Cash and commitments to the total of $650,000 were presented to Rep. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., here today after he had told 500 participants in the New York State Regional conference of the United Jewish Appeal that “it is to the interest of the United States Government and every American that the courageous little democracy of Israel be given every possible assistance so that she will be economically strong and able to provide a sanctuary for every needy refugee reaching her shores.”
Morris W. Berinstein, chairman of the U.J.A. national campaign cabinet, who returned from Israel last week, told the conference that “the people of Israel are not starving, but they are on extremely short rations and only if our help comes through will they be able to continue to receive the homeless and tighten their belts to share what they have with the newcomers, for there aren’t many notches left in those belts to tighten.” He warned that the shortage of food supplies combined with a shortage of housing materials, “threatens to slow the absorption of tens of thousands of recent newcomers at a time when an additional 60,000 homeless Jews must be moved to the Jewish State from Eastern European and Moslem countries, including Roumania, Iran, Libya and other lands.”
Michael M. Nisselson, U.J.A. assistant executive vice-chairman, warned that “this is one of the darkest periods of Israel’s three-year history” but predicted that “with our help today Israel can go forward tomorrow. The situation,” Mr. Nisselson declared, “can be summed up in one phrase: Israel is long on immigration but short on food, shelter and dollars.”
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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.
