Palestine Parley Urges Creation of Commonwealth; Backs ‘all Out’ Aid for Britain

Concluding its two-day session the National Conference for Palestine today unanimously adopted a resolution urging establishment of Palestine as a Jewish commonwealth, supporting America’s “all-out” aid policy for Great Britain, criticizing the Churchill Government’s failure to abrogate the White Paper restricting immigration and land sales, and urging eradication of all racial, religious and national discrimination at the termination of the war.

The resolution said creation of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine would make possible large-scale colonization by Jewish refugees after the war. Expressing profound regret at the continuance of the White Paper policy despite the change in the British Government, the resolution called for an end to “this injustice to the Jewish people.” It asked Britain to “open of the gates of Palestine to those Jewish refugees who turn to Palestine as their only hope of salvation, to remove the discrimination against Jews entailed in the land transfer regulations so that Jewish colonization may proceed unimpeded as contemplated in the mandate for Palestine.”

The resolution also expressed gratification on at the “splendid contribution of the Jews of Palestine by providing nearly 8,000 volunteers for service in the British Army,” and demanded that Great Britain make possible the establishment of “a suitable Jewish military force for service in the struggle for democracy and for the defense of Palestine.”

The conference, held at the Hotel Willard with the participation of some 1,500 delegates from all parts of the country, elected Dr. Abba Hillel Silver as National Chairman of the United Palestine Appeal’s $12,000,000 campaign and of the National Conference for Palestine. Prof. Albert Einstein, Governor Herbert H. Lehman, Judge Julian Mack, Henry Monsky, Nathan Straus and Henrietta Szold were named honorary chairmen. Dr. Stephan S. Wise was elected chairman of the Administrative Committee, and Louis Lipsky chairman of the Executive Committee. National co-chairmen named were: Dr. Solomon Goldman, Dr. Israel Goldstein, E.I. Kaufmann and Judge Morris Rothenberg. Charles J. Rosen bloom was elected treasurer and Abraham L. Liebovitz and Jacob Sincoff assistant treasurers. The following were named vice-chairmen: Rabbi Barnett R. Brickner, Leon Gellman, Rabbi James G. Heller, Rabbi Edward L. Israel, Judge Louis E. Levinthal, Charles Reiss, Elihu D. Stone, Joseph Weingarten and David Wertheim.

The conference heard messages of encouragement from President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Secretary of Navy Frank Knox, Governor Lehman, U.S. Housing Administrator Nathan Straus, Jewish Agency President Chaim Weizmann, who said he would be in this country within a few weeks; British Minister Nevile M. Butler, Secretary for India Leopold S. Amery, Lord Robert Cecil, Viscount Samuel, Col. Josiah Wedgwood, Lord Snell.

Addressing the banquet session which marked the close of the conference, House Majority Leader John W. McCormack urged the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine and scored “appeasement policies” which restricted immigration and colonization. Declaring “appeasement in Jerusalem is no less wrong than appeasement at Munich,” McCormack said Jewish sacrifices and achievements in Palestine and the Jewish “tragic homelessness,” made it imperative that opportunities be granted to tens of thousands of Jewish victims of oppression and persecution to enter Palestine “as a matter of right.”

Earlier, the conference heard Federal Security Administrator Paul V. McNutt hail Palestine as a symbol of the world-wide struggle of the democracies for survival, and Dr. Bernard Joseph, legal advisor to the Jewish Agency, made a first-hand report of the homeland’s war effort.

Drawing a parallel between the development of Palestine and the struggle of “new” democracy against the “age-old” forces of tyranny and greed, McNutt declared the building of a haven and refuge for the oppressed was an expression of an ideal held by all freedom loving men regardless of race, religion or nationality. He emphasized that he saw “no divided loyalty or hyphenated Americanism in your support of Palestine,” adding: “It is a cause all can support, not as Zionists, not as Jews, not even as Americans, but as freedom loving men and women.”

Dr. Joseph told the delegates that Palestine had suffered practically no material damage in the Italian air raids and that the morale of the population remained at a high level. “Although several hundred people were killed and wounded in air raids in Tel Aviv and Haifa, our general impression is that the Italians are pretty poor shots.” he said.

The speaker, who came to the conference direct from Palestine via Trans-Pacific Clipper, said the news that the policy of appeasement had been abandoned had apparently not yet reached the British Palestine Administration, which does not each the fine, uplifting spirit and high moral tone of the utterances of Winston Churchill. “But we firmly believe that when victory crowns the British efforts and the new world order is set up, justice will be done to the Jews by granting them their national liberty in their ancient homeland.”

Dr. Joseph reported that 136,000 men and women registered for military service with the British in Palestine and 8,000 of them were now serving with distinction on all battle fronts. He urged that the British take advantage of the offer to raise and equip a force of 40,000 young men to fight as a Palestine Army Corps.

Earlier in the day, a meeting of delegates from youth organizations represented at the conference voted the establishment of a National Youth Conference for the U.P.A., designed to encourage participation of Palestine-minded youth in the 1941 fund drive.

At the opening session last night, speakers called for “all-out” support of the Jewish homeland by raising of the U.P.A.’s quota of $12,000,000 towards the total Palestine budget of $13,640,000. The keynote was sounded by Dr. Silver and echoed by Dr. Goldman, Mr. Lipsky and Dr. Goldstein.

At the same time, Dr. Silver attacked the administration of the United Jewish Appeal, from which he said the U.P.A. had withdrawn because of a failure to grant Palestine a fair share of the total contributions. Reviewing events leading up to the split of the U.J.A., the speaker laid the blame for “niggardly” treatment of Palestine on the influence of “our philanthropic potentates and their professional henchmen” who, he charged, opposed Palestine as a visionary scheme.

Contending that events in Europe had proved the fallibility of “the practical schemes of territorialists,” he referred sarcastically to the Dominican Republic project, declaring that 100,000 “hypothetical settlers” there had received more publicity than the 550,000 actual settlers in Palestine. He termed Jews who failed to contribute to Palestine support because of non-Zionist views “traitors” and expressed the conviction that “the Zionist movement will be able to take care of its own needs.”

Expressing doubt that the Welfare Council’s probe of Jewish organization budget requirements would be successful because it aimed to set itself up as “a national budget authority,” Dr. Silver revealed he had urged the committee merely to report its findings and recommendations at the Atlanta conference next week and await the reaction of American Jewry before taking any positive action.

The Palestine budget, cabled from Jerusalem, as read by Dr. Silver, provides that in 1941 the Jewish Agency receive $7,647,000 and the Jewish National Fund $6,000,000. Broken down, the Agency budget calls for expenditures of $720,000 for relief, training and immigration; $1,900,000 for maintenance and development of existing agricultural communities and establishment of additional colonies; $1,000,000 for support of the citrus industry, hard hit by wartime restriction of exports; $1,400,000 for public works and other measures to counteract unemployment; $300,000 for vocational training; $320,000 for fisheries development, pilot and seaman training and Tel Aviv harbor development; $400,000 for education and research, and the balance for administrative expenses.

The JNF budget calls for $3,840,000 for land purchase, $616,000 for reclamation and improvements and $1,480,000 for payments on land now occupied.

Other resolutions approved by the conference called for establishment of joint Zionist councils throughout the country to bring about the greatest possible unified effort on behalf of the Palestine campaign; paid tribute to the leadership of Dr. Silver; lauded the resolution and courage of the Palestine Community under the trials of war and expressed gratitude to the daily and Jewish press for their aid in placing the cause of Palestine before the public.