A League for the Defense of Yiddish in Palestine was organized this week at a meeting of Yiddish writers’ and workers’ representatives, it was announced Friday. Ephraim Auerbach, Yiddish poet, was elected president of the new group, and #ezalel Sherman was elected secretary.
An executive committee consisting of J. Apatoshu, Abraham Raisin, Dr. J. Shatzky, A. Glantz, P. Goldman, B. Dvorkin, A. Volliner, Z. Weinper, P. Zangwill, J. Jaffe, M. Mentschel and P. Seigel was also elected at the meeting.
Mr. Apatoshu and editor Sherman of the magazine, “Proletarian Thought,” who were in Palestine recently, described the manner in which Yiddish was discriminated against there, despite the fact that the Jewish masses spoke Yiddish. They also told of the policy of isolatior employed against writers of Yiddish.
The immediate reason for the organization of the league was the ousting of the Jewish lawyer Rafalkes from the executive body of the Tel Aviv lawyers’ association on the ground that he is the editor of a Yiddish fortnightly paper, Naye Welt.
The ousting of Rafalkes had its repercussions here in New York when local Yiddishists picketed the recent convention of the Gewerk-schaften Campaign, protesting against the suppression of Yiddish in Palestine. A tumult was created in the convention itself and Zalman Rubashow, associate editor of Davar, Palestine labor daily, was prevented from speaking for some time.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
