Jewish National Fund Conference in Philadelphia to Discuss Future Plans of Zionist Land Purchasing a

The annual conference of the Jewish National Fund, the agency for the World Zionist Organization which redeems the land of Palestine in the name of the entire Jewish people, will be held in the city of Philadelphia on Sunday January 19th, according to an announcement issued by Emanuel Neumann, President of the National Fund.

Due to the numerous problems that have confronted the Zionist world in recent months it is expected that the conclave in Philadelphia will be the most widely-attended Zionist gathering of the year, with each element in the Zionist movement sending its representatives. Since the Jewish National Fund is non-partisan in character, delegates to its national conference will be sent from Zionist districts. Hadassah chapters. Order Sons of Zion camps, Poale Zion clubs. Zeire Zion and Avukah branches and from similar Zionist bodies. The National Fund meeting is regarded as the place at which all shades of Zionist opinion will find expression.

Particular interest has been aroused in this year’s conference due to the fact that the Jewish National Fund is not included in the projected joint campaign for Palestine and relief. The program at the Philadelphia gathering will include the formulation of a program for raising the funds necessary “to enable the Board of Directors at Jerusalem to go forward with their plans.”

The National Fund conference in Philadelphia is expected to bring the attendance of the majority of the leaders in the Zionist movement of America. This is due to the emphasis which has been placed on the National Fund work as a result of the disturbances in Palestine, when it was proved that “the policy of acquiring large compact stretches of land as the property of the Jewish people” is the surest safeguard for the foundations of the Jewish National Home.

The complete text of Mr. Neumaon’s letter announcing the conference, reads:

“The Jewish National Fund has assumed extraordinary importance in the program for the rebuilding of the Jewish National Home in Palestine. Recent events in Palestine have emphasized the correctness and soundness of the policy of acquiring large compact stretches of land as the property of the Jewish people. In order to enable the National Fund to meet the obligations it has incurred in connection with the recent purchases, and in order to give the Zionists of America an opportunity to formulate a program for its future work the Jewish National Fund is calling its annual Conference for Sunday, January 19, in Philadelphia.

“The needs and aims of the Jewish National Fund deserve wide and serious discussion at this time. The changes which have been taking place in our movement, the creation of the Jewish Agency, the dissolution of the U. P. A. of which the J. N. F. has been a constituent part, places upon the Zionists the duty to find appropriate ways and means of continuing and increasing the activities of the Fund in conformity with the new situation which has developed.

“For twenty-eight years the Jewish National Fund in America has been gathering funds for the redemption of the soil of Palestine. Each year the income has increased but not sufficiently to meet the growing needs of the Yishuv. We are being constantly appealed to to augment the income of the Fund, in order to enable the Board of Directors at Jerusalem to go forward with their plans. It is incumbent upon us to respond to these appeals.

“The conference at Philadelphia invites the cooperation of all Zionist forces in America. Zionist Districts, Hadassah Chapters, Mizrachi Societies, Avukah branches. Order Sons of Zion Camps, Poale Zion. Zeire Zion and similar Zionist bodies are called to send their representatives so that the scope of the Jewish National Fund may be truly national in the sense that it reaches every segment of the Jewish community.

“The Jewish National Fund, though not included in the campaign of the Jewish Agency, is working in complete harmony with that body, in accordance with the understandings and agreements upon which the structure of the Jewish Agency has been erected. The needs of the Jewish National Fund are recognized on all sides. Let us take common counsel for its future welfare.”