The anti-Yiddish persecutions in Palestine which lead to the expulsion of Dr. Rafalkes, Yiddishist lawyer, from the Tel Aviv Bar Association and to clashes last Saturday in a Tel Aviv theatre, are not at all helpful to the efforts now being made by the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress to obtain a better status for Zionism and Hebrew in Soviet Russia.
By their drive against Yiddish in Palestine, Zionists are giving the Soviet government a good excuse for not permitting Hebrew in Russia. If Yiddish is not tolerated in a country dominated by Zionists, why should Hebrew and Zionism be tolerated in a country where Jewish questions are regulated by Yiddishists?
FAIR PLAY DEMANDED
It is altogether difficult to understand why Yiddish is more discriminated against in Palestine than German, Polish and other languages. One can see on the streets of Tel Aviv posters in all languages. But when a paper in Yiddish is displayed, Hebrew extremists immediately raise a row.
The case of Dr. Rafalkes, Poale-Zionist leader who was expelled from the Bar Association in Tel Aviv merely because h### issued a publication in Yiddish has no precedent in any civilized country. No one can challenge Hebrew as the language of Palestine, but at the same time none can agree with the semi-terrorist methods used against Yiddish there.
A DANGEROUS EXAMPLE
The Yiddish language should be given the same chance in Palestine as it is being given {SPAN}in##{/SPAN} any other country. There will be no crying if Yiddish eventually disappears from daily use in Palestine. This, however, must not occur by force. Once force is used, the impression is created that Yiddish is really the language which the majority of Palestinian Jews should like to use.
By suppressing Yiddish, the extremists are serving as a bad example for those countries where the Jews fight to win government subsidies for Hebrew as well as for Yiddish schools. The Polish government, in justifying its refusal to subsidize Hebrew schools, makes it a point that “if the Jews in Palestine are so nationalistic as to demand nothing but Hebrew, why should we not follow the same system and demand nothing but Polish?”
EXECUTIVE SHOULD STEP IN
There are today thousands of Jews entering Palestine monthly from every part of the world. The majority do not speak Hebrew. Most of them, however, do speak and read Yiddish. By the drive against Yiddish, these thousands are practically deprived of their native language. This is not only abnormal, but is also a grave injustice.
The Executive of the Jewish Agency should see to it that the semi – terroristic campaign against Yiddish in Palestine is discontinued. Otherwise obstacles are put in the way of those American organizations which should like to see Zionism permitted in Soviet Russia and Hebrew looked upon more favorably there.
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.
