The national executive committee of the American Jewish Congress will meet here on October 7 to receive reports of the American delegation to the World Jewish Conference recently concluded at Geneva. The congress, through the action of its administrative committee, is already on record as approving convocation of a world Jewish Congress in 1935.
The administrative committee, in a turbulent meeting last week, heard the report of Dr. Stephen S. Wise, head of the American delegation, and, with several members not voting, unanimously adopted a resolution accepting the part of the report dealing with the convocation of the congress, after Dr. Wise had quit the meeting.
In the discussion which followed presentation of the report, several members of the committee spoke in favor of postponing the vote on the resolution for a future meeting. This procedure was vigorously assailed by Dr. Wise, who demanded an immediate vote. He accused those seeking delay of lending “aid and comfort to the enemy.”
When the discussion continued, Dr. Wise walked out of the room despite the pleadings of many to remain. Following his departure, a four-hour debate ensued, in the course of which the resolution was adopted.
Dr. Wise’s report dealt chiefly with the congress convocation and with the boycott movement in Palestine. After Dr. Wise had concluded it, a series of questions was put to him and he replied. The resolution to adopt the report was then introduced but a second series of questions was posed before the resolution was put to a vote. At this point, several members of the committee suggested that the voting be deferred until a future meeting in order to give opportunity for ample discussion of the report.
Dr. Wise was said to have interpreted this as a lack of confidence and demanded an immediate decision. When this was not forthcoming, he departed. Members of the group which had pressed Dr. Wise on several points, notably the Palestine transfer agreement and the conference’s discussion of the subject, hastened to deny that their desire to delay adoption of the report was due to a lack of confidence in Dr. Wise and explained their sole desire was for further discussion to clear up points in doubt.
NEW MEETING PLANNED
The committee, after voting on the congress convocation, put over all other discussion for another meeting, at which other members of the American delegation will be present.
In his report Dr. Wise declared that “there was no discussion as to whether there should be a world Jewish Congress, but only when there should be a world Jewish Congress.” He said that the conference with regard to the German – Palestine transfer arrangement “agreed to assent to the inevitable transfer but to denounce men who did business only to make money out of Germany.”
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.
