Professor Albert Einstein sailed at midnight from New York on board the “Deutschland” for Cherbourg after having spoken on Palestine at a big banquet held in his honour at the Astor Hotel, at which the 2½ million dollar campaign for the work of the Jewish Agency in Palestine was launched. Professor Einstein came to New York direct from Pasadena to be present at the banquet, and at its close he went from the banquet hall straight to the steamer. The dinner was arranged by Mr. Felix M. Warburg, Mr. Morris Rothenberg, Dr. Cyrus Adler, Lieut.-Governor Herbert H. Lehman, Rabbi Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Judge Julian W. Mack, Mr. James Marshal, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Dr. Lee K. Frankel, Mr. Nathan Straus, Jnr., Dr. Solomon Lowenstein, Mr. Joseph C. Hyman, and other officers of the American Palestine Campaign.
A thousand guests from all parts of the country were present at the dinner, each paying 100 dollars, and altogether over 200,000 dollars were raised at the dinner towards the 2½ million dollar campaign.
President Hoover sent a telegram expressing to Professor Einstein his admiration “for your distinguished services to mankind. I hope your visit”, he added, “has satisfied you as the American people are gratified with you”.
Professor Einstein’s speech was broadcast by 44 stations, and in many towns all over the country special listening-in parties were organised in big halls, the local drives for the Palestine campaign being started there at the sound of Professor Einstein’s voice coming over the wireless.
The last Palestine crisis taught us, Professor Einstein said in his address, that Palestine is not a British problem. It is our problem to bring about a satisfactory co-operation of Jews with the Arabs. The Jews and the Arabs must themselves agree upon a course adapted to the needs of both peoples.
Mr. Ramsay MacDonald’s letter to Dr. Weizmann does not solve the Palestine problem, Mr. Felix M. Warburg, who was in the chair, said, but it has obliterated the unfriendly and unjust impression created by the Passfield White Paper. There is still much to be cleared up, he went on. It remains to be seen whether our hopes regarding a friendly Palestine Administration will work our.
Speeches were also delivered by Rabbi Dr. Stephen S. Wiso, Mr. Morris Rothenberg, Dr. Cyrus Adler and Mr. Robert Szold.
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.
