Governor Campbell of Jerusalem warned Chief Rabbis Kook and Meir for making an appeal in behalf of Abraham Stavsky, sentenced to death in the Arlosoroff murder case. The Governor notified the Rabbis that their appeals involved contempt of court “with all its consequences.”
Chief Rabbi Kook explained that he had no intention of reflecting on the court that sentenced Stavsky, but that he was appealing for a new trial for an inuocent man who was condemned to death.
Chief Rabbi Kook’s plea to the Archbishop of Canterbury reads as follows:
“Abraham Stavsky, who is innocent, was sentenced to death. I beg you to exert all your efforts for the sake of the sanctity of truth and justice and the honor of England which is very dear to me.”
The warning to Chief Rabbi Kook is just as strange as the preliminary investigation and certain phases of the trial of Arlosoroff were. Zola, Clemenceau and others who fought for a new trial for Alfred Dreyfus because they believed in his innocence did what Rabbi Kook and others are trying to do for Stavsky.
Rabbi Kook possesses the wisdom, the broadmindedness, the courage and the dignity of a Jewish spiritual leader who does honor to the Jewish name. As a humanitarian he has won the admiration of most of the re-builders of Zion by his tact and sympathetic understanding, and by his great Jewish heart.
THE BOYCOTT IN POLAND
The effect of the Goebbels visit to Poland is now manifesting itself in the demand made by the Polish Chambers of Commerce that the anti-German boycott in Poland be stopped. Nazi Germany, crumbling under the weight of its blundering policy of bigotry and cruelty, is trying to extend its influence over Poland. And if Poland is shortsighted enough to fall under the sway of Nazism, it is embarking upon a suicidal adventure.
The chairmen of the Jewish guilds in Poland wisely and courageously replied to the demand of the Polish chairmen of the Chamber of Commerce for the cessation of the anti-German boycott that “no force in the world will coerce us to desert the anti-German boycott ranks of the Jews throughout the world.” That is an attitude of self-respect and self-defense. As Jews, whose brethren in Germany are persecuted and humiliated, they could adopt no other attitude, however great their own sacrifices may be. The anti-German moral and economic boycott is a measure that will save the German people from their present misleaders and will
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.
