The erection of a Students’ Hostel on Mount Scopus, to be an integral part of the Hebrew University, as a means of providing for the large numbers of persecuted Jewish students abroad who could continue their studies at the Jerusalem institution, is urged by the Hebrew University Students’ Organization as part of its appeal for ###ds for the project.
It is pointed out that growing anti-Semitism in Central and Eastern Europe, as reflected in the hostile attitude towards Jewish students in the principal universities, inevitably turns the thoughts of the harassed young men and women to the centre of higher Hebrew learning in Jerusalem. The normal development of the Hebrew University, and the great need or accommodation for the ever-increasing number of students anxious to come to Palestine, requires the creation of such economic and social conditions as would pave the way for their absorption here.
So far, little progress has been made towards the construction of an academic centre or Students’ Hostel, a kind of Fraternity House, on the summit of Mount Scopus, overlooking the ancient city of Jerusalem. Only a small amount of what is needed has so far been made available, £450 ($2,250 at par) from the Jewish Students’ Association in London and £150 ($750) from Sir Julien Cahn, of Loughborough, England. Much more is required for a commodious hostel.
There have been many applications of late at the Hebrew University from students abroad who wish to continue their courses amid tranquil and harmonious surroundings. One of the difficulties in settling such students here is the lack of suitable dwellings and the comparative high cost of those available. To that end, both the university authorities and the Students’ Organizations feel that a Students’ Hostel is a prime and essential need, particularly as a means of furthering their social welfare and promoting their social contacts.
“The link between the Diaspora and the Jewish population of Palestine will become stronger if world Jewish youth can be enabled to study in a comfortable environment and a peaceful atmosphere at the Hebrew University,” the students declare in their appeal. While it is realized that the present world-wide economic crisis makes it difficult to put up a palatial hostel, nevertheless the present time is considered the best for launching the project.
An area of land is available for the building on Mount Scopus. It was bequeathed to the Hebrew University for this purpose by the late Herbert Bentwich, M.A., the well-known Anglo-Jewish jurist, who died in Jerusalem last summer, and whose son, Professor Norman Bentwich, occupies the Chaim Weizmann Chair of International Relations at the University.
“An Academic Centre of World Jewish Youth on Mount Scopus” is the slogan of the campaign which the Hebrew University student body is launching to obtain most of the money for their future Fraternity House.
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