The Palestine and Levant Trade Fair and Near East Exhibition was opened this afternoon at Tel Aviv by the Palestine High Commissioner, General Sir Arthur Wauchope, the opening being arranged as an official State ceremony, in the presence of all the heads of Palestine Government Departments, the foreign Consuls in Palestine, representatives of the Jewish organisations and institutions in Palestine, and deputations on behalf of foreign Governments, and foreign trade organisations. The flags of 24 different countries were flying over the main Exhibition hall, in which about 2,000 invited guests from all over Palestine had assembled.
In inspecting the pavilions, the High Commissioner said in his opening speech, after he had welcomed in the name of the Government the deputations present on behalf of foreign Governments, he had observed the variety and excellence of the local and foreign manufactures on exhibition. This Fair is another successful example of the energy and industry of the people of Tel Aviv, he continued. You have every right to be proud of it. But this Fair also fulfils a wider purpose, the High Commissioner went on, in showing what opportunities exist for the further development of commerce, industry and agriculture in Palestine.
TEL AVIV BECOMING CENTRE NOT ONLY OF PALESTINE JEWRY BUT OF ALL JEWRY MAYOR OF TEL AVIV SAYS: PREVIOUS FAIRS WERE ONLY PALESTINIAN BUT PRESENT FAIR IS INTERNATIONAL
Mr. Mayer Dizengoff, the Mayor of Tel Aviv, who had preceded the High Commissioner, by announcing the opening from the radio station building in the Fair, the first Febrew broadcasting station in the world, dwelt on the significance of three events, the recent big Purim festivities held in the town, the Maccabiade, which has just concluded, and now the Levant Fair, and said that all three were linked together, and went to prove what great and youthful creative forces they had there, and that it was only necessary to organise and direct them.
Tel Aviv is becoming the centre not only of Palestine Jewry, but of all Jewry, Mr. Dizengoff claimed.
This Fair is international, he pointed out, while all the previous trade Fairs held in Palestine had been exclusively Palestinian. There are in this Fair 1,200 exhibitors from 24 countries, compared with 609 at the previous Fair, he said, and the following Governments are officially represented: Palestine, Egypt, Switzerland, Russia, Cyppus, Roumania, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Poland. British industries are very largely represented.
Mr. Dizengoff welcomed the visitors in the name of the town and thanked the High Commissioner for the interest he was taking in the Fair and for acting as its Patron. He also thanked the Palestine Government Departments for the assistance they had given to the organisers of the Fair.
He concluded by asking the visitors from other countries to convey to the Jews of the Diaspora the happiness of the Jews of Palestine, that they were there in their Fatherland, building their national home.
The speeches delivered by the High Commissioner and by the Mayor were both translated into all the three official languages of the country, English, Hebrew and Arabic.
A message was read out to the gathering from Sir Ronald Storrs, the Governor of Cyprus, and former Governor of Jerusalem, who during his period of office, helped a great deal in advancing Palestine commercial interests.
The military orchestra closed the proceedings by playing the British national anthem and then the Hatikvah.
The Polish Consul-General in Palestine, speaking at the opening of the Polish Pavilion in the Levant Fair, expressed himself enthusiastically about the upbuilding work in Palestine and stressed the important part played by Polish Jews in the upbuilding of Tel Aviv.
The United States Consul-General also praised the Jewish achievements in Palestine when he spoke to-night at a reception given to six hundred General Zionist tourists. His recent tour of Palestine had convinced him, the Consul-General said, of the great Jewish achievements in Palestine, both economic and spiritual.
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.
