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Tagore Discusses Palestine and Jewish Problem, Prior to His Visit to Country

June 20, 1926
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(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Rabindranath Tagore, poet of India, will go to Palestine on September 15, he stated to the representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here.

“I have for a long time been following with great interest and anxiety the Jewish colonization development in Palestine,” Tagore stated. “I recently received from my Zionist friends in Palestine literature which draws attention to the termendous problems of the Jewish pioneers difficulties which they must overcome for the welfare of humanity.

“While in Palestine I will lecture at the Hebrew University, which has the great task of developing Eastern civilization,” Tagore stated.

“I appreciate the distinct features of each culture, It is for this reason that I value the Zionist efforts because they are awakening the Jewish distinctiveness, even though some difficulties and failures will at first occur.

“The Jewish people living among other peoples immitate them and at times become hyperpatriotic. Recently I had the uncomfortable experience of encountering such a type, when one of the greatest French indologists of Russian origin visited me at Calcutta. He displayed tremendous French Chauvinism. Would Anatole France have found it necessary to declare his love for France? It is bad for a people when it has to submerge its own individuality. The Jewish spirit is highly individuality. Its chief characteristic is universality.” Tagore declared.

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