tional and religious rights on the lines which he laid down at a meeting arranged by Jewish students in Paris in June, 1919, soon after the Versailles peace conference.
DECRIES ANTI-SEMITISM
Speaking on anti-Semitism, Professor Masaryk recently said “it is a sore upon the body of humanity. It harms and demoralizes people and makes them raw. Materially it does not harm the Jews. At most it may harm them morally in the negative sense only, insofar as it makes them sharpen their wits to overcome anti-Semitism socially and religiously.”
President Masaryk has on many occasions declared his support of the Zionist movement and the Jewish national home in Palestine, emphasizing in particular its moral value as a Jewish regeneration movement.
During the war, when he was in the United States, Professor Masaryk gave his support publicly to the idea of the Jewish restoration in Palestine. In 1927 he demonstrated his interest by paying an official visit to Palestine, the first head of any European state to do so. He toured the Jewish colonies and discussed conditions with the leaders of the Zionist movement.
During the Hitler regime he condemned the anti-Jewish legislation in Germany and was the first statesman to demand that the League of Nations act to protect the Jews.
Dr. John Finley will be chairman of the dinner tonight. Speakers will include Dr. Ferdinand Veverka, Czechoslovakian Minister at Washington; Bernard S. Deutsch, president of the Board of Aldermen; Prof. James T. Shot-well, Walter Damrosch, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and E. O. Tabor of Pittsburgh.
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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.