Palestine Labor Opens Campaign Against Non-zionists of Jewish Agency

A campaign against the non-Zionist members of the Jewish Agency has been opened here by the “Davar,” the daily newspaper which serves as the organ of Palestine labor.

The controversy, which marks the commencement of propaganda in connection with the next Zionist Congress, is concentrating on a line of argument aiming at showing that the non-Zionists have not justified the expectations of the Zionists and have not stimulated any influx of national capital into Palestine. In a long editorial, the “Davar” attempts to demonstrate that it was a mistake to share the responsibility of the Jewish Agency with non-Zionists, but that this error may still be rectified at the forthcoming Congress.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learns that the general Zionists of Palestine too, intend to raise, at the next Zionist Congress, the question of abolishing the so-called enlarged Jewish Agency, by dispensing with the non-Zionists. They hope thus to ensure that the work in Palestine will be conducted exclusively by Zionists.

Palestine Labor’s campaign against sharing the control of the Jewish Agency with non-Zionists may be traced to a disagreement between Labor and the non-Zionists over the question of the management of the Emergency Fund raised after the Palestine disturbances in 1929. The “Davar” claims that the Jews in Palestine have not had sufficient representation on, or influence over the disposition of the Fund. At the recent convention of the Palestine Labor Federation, a special report on this subject was submitted to the convention by Berl Katznelson, the editor of the “Davar.”

A resolution was subsequently adopted calling upon the Jews in Palestine to demand greater influence over the management of the Emergency Fund.