J. D. B. News Letter

Dr. S. J. Alkalay, president of the Sephardic Community of Belgrade, urged, in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency representative here, that the Sephardic Jews should be given greater consideration in the matter of their participation in the Jewish Agency.

“We Sephardim,” Dr. Alkalay said, “number one and a half million souls and represent a considerable part of the Jewish people. I cannot understand the prejudice which appears to exist in the Zionist Organization against the Sephardim. Sephardic Jewry is taking an ever-increasing interest in the upbuilding work in Palestine. Yet they are being practically ignored by the Zionist Organization. This is the more remarkable, since the Sephardim are best suited for the colonization work in Palestine. They are accustomed to hard work, and their needs are few. Coming as they do from Arabic centers, they are also better able to live together with the Arabs than are the Ashkenazim.

“The Zionists appear to regard the Sephardic as an inferior element,” Dr. Alkalay continued. “Although an agreement was concluded more than a year ago between the World Union of Sephardic Jews and the Zionist Executive, under which the Executive undertook to take consideration of the Sephardic elements in colonization, immigration and the distribution of positions, nothing has, nevertheless, been done. I know that we shall be told that owing to the financial difficulties it has been impossible to do anything on behalf of the Sephardim. I should accept this explanation had nothing been done during the same period for the Ashkenazim. The government has now been granted new certificates for immigration, but I am certain that this time, too, no Sephardim will be brought in, although it is cheaper to settle two Sephardim than one Askenaz. If it is wished to colonize Palestine more rapidly and to achieve a Jewish majority there, there is no more effective method than the settlement of Sephardim.

“We hope the Jewish Agency will bring about a change in the situation. The report of the experts showed that they understand what is necessary to insure the sound and reasonable development of the upbuilding work. We are, therefore, anxious to be adequately represented in the Jewish Agency, so that we should be able to give proper attention to the interests of the Sephardim, which are identical with the best interests of Palestine,” Dr. Alkalay stated.