Zionist Spokesmen Continue to Voice Grievances at Congress Debate

More expressions of dissatisfaction with conditions prevailing in the Zionist movement and in the development of Palestine were contained in the utterances of a large number of Zionist spokesmen, coming from various climes and political conditions throughout the world, as the general debate, by a majority vote, was continued Thursday morning, following the striking retort of Dr. Weizmann to his major critics late Wednesday night.

Yemen, Central Arabia, and South Africa, Poland and Central Europe. as well as other Palestine labor leaders, claimed the attention of the international assembly to present their views. The plight of the Yemenite Jews, who suffer under great legal, religious and economic disabilities, made a deep impression on the delegates when their cause was presented by Secharya Gluska, a Yemenite Jew now living in Palestine.

YEMENITE JEWS’ PLIGHT

“The Palestine Executive has not carried out the decisions of the last Zionist Congress concerning the aid for Yemenite Jews who desire to settle in the Holy Land. The Jewish population in Yemen suffers untold hardships and cruelties and their outcry finds no ear in the civilized world,” he said. “The Executive has done nothing to facilitate the immigration of Yemenite Jews to Palestine, although hundreds of Yemenite families are waiting in Yemenite ports for the Palestine government’s permission. Why does not the Palestine Executive open an immigration office in Yemen?” he asked, reiterating the demand of the Yemenite Jews for a land grant from the Jewish National Fund for Yemenite settlers. “Although many Yemenite Jews have been living in Palestine for the past twenty years, not a single dunam of land is to be found in their possession.” He pleaded that the Congress elect the Palestine Executive and not to leave its membership for Dr. Weizmann to appoint, as “the Executive has brought to Eretz Israel all the ‘Zaroth’ (troubles,” he said.

STRONG STAND ON WAILING WALL CONTROVERSY ASKED

Deputy H. Farbstein, Mizrachist, of

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Warsaw, attacked the British policy in Palestine. He demanded a strong stand by the Congress on the Wailing Wall controversy. “The hearts of all Jews were shattered because of the Yom Kippur scandal at the Wall. Where is the limit? A spiritual pogrom is a thousand time more unendurable than a physical one. The Palestine government displays in its attitude an under-estimation of the Jewish people. Contempt is worse than pogrom!” he exclaimed.

He criticized the Zionist Executive for its attitude toward the Mizrachi school system. In the 22 pages of the report of the Executive on education, not a word was included concerning, the Mizrachi educational system. He expressed himself in favor of the extension of the Jewish Agency because “we with Eretz Israel, are stronger than all opposition.”

MARTIN BUBER STATES HIS VIEWS

Martin Buber, well known German Jewish writer and philosopher, spoke in a pessimistic vein of the situation of the Jews today. Concerning the situation in Palestine, he said that the program of the Zionists there must be “not to majorize and not to be majorized.” He proposed the establishment of a permanent advisory body to the Palestine Executive on Arab affairs so that a real Arab-Jewish understanding may be reached. He was convinced that a common Palestinian policy between the Jews and the Arabs was possible. He was surprised to note during his recent visit that Palestine Jews don’t even know the Arabs He pleaded for a humanistic Hebrew educational system.

The Dutch Zionist theoretician Bernstein, urged an extensive Zionist educational campaign. “Our purpose is to guard over the final goal. The non-Zionists will participate merely in the colonization projects, while the goal of the Zionists must remain the creation of a Jewish majority in the country. For this the active assistance of the Palestine government will be needed, otherwise it will be impossible,’ he said.

SOUTH AFRICAN CHIEF RABBI VOICES COMPLAINTS

Rabbi Judah L. Landau, Chief Rabbi of Johannesburg, was unsparing in his criticism of the Mandatory Power. He spoke with a great deal of indignation of the case of a South African aged.

Jew who proceeded to the Holy Land to die, but was deported back to South Africa by the Palestine government. “Here is the governmental policy toward the Jewish National Home. Not a hundred Weizmanns or Jabotinskys will bring about a change of system as long as London is against it, witness the examples of India, Egypt, Ireland and our own.” he said. “The Wailing Wall misfortune.” he added, “is an insult to the entire Jewish people.”

The speaker expressed his opposition to the extension of the Jewish Agency, alleging that it is a surrender of Zionism for the sake of money. “It is a bad example for the Jewish youth,” he said. “Herzl, Nordau, and Einstein came to Palestine through Zionism.”

He also touched upon the situation of the Zionists in Russia. “There is a tragedy of Russian Jewry being enacted before our eyes.” He expressed his confidence that the South African Prime Minister Herzog and General Smuts will intervene with Soviet Russia in behalf of the Zionists.

LABORITE APPEARS IN PIONEER GARB

Berl Katzenelson, Poale Zionist dressed in the garb of the Palestine pioneers, without coat or tie, subjected the record of the Palestine Executive to a minute scrutiny. He saw scores of evidences of shortsightedness and narrowness in every phase of the work, he said, principally with regard to colonization and the purchase of land. On several occasions he was interrupted by anti-Agency hecklers. To them he replied that these matters were more important than the Agency of which he was not afraid. His party is not interested in a coalition executive, he said, “because such an Executive might give to two of our men portfolios, for which we have no use. We want a creative Zionism because, unlike some general Zionists, we do not claim to be disinterested. We abide by our foundamental principles, unlike the General Zionists whose policy fluctuates. We do not desire to attack the members of the Zionist Executive, some of whom are sympathetic to our cause. What we oppose is usurpation and threats. The mood is now better, but when fresh troubles will come the bourgeois Zionists will again fall under the influence of defeatism.”

The labor spokesmen found strong words for the Jerusalem Executive who, he stated ironically, “showed a strong hand in cancelling the appropriations to the Jewish workers in the colonies for educational facilities. It refused to confer regarding a proposal to save Afuleh, it was not interested in Petach Tikvah, when Jewish labor struggled there for the right to work It did not prevent the crushing of the autonomy of Tel Aviv.

WISE DID NOT REPRESENT Z. O. A.

Jacob Fishman, managing editor of the “Jewish Morning Journal,” New York, participated in the Thursday morning discussion, speaking in stead of Morris Rothenberg. Mr. Fishman followed M. Grossman, Revisionist, of London. Mr. Fishman referred to the Weizmann-Wise-Borah incident declaring that Wise did not represent the Zionist Organization of America when he journeyed to London but probably the American Jewish Congress, of which he is honorary president. He warned against inflaming the Wailing Wall controversy into a principal is sue, “This question has become the subject of the opposition who forget what the Executive has done in this matter. You know that this is

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playing with fire, because the Moslems will be able to inflame the passions of their co-religionists,” he said. He polemized with the Zionist-Revisionsis, who dream of a Jewish state and threaten to desert the Zionist Organization. He praised the non-Zionists in America who came to the Jewish Agency “in the noblest spirit possible, without terror, without intimidation.” He continued: “The negotiations were concluded ninety per cent by the method of give and take. It is incorrect to say that the Congress was placed before a fait accompli. This question has been threshed out for the past six years and we know that ninety per cent of the delegates will vote for the extension of the Agency because they were instructed to do so. This is democracy,” he said. He scoffed at the critics, declaring that “they make the Executive responsible for everything except the rainfall, at the same time when Weizmann’s report decidededly recorded progress while it lamented inadequacies.”

Dr. Schmarya Levin delivered an impassionated address Wednesday night in defense of the Executive. (The text of this address will be given in the next issue of the Bulletin.)

The Thursday morning session was concluded following addresses by Isaac Naiditch of Paris and Dr. M. Soloveitchik of Berlin. Dr. Soloveitchik defended Dr. Stephen S. Wise. He reiterated his opposition to the Jewish Agency. “Dr. Weizmann threatens us, wants us to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ otherwise the Agency partners will pack their trunks and go back. We are not afraid, because we have the Herzl heritage to cherish.”

Participating in debate at the Tuesday session were Joseph Suprasky, of Palestine, Dr. Leon Reich of Lemberg, Adolf Bernhardt of Roumania and Mr. Olschwanger of South Africa.

PALESTINE MIDDLE CLASS VOICES ITS GRIEVANCES

Joshua Suprasky of Palestine, General Zionist, voiced the grievances of the middle class groups of Palestine Jewry and complained against the treatment accorded middle-class prospective immigrants. “The extended Jewish Agency will be of no avail if there will be no large Jewish immigration to the country, in the face of the fact that the natural increase of the Arab population amounts to 20,000 per annum. It is of the highest importance that a more intensive Zionist point of view prevail in the consideration of the immigration problem,” he said, complaining of the alleged weak attitude of the Zionist Executive on this point. Prospective Jewish immigrants to Palestine, even those who are in possession of larger means, must often wait for a long time, sometimes years, before they obtain permission from Jerusalem to enter the country. A year ago the Zionist Executive protested against this slow procedure, but it has done nothing on this matter since. Similarly, the question of greater facilities for the entry of relatives of Palestine citizens has not been settled. He cited cases in which the Palestine government ordered the deportation of Jewish immigrants on the slightest formal pretext. “The Zionist Executive has committed great mistakes in the past, so that the mistakes of the future may be expected to come automatically,” he said.

The speaker also demanded a greater consideration of the Palestine middle-class. Of the hundred thousand immigrant Jewish population in Palestine today, only 25,000 are Chaluzim (labor pioneers). Seventy-five thousand are “plain Jews” who participated in the upbuilding of a large part of the new Palestine. “We are no opponents of the Chaluzim, but it is necessary to admit to the country plain Jews as well.” The government of Palestine, even at present under the leadership of Sir John Chancellor, he added, does not help the Jewish Yishub to intrench itself. The majority of the officials are opposing it and lately they made the development of industries more difficult by promulgating measures which are distinctly anti-Jewish, he said.

Adolf Bernhardt, Roumania, declared in behalf of his delegation that it will support the proposals of the Zionist Executive in regard to the Jewish Agency.

Delegate Olschwanger of South Africa, Orthodox, called for mutual tolerance among the various Zionist groups and parties.

ENGLISH ZIONISTS SUPPORT EXECUTIVE

Morris Mayer of London, editor of the London Yiddish daily, “Die Zeit,” said that the British delegation would support the Executive not because it is satisfied with conditions in Palestine but because it is sure the Executive does everything possible in order to further the development of the Jewish National Home. The English Zionists especially support the Executive in its policy with regard to the Jewish Agency, being convinced that the non-Zionists joining the Agency are sincere and their collaboration will be a blessing to Palestine. Mr. Mayer appealed to the Mizrachi and labor groups not to press too strongly for their demands They must obey the economic laws prevailing, he said.

CANADIAN DISPELS FEAR OF “NON-ZIONIST BOGEY”

There is no justification for the fear in the minds of the European Zionists of the “non-Zionist bogey” stated Rabbi J. L. Zlotnick of Montreal, Executive Secretary of the Zionist Organization of Canada. “When Zionism is strong, it has nothing to fear from any experiment. The main task before the Congress is to create a strong Executive,” he said.

He charged the Zionist Executive with failure to kindle the imagination and the zeal of the Jews to bring greater sacrifices for the upbuilding of Palestine. The leaders of Canadian Zionism have shown by deeds what could be accomplished if the proper methods are employed. It is surprising, he said, to see how little the Executive in Jerusalem succeeds with the government of Palestine. Canadian Jewry which has a different status exercises greater political influence on the government and frequently gains concessions on the question of immigration, which is more difficult in Canada than in Palestine, while the Zionist Executive takes “No” for an answer from the Palestine government on the same question. He criticized the educational system and stated that what exists in Palestine now is a party educational system. The Executive must take measures to prevent the migration of settlers from the colonies to the cities for the agricultural class will be the background of the country. A change in the election system to the Zionist Congress is needed, as the present system gives the advantage to factions, thus diminishing the usefulness and the prestige of the Congress. He was not enthusiastic about the financial report, he said. It is true, it shows a reduction of the indebtedness, but it likewise shows up the shrinking of the income. “Generally, only the Zionist offices are functioning in the respective countries but the people at large are not receiving the divine inspiration from Palestine and are not enlightened on the great economic possibilities in the country. The Zionists as well as the Jewish masses know little if anything about the progress of the Ruttenberg works and the development in the Emek Valley and along the Jordan,” he said.

REPRESENTATIVES FROM GALICIA EXPRESS CONFIDENCE IN WEIZMANN POLICY

Dr. Leon Reich of Lemberg, Eastern Galicia, in an address which lasted half an hour, expressed the approval of Eastern Galician Zionists of the Weizmann policies. Dr. J. Schwarzbart of Cracow, Western Galicia, commended the Zionist Executive for the progress registered in its effort to consolidate the Palestine colonization enterprises. The accomplishments of the Executive must not be overlooked. He said his group has confidence in the Executive notwithstanding the few mistakes it made. What is unsatisfactory is the political situation. “The opportunist system in the Zionist policy is its tragedy,” he said. Perhaps a change by the adoption of some of Jabotinsky’s demands may be justified. In regard to the Jewish Agency, he said that it offers no cause for enthusiasm, but the movement is now entering a period of patient waiting and the future will tell. He protested against what he termed the “light-minded” treatment accorded by several groups in the Congress to Jabotinsky and Gruenbaum. “Theirs was the outcry of a sacred Zionist patriotism,” he said.

Some disturbance was caused in the hall when the speaker criticized an article which appeared in a recent issue

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of the Zionist journal, “Shomer Hazair,” in which the Soviet persecutions of Russian Zionists were defended on the ground that they were counterrevolutionary. Some persons in the gallery started to jeer, which caused the chairman, Dr. Motzkin, to declare that sharp measures would be taken to preserve order.

Dr. Reich stated that the Congress has a double historic significance because of the Herzl memorial and the establishment of the Jewish Agency, which is a continuation of the Herzl policy, he said. He lauded the non-Zionists, particularly the Americans, who, he said, saved millions of Jewish lives in Eastern Europe and in Palestine during the war. He demanded of the Congress to enter the Agency with a spirit of confidence.