Ussishkin, President of Jewish National Fund, Issues Appeal

An appeal for greater work for Palestine was issued by M. M. Ussishkin, president of the Jewish National Fund, who is now in Jerusalem. The message addressed “To our comrades everywhere,” was issued through the Jewish National Fund headquarters in New York. The message read:

“A terrible calamity has overtaken us. Our pioneer in Palestine was again attacked, the enemy intending to ruin and destroy what has been built. There have been sacrifices of men and money, but the building remains. The nation’s answer, from the four corners of the earth, is-‘Building proceeds.’ Not only did we tie the future of our people with the building of our land, but we interwined with it, what is more important, the honor of the nation. No adversary can stop the historic process, the prophetic idea of the ‘Return of the Sons to Their Boundaries.’

“When, at the time of the war, Jemal Pasha, the chief of the Turkish army, tried to destroy our edifice-the answer given was the Balfour Declaration; after the first attack in April 1920, in Upper Galilee, and the heroic death of Trumpeldor and his comrades-our reply was the Chaluzim movement: after the Jerusalem riots on Passover. 1920-the confirmation of the Balfour Declaration at San Remo; after the organized attack in Tel Aviv and the Judaean colonies in May, 1921-we answered by the acquisition and the settlement of our physical and spiritual fortress-the Valley of Jezreel-and the extension of Tel Aviv; after the attacks in Jerusalem in November of that year, our answer was given in the form of the building of new suburbs around Jerusalem; after the great economic crisis of last year, came the acquisition of the Valley of Sharon and the Valley of Acre, including Haifa Bay.

“And our answer to the new attacks will again be-build and work with thrice-intensified energy, with a maximum of speed and in far-widened area. More land and more people-men and land!-this is the demand of the nation and of the country.

“And something else might be learned from recent events. Wherever the soil was our own, and the settlement was dense, the place was saved. The entire Emek Jezreel and Emek Hashoron were hardly affected at all. The enemy was repulsed everywhere on his first attempt to attack. The same thing happened in Tel Aviv-the 100% Jewish city. In Jerusalem and Haifa the encounters were harsh because of the mixed population. The real catastrophe occurred in Hebron and Safed, where the Jewish population is comparatively small, and our youth likewise in small numbers. The agricultural settlements which have suffered, such as Castinia. Hulda, and others, were small and isolated. This should teach us to acquire and to build on joined and large areas.

“Now, our national land-purchasing institution, the Keren Kayemeth, must, as always, be the pioneer in the normal resumption of our building work. The traditional month of Tishri, is with us. I ask in the honor of our people, the acquisition of new lands and for a new Yishub; not a single Zionist without giving a portion of his time for the gathering of these contributions. Not merely should money be gathered, but every Jewish home must be told of what happened to us in our land, and of our future task.

“Our people finds itself on the parting of the ways. If we have the necessary inner strength, the last catastrophe may prove a blessing in disguise, so that in the near future, our enemies may seek peace with us, and say together with our arch-enemy, ‘how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwelling places, Israel.’ Israel is an eternal nation, befitting the land as the land befits him.

“I call to work. I wish you a New Year of happiness and fruitful labor.”