A program of work for the Jewish National Fund, Zionist land purchasing agency in Palestine, was submitted and approved at a special national fund conference opened here, prior to the first session of the 16th Zionist Congress.
An amount of at least £1,000,000, to be raised and expended during the coming two years, will be sought, according to a decision of the conference, which was opened by M. M. Ussischkin, head of the Jewish National Fund.
Mr. Ussischkin described the land purchase conditions in Palestine and stated that a danger has arisen recently through the organization of Arab groups formed for the purpose of buying land in Palestine. The purchase of land is now the outstanding problem. Although it is necessary to obtain government land, no miracles are expected. Land is necessary for the establishment of new settlements in the old colonies as well as to purchase the Gaza region. Purchases are
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also necessary in the vicinities of the Rutenberg and Novomejsky concessions, he said.
About 100 delegates are in attendance. The praesidium chosen consists of Mr. Ussischkin, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Rabbi Meyer Berlin, Miss Henrietta Szold, Moses Wilkansky, Leib Jaffe and Mrs. Lillain Freiman of Ottowa. Mrs. Freiman was given an ovation when Mr. Ussischkin declared that the Palestine land problem would have been solved had the Zionist movement twenty Freimans within its ranks. The Freimans were instrumental in securing Canadian Jewry’s pledge of $1,000,000 for land purchase.
A lengthy discussion developed following the submission of Mr. Ussischkin’s report. The Right and Left wings were divided on whether or not the purchase of land as private property in large areas is desirable from a general Palestinian point of view. The Labor delegate, Harzfeld, contended that large land purchases by individuals, mentioning Lord Melchett and others, were not desirable, as even large modern states are opposed to private land owners.
Rabbi Berlin defended the oppsite point of view, declaring that any purchase of land by Jews in Palestine constitutes a redemption of the land.
Miss Szold, Mr. Wilkansky, Mr. Schen of London, participated in the discussion. Mr. Ussischkin argued in a spirit of compromise between the contending parties. Jewish land purchases by individuals are not to be frowned upon although National Fund purchases are to be preferred. He pointed of the Jewish National Fund is the land secured as the inalienable property of the Jewish people, while land privately purchased and owned may be inherited even by children who desert the faith of their fathers.
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.
