British ‘a’ Unit Seeks to Mend Cracow Split

Hope that all General Zionists will combine again into one world organization before the forthcoming World Zionist Congress was expressed here by J. K. Goldbloom, chairman of the Executive of the English Zionist Federation and one of the leaders of the recently created General Zionist Confederation consisting of Group “A” Zionists who quit the World Union at Cracow.

The statement was made at a press conference called by the English Federation to hear reports of the Cracow Conference. Dealing with the reasons for the breakup of the Cracow Conference, another spokesman for the British Zionists said that this was because of differences on the following two issues:

“First, at the previous Conference of the Weltverband a pledge was given that in no circumstances would the question of a labor organization in Palestine be raised or prejudiced until the coming Congress. In spite of this,” the speaker declared, “there had been established in Palestine a General Zionists’ trade union, with the approval of the World Union. The Federations of Germany, Czecho-Slovakia, Latvia and Jugoslavia accordingly demanded a declaration that the General Zionists would not recognize or support this trade union, but, failing to get it, these Federations had retired from the World Union. Secondly, this new trade union (the Irgun) was demanding not only recognition from the General Zionists, but also the establishment of a special fund for General Zionist workers, a General Zionists’ Bank to support General Zionist colonization, and an organization of General Zionist employers who would bind themselves to employ only workers who accepted the General Zionist policy.

The English Federation could not agree to these demands, he said, and it was decided to form the new Confederated.

It was also disclosed at this conference that the Executive of the General Zionist Confederation has entered into informal negotiations with the leaders of the Histadruth with a view of obtaining some sort of autonomous rights within the Histadruth for the General Zionist workers.

The Provisional Executive of the Confederation, it was reported, would shortly issue a statement making their policy clear.

In the first place it would be emphasized that General Zionism must not be the prerequisite of any one class or group. Secondly, they stood for the upbuilding of Palestine in a planned and systematic way. Thirdly, they would demand that the youth be educated in Jewish culture under a centralized. Board under the control of the movement—not of any Party.