Political Work of Jewish Agency Remains of Supreme Importance Says Manifesto by New Zionist Executiv

The Executive of the Zionist Organisation, in assuming the duties and responsibilities entrusted to it by the Seventeenth Zionist Congress, has the honour to lay before you the main principles of its plans of work and to appeal for your whole-hearted cooperation, says a manifesto issued here to-day by the Executive of the Zionist World Organisation, signed by Mr. Nahum Sokolov, the President, and all the members, Dr. Ch. Arlosoroff, Dr. S. Brodetsky, ex-Deputy H. Farbstein, Mr. B. Locker, and Mr. Emanuel Neumann.

The political work of the Jewish Agency, the manifesto proceeds, remains of supreme importance to our movement. The Mandatory Power is preparing to take an active share in the economic life of Palestine, and it must be the first duty of the Executive to watch over the rights of the Jewish people as declared and safeguarded by the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate. Our confidence in the justice and wisdom of the Mandatory Power, and in the sacredness of international obligations, has not been destroyed by the calamities and disappointments of the past two years. The claim of the Jewish people to immigration free from artificial restrictions, to access to the land, and to unhampered economic, political and cultural development in Palestine, will be the basis of our negotiations with the representatives of Great Britain.

Prejudice and misunderstanding, it continues, still mar our relations with the Arab population of Palestine. The Statement of Policy of the new Executive, submitted at the last session of Congress, reiterated the unalterable desire of Jewry to bring about “peaceful relations and a rapprochement between Jews and Arabs in Palestine on the principle that, whatever the numerical strength of either people, neither shall dominate nor be dominated”. The Executive will devote careful attention to this problem, and will work patiently and untiringly to sweep away suspicion and distrust, so that Jews and Arabs may live in mutual respect and work in harmony for their common interest in the development of the land.

WILL DEVELOP BOTH NATIONAL AND PRIVATE MIDDLE-CLASS COLONISATION: ZIONIST ORGANISATION TO BE MADE NOT MERELY PIECE OF MACHINERY BUT GREAT JEWISH BROTHERHOOD: UNFAVOURABLE CIRCUMSTANCES COUPLED WITH TRAGIC LOSS BY DEATH PREVENTED ENLARGED JEWISH AGENCY DEVELOPING FULLY BUT EFFORTS WILL BE MADE TO TRANSFORM IT INTO POWERFUL INSTRUMENT OF CONSTRUCTIVE WORK: NEW EXECUTIVE CONSCIOUS OF ITS RESPONSIBILITY COMING AFTER HERZL’S VISION AND WEIZMANN’S POLITICAL GENIUS AND PRACTICAL ENERGY.

The Jewish National Home can only be built up on a foundation of productive work in agriculture, trade and industry. The ideal of physical labour in the cause of the Jewish national revival in Eretz Israel has been, and will continue to be, the mainspring of our activities and the source of inspiration to all Jews in every corner of the Dispersion. The Haluz who goes to Palestine and works on the soil or in the workshop, and the Jew, who, outside Palestine, helps to secure the financial resources required for our national task, must unite in mutual confidence to make our endeavours yield the best results. The fearless stand of the Yishub in the face of anxiety and danger must serve as an example of Zionist devotion to all Jews. We must face political troubles and financial hardship with the dignity and discipline of nationhood, and make up with doubled and trebled energy for the shortcomings due to factors not always within our control.

The Executive of the Zionist Organisation appeals to every individual Zionist to devote himself with unflagging endeavour to the cause of the Keren Hayesod and the Keren Kayemeth, in order to secure the continued purchase of land in Palestine and the utilisation of this land, in country and in town, for the continued growth of the Jewish National Home. The Executive appeals to every individual Jew to join in these endeavours, to second them with effective help, and to respond liberally and with willing sacrifice to the appeals made to them on behalf of these Funds. Above all, the Executive calls upon those who bear the privileged name of Zionists to set an example of joyful sacrifice, and to take the lead in giving to the utmost of their ability for our national work.

Agricultural colonisation based upon the national resources of our people must be further developed and consolidated. Middle-class colonisation, based upon private enterprise but assisted by the encouragement and support of our central institutions, must be developed systematically. The Executive will do everything in its power in both these directions, and relies upon the co-operation of all sections and classes in this work.

The Executive will endeavour to introduce new initiative and decision into the domain of organisation. The Zionist Organisation must be enlarged and its spiritual character emphasised and deepened, so that it shall not become merely a piece of machinery, but a great Jewish brotherhood animated by a common national zeal. The Executive will develop Zionist propaganda, particularly among the Jewish Youth, on a broad basis of Jewish nationalism as applied to the Jewish problem of the present and the Jewish hopes of the future. In Eretz Israel and in the Diaspora efforts will be made to encourage the use of the Hebrew language and the study of its spiritual treasures, both those inherited and those in the course of evolution.

The Jewish Agency, as enlarged at Zurich in August 1929, must be made into a powerful instrument of constructive work for the Jewish National Home. Unfavourable circumstances, coupled with tragic loss by death, have prevented this being fully achieved during the past two years. The Executive of the Zionist Organisation will co-operate in every possible way with our partners in the enlarged Agency in order to secure an ever-increasing support of world Jewry for the advancement of our National Home.

The Executive of the Zionist Organisation, the manifesto concludes, is conscious of the great responsibility it has undertaken, and of the heavy tasks it has to face. It comes after a long period of historic evolution, beginning with the vision of Theodor Herzl, and consummated by the political genius and practical energy of Chaim Weizmann. It is in the conviction that Jewry possesses the desire and the ability to perform these tasks, that the Executive appeals to you for your help and work.