MENACHEM MENDEL USSISHKIN, “THE GRAND OLD MAN OF ZIONISM,” CELEBRATED HIS SEVENTY-FOURTH BIRTHDAY TODAY IN THE MIDST OF ONE OF THE GREATEST STRUGGLES INTO WHICH HIS UNCOMPROMISING NATIONALISM HAS LED HIM — THE FIGHT AGAINST ACCEPTANCE OF PALESTINE PARTITION.
THE BATTLE WHICH THE PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS IS WAGING — FOR UNEQUIVOCAL REJECTION OF ANY JEWISH STATE OCCUPYING LESS THAN THE HISTORIC BOUNDARIES OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL — EPITOMIZES A LIFETIME OF STRUGGLE FOR WHAT HE CONCEIVES TO BE THE ZIONIST IDEAL, OFTEN AGAINST MAJORITY SENTIMENT AMONG THE ZIONISTS.
THE LATEST BATTLE OF THE WORLD PRESIDENT OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND, IN WHICH HE IS PITTED AGAINST DR. CHAIM WEIZMANN, ZIONIST PRESIDENT, IN OPPOSING THE BRITISH PROPOSAL, RECALLS HOW IN 1903 HE ORGANIZED THE ZIONIST OPPOSITION IN A VAIN FIGHT AGAINST THE MAJORITY OF THE ZIONISTS, LED BY DR. THEODOR HERZL, WHO FAVORED ACCEPTANCE OF GREAT BRITAIN’S PROPOSAL FOR SETTLING JEWS IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA.
HE ORGANIZED A CONGRESS IN PALESTINE WHILE THE ISSUE WAS FOUGHT OUT AT THE SIXTH ZIONIST CONGRESS. HE LATER LED OPPOSITION IN RUSSIA TO HERZL AND, ALTHOUGH HIS GROUP WAS DEFEATED, FOUGHT THE MOVEMENT FOR EAST AFRICA SETTLEMENT AFTER DR. HERZL’S DEATH.
USSISHKIN’S LEADERSHIP IN ZIONISM DATES BACK TO THE FIRST BEGINNINGS OF THE JEWISH HOMELAND MOVEMENT. HE WAS ONE OF THE ZIONIST DELEGATES AT THE PEACE CONFERENCE, AND WAS APPOINTED HEAD OF THE ZIONIST COMMISSION IN PALESTINE IN 1920, AT WHICH TIME HE SETTLED PERMANENTLY IN THE HOLY LAND. AS PRESIDENT OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND, WHICH RAISES FUNDS TO BUY LAND IN PALESTINE, USSISHKIN HAS TOURED THE UNITED STATES, CANADA AND EUROPE.
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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.
