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Zionist Accord Looms, Lipsky Says on Return

May 2, 1934
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Louis Lipsky, member of the World Zionist Executive who spent three weeks in Palestine where he attended the annual conference of the Zionist General Council (Actions Committee), returned on board the S. S. Majestic yesterday. He was accompanied by Jacob Fishman, editor of the Jewish Morning Journal.

In a statement regarding the Actions Committee meeting, Mr. Lipsky referred to the “better understanding” existing among various factions of the Zionist organization as a result of the conference. He criticized the stand taken by the Revisionist party of which Vladimir Jabotinsky is head, in not changing its “secessionist policies” and in “creating inner antagonisms.”

“The meeting of the General Council, the first since the Prague Zionist Congress, succeeded in bringing about a better understanding between the various parties and factions, whose differences have been the source of a great deal of anxiety among Zionists and friends of the Jewish Palestine,” said Mr. Lipsky’s statement.

HITS REVISIONISTS

“These differences have not been wholly adjusted, more particularly those arising out of the activities of the Revisionist party of which Vladimir Jabotinsky is the head. The Revisionist party still remains intransigent, pursuing a secessionist policy, creating inner antagonisms and hatreds all along the line; but insofar as the other parties are concerned a great deal of progress was made at Jerusalem in modifying partisanship through compromise and adjustment.

“In this effort to create an atmosphere of peace and good will the Executive of the Jewish Agency played a leading and determining part. The issue of religious practises raised by the Mizrachi (orthodox Zionists) party was met by the proposal of the Executive with regard to the Sabbath which received the unanimous approval of the entire council. The solution reached with regard to Kashruth did not satisfy the Mizrachi, but the voluntary act of the Histadruth (labor group) in deciding to place all of its public kitchens under ritualistic supervision but at the same time standing by the principle of religious freedom of the individual, should go a long way in removing the acrimony exhibited by the Mizrachi on this issue. In the matter of certain problems in the field of organized labor a resolution was unanimously adopted which will have the effect of bringing about a more orderly relationship between employers and laborers without violating the principle of organized labor.

LABOR ADJUSTS ITSELF

“It is interesting to observe the tendency of Histadruth through its leadership to adjust itself with due regard for the interests of the workmen to the new conditions that arise in Palestinian deelopment. The attitude of labor leaders is the best answer to the destructive tendency of the Revisionist party in the labor field.

“As a consequence of the moderating influence of the Executive, it may be said that the Executive is now in a better position to pursue its policies and to administer the affairs of the Jewish Agency than it was in the months following the Prague Congress during which time it was pursued by the sabotage of parties and a continuous fusilade of partisan criticism.

REGARDING PALESTINE

Speaking of the economic development of Palestine which Mr. Lipsky said is the “only hopeful note in the great sea of trouble in which the Jews of the world now find themselves,” Mr. Lipsky praised the “unbounded confidence of the Jews” who are setting in the country.

“It seems as if the thousands who have recently come in are being driven by destiny to provide speedily for the thousands of victims of anti-Semitic conditions who are bound to follow them in the near future. There is feverish haste in their labors.”

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