Convening amid a welter of rumors about the forthcoming report of the Royal Commission on Palestine and dispatches indicating growing tension in the Holy Land, the fortieth annual convention of the Zionist Organization of America was to open here Saturday night as a “mass demonstration” against any violation of the Balfour Declaration.
Factional disputes within the Zionist movement which have disturbed conventions in other years were laid aside as 1,000 delegates from 330 cities prepared to convene at the Hotel Roosevelt, to voice unified demands.
Dr. Stephen S. Wise, president of the organization, issued a statement declaring a critical situation had arisen as a result of the reported recommendation by the Royal Commission for partitioning Palestine between Jews and Arabs. This, Dr. Wise said, will be the principal matter before the convention.
The meeting, originally scheduled for Buffalo, was shifted to New York to enlist the large Jewish community here in a protest against any such proposal.
The convention was to open with an executive session of the administrative committee. Sunday morning a delegation of 100 is to visit the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe’s Island to pay tribute to Emma Lazarus, poetess of the statue and pioneer Zionist. A wreath is to be placed beneath the tablet bearing Miss Lazarus’ poem to the statue.
The first public session was slated for Sunday afternoon, and the convention will end Tuesday night with a public meeting at Carnegie Hall.
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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.
