being for the first time a gathering in which the opposition will not be represented, the organization department may get away with all its defects, although everyone in the Zionist Organization knows the organization department is the weakest spot in the Zionist machinery, and that instead of organizing, this department has disorganized the Zionist ranks.