Jewish youth in Palestine was called upon today “to prepare for the greatest sacrifices for the fatefull days of decision which will come soon, when all Jewish rights and all Jewish might will be needed to defend our very existence.”
The call was issued by David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency, addressing a convention of the Jewish sport organization Maccabi, attended by 140 delegates representing 10,000 members of the Maccabi in Palestine.
“Our existence is threatened as never before,” Mr. Ben-Gurion said. “We, here, are now facing the most hostile regime which Palestine Jewry ever faced. All that is left for us is physical power.”
Mr. Ben-Gurion appealed to the Jews of Palestine to abandon their internal party differences and to adhere to the general Jewish interests in the country. The conference adopted a resolution against the Ichud party which advocates a bi-national state in Palestine. In another resolution, the conference expressed its support for the declaration adopted in New York at the Biltmore Conference advocating the establishment of Palestine as a Jewish Commenwealth after the war.
PALESTINE JEWS PRESENT PROPOSALS TO THE BERMUDA CONFERENCE
A number of proposals for consideration by the forthcoming Anglo-American conference on refugees which is scheduled to be held in Bermuda, were advanced here today, in behalf of the Jews of Palestine, by Isaac Ben-Zvi, president of the Jewish National Council.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Ben-Zvi stated that the Allied governments will not be able to state that they did everything possible to save Jews in Nazi lands if they continue to close their eyes to the fact that Palestine can absorb tens of thousands of Jewish victims from Nazi countries. Palestine Jews, he said, demand that the Bermuda Conference take the following steps.
1. The conference should unequivocally declare itself in favor of opening the gates of Palestine to shelter Jews escaping from Nazi-held territories and Nazi-dominated countries.
2. The conference should find a way to address the German government and the pro-Nazi governments of European countries for the purpose of securing from them exit permits for Jews.
3. The conference should secure a guarantee for neutral countries that the Jewish refugees who will be admitted will be maintained until the end of the war.
4. The conference should provide an effective plan for transportation of Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe to overseas countries.
“If these demands are not heeded by the Bermuda Conference, then all declarations of sympathy for Jews issued by the Allied Governments are worthless,” Mr. Ben-Zvi said.
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.
