Morris Rothenberg was nominated for the presidency of the Zionist Organization of America, and Louis Lipsky was nominated honorary president today at the thirty-eighth convention of the Z.O.A. Their election is considered certain.
At the same session the Zionist Organization of America was ready to go on record as aligning itself with the Group A Zionists who at the last conference at Cracow seceded from the World Federation of General Zionists, refusing to agree to the organization of a General Zionist labor union in Palestine in competition with the Histadruth.
Having let off steam at the opening of the convention yesterday, the opposition group led by the supporters of Louis Lipsky, today submitted peacefully to the reelection of Rothenberg and thus assured the convention of quiet and harmonious proceedings until its conclusion on Tuesday
COMPROMISE REACHED
The compromise between the Lipsky faction and those supporting Rothenberg was reached only after considerable negotiations behind the scenes. It was sanctioned this morning when the nomination committee in a unanimous report proposed the name of Mr. Rothenberg for another term as president.
The nomination was made by Dr. S. Margoshes, and was accepted by acclamation.
Upon the suggestion of Leo Wolfson, the convention nominated Louis Lipsky honorary president of the Z.O.A.
URGE ACTION ON EXTREMISTS
Action against the extremists, Left and Right wing in Zionism, was urged today by all speakers at the Zionist convention at the afternoon session. Almost all advised that the American Zionist Organi
EXPECT PARLEY WILL ALIGN WITH UNIT THAT QUIT CRACOW MEETING
zation should join the so-called Progressive General Zionist movement which is sponsored by those groups in General Zionism which broke away from the World Union of General Zionism at the recent convention in Cracow.
This program was strongly recommended to the delegation of ten representatives of the Zionist Organization of America elected today to participate in the nineteenth World Zionist Congress opening in Lucerne on August 20.
American Jewry was called upon to mobilze support for an economic program in Palestine, based on the fundamental principles of the “New Deal” and the Roosevelt program. “Save Zionism from being wrecked by radical measures of special party and class interests,” was the principle suggested to be followed.
The principal speakers at the session were Lipsky, Rothenberg, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and Margoshes.
Mr. Lipsky opened the afternoon session, which was held under the chairmanship of Elihu D. Stone of Boston. He outlined the situation of the Zionist movement today and reviewed the problems of the World Zionist Organization since the last Zionist Congress.
Dr. Margoshes in his address made a plea that the extraordinary achievement in Palestine be not jeopardized by special interests of the reactionary and of radical parties within the Zionist movement.
PROPOSES COOPERATION
Mr. Rothenberg proposed a plan of cooperation between the American Zionist Organization and the Zionist Federation of Great Britain. He urged the promulgation of the establishment of an economic commission to Palestine to act in an advisory capacity to the Executive of the Jewish Agency. This Commission should be appointed by the Zionist Congress and should consist of economic experts, representatives of Palestine major industries and labor, he suggested.
Prolonged applause greeted the statement by Dr. Silver of Cleveland that “Palestine does not stop at the Jordan, and never will.” Rabbi Silver demanded the immediate opening of Transjordan for Jewish immigration and declared that the division of Palestine into two separate territories, one of which is open to Jewish colonization and the other closed, is legal fiction which is responsible for the crowding of that part of Palestine which is open for Jewish settlement and the consequent evils of land speculation.
Rabbi Silver also urged a fight on the establishment of the Legislative Council in Palestine.
“If a Legislative Council is established at this time when the Jewish people are still on the threshold of Palestine, it will reduce the Jewish Community there to the status of a ‘minority group,'” he said.
Rabbi Silver also added that the next Congress in Lucerne must insist that the doors of Palestine remain wide open until every Jew who can be admitted and absorbed into the economic life of the country is admitted.
A special session was devoted today to the celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of the Keren Hayesod. Speaking at this session, Leo Hermann of Jerusalem, international secretary of the Keren Hayesod, who is now in America in the interests of the Fund, declared that in the past fifteen years world Jewry has raised the sum of $26,645,000.
$1,350,000 RAISED
The sum of $1,350,000 has been raised by American Jews since January 1, 1935, towards the $3,-$3,250,000 goal of the United Jewish Appeal, it was reported by Mr. Lipsky, co-chairman of the Appeal.
President Roosevelt and Governor Herbert H. Lehman of New York, voiced praise for the part of American Jewry in the rebuilding of Palestine, in messages sent to the fifteenth anniversary celebration of the Keren Hayesod.
Governor Lehman emphasized in his message that the economic progress of Palestine in the last fifteen years is not only a source of pride, but also a source of great satisfaction. “Palestine,” he said, “can now offer a haven of refuge to many thousands of Jews who have been deprived recently of the elementary rights of citizenship in the countries in which they were born.”
The session devoted to the Keren Hayesod celebration was addressed also by Robert Silverman, national camgaipn director of the United Jewish Appeal.
LISTS EXPENDITURES
In his report on the Keren Hayesod, Mr. Hermann listed the following major activities of the Fund, and the sums spent for these purposes since 1920, when the Keren Hayesod was established: for agricultural settlement, $8,811,840; for education, $5,066,515; for public works, $2,668,850; for immigration, $2,505,515; for health service, exclusive of the money spent by Hadassah, $1,374,740; for various communal institutions, $1,153,685; for urban settlement, $813,035; for religious needs, $465,985; and for land purchase, $156,020.
The Sunday afternoon session concerned itself primarily with the three-point plant for Zionist activity and reorganization recommended by Morris Rothenberg in his Presidential report. The discussion was led by Elihu D. Stone of Boston, New England Zionist leader, who demanded that a selective process be applied in admitting Jews to membership in the Zionist Organization. He was followed by Max Schulman of Chicago and Ezra Shapiro of Cleveland.
The Sunday evening session was devoted to a memorial meeting for the late Shmarya Levine, world Zionost leader. Eulogies were delivered by Maurice Samuel, Abraham Goldberg and Professor Louis Finkelstein. The entire proceedings of the evening were recorded for posterity on special records, copies of which will be sent to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a gift of the Zionist Organization of America.
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.
