Women Pioneers Hit Palestine Government for “weakness”

Spurred by an annual report which castigated the Palestine Government for “its indecision, weakness and delay,” the Women’s Pioneer Organization at its convention, adopted a program to strengthen its agencies in the Holy Land to meet the pressing requirements of Jewry in Germany and other European countries.

The report declared that the Palestine Government’s policy “seemed to encourage the terrorists” and had failed “to maintain security and public order.”

“Despite this situation, and in the face of these gruesome provocations, the economic life in Palestine continues to function. With undaunted heroism, Palestine Jewry sees that the channels of economic life and contact is not broken,” the report said.

A banquet last night at the Hotel Statler, where the four-day convention was meeting, was attended by 1,000 delegates, visitors and friends.

Despite threats of secession and the leaving of a good portion of the assemblage to another room to hear the message of Tony Sender, a German exile, who was originally scheduled to speak, the organization, in the closing hours of its convention, today dismissed its secretary and elected a secretariat of two to replace her.

The wrangling, which began at the morning session, dragged all day, displacing scheduled sessions for guest speakers and resolutions, and it was only when floor leaders realized that they would have to give up the auditorium to the Hotel that a decision was reached.

Mrs. Sarah Feder of St. Louis and Mrs. Idelsohn of Palestine were elected to serve as secretaries to succeed Mrs. Sophie Udin of New York. Despite the decision, Mrs. Udin told the members that she would continue to throw herself into the work for the movement.

It is understood that she will be named to serve as national field secretary and organizer, so as to continue her activities of the past year, during which time she organized close to forty new clubs.

A victory for democracy throughout the world will be the deciding factor for the success of Palestine as a Jewish National Homeland, Tony Sender told several hundred of the listeners to her address.

Although America may be safe from the complete invasion of Fascism for another twenty years, she said, Fascism will endanger America if it succeeds completely in Europe.

At the Friday night session, Mrs. Udin told the 1,000 delegates and visitors that in the past ten years the Pioneer Women’s Organization had sent nearly $300,000 to Palestine for the establishment and support of training schools and girls’ cooperative farms, for agricultural equipment and the building of farm buildings and living quarters.

Despite the crisis caused in Palestine by recent disorders, she said, Jewish achievement continued to be noted there, and at the height of the disturbances, 2,865 Jews entered Palestine in August alone. Many Arabs are cognizant of the benefits brought to Palestine by Jewish labor and initiative, she declared.

Pleading for the combating of Fascism, which she declared “carries with it a cruel and inhuman anti-Semitism,” she emphasized that “all democratic forces must be mustered to fight this menace.”