AN $80,000,000 AMERICAN STAKE IN THE WELL-BEING OF PALESTINE IS REVEALED TODAY BY A JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY SURVEY OF AMERICAN FINANCIAL INTERESTS IN THE HOLY LAND. THIS TOTAL INCLUDES NEARLY $50,000,000 IN BUSINESS INVESTMENTS AND MORE THAN $30,000,000 IN CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD THE UPBUILDING OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL HOME AND TOWARD RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL AND WELFARE ACTIVITIES.
TEN THOUSAND AMERICANS ARE LIVING IN PALESTINE, 9,000 OF THEM JEWS. IT WAS ALSO LEARNED THAT IN THE PAST YEAR THERE HAS BEEN A RAPID INCREASE IN JEWISH EMIGRATION FROM PALESTINE TO THE UNITED STATES, WHICH IS NOW PROCEEDING AT THE RATE OF 100 PERSONS A MONTH, THREE TIMES AS GREAT AS A YEAR AGO.
THE FIGURES FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS INVESTMENTS ARE MINIMUMS. THEY COMPRISE HOLDINGS DEFINITELY LOCATED, AND THE ACTUAL TOTAL MAY BE SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS HIGHER. FIGURES FOR DONATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS ALSO MAY BE SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS SHORT OF THE REAL TOTAL, BEARING IN MIND PARTICULARLY THE LARGE AMOUNTS OF AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS SENT TO PALESTINE BEFORE THE WORLD WAR.
ABOUT 80 PER CENT OF THE AMERICAN BUSINESS INVESTMENT IN PALESTINE HAS BEEN MADE BY AMERICAN JEWS, WHOSE HOLDINGS, ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC COMMITTEE FOR PALESTINE, TOTAL AT LEAST $39,400,000, DISTRIBUTED AS FOLLOWS: LAND AND BUILDINGS, $17,650,000; CITRI-CULTURE, $9,400,000; INVESTMENTS, $4,400,000; MORTGAGES, $4,850,000; INDUSTRY AND HANDICRAFT, $1,950,000; COMMERCE, TRANSPORT AND SERVICE BUSINESSES, $1,150,000.
THE LARGEST SINGLE AMERICAN JEWISH INVESTMENT ORGANIZATION, THE PALESTINE ECONOMIC CORPORATION, HAS PUT MORE THAN $3,000,000 INTO THE COUNTRY IN TEN YEARS THROUGH ITS FIVE SUBSIDIARIES, AND HAS COMMITMENTS TOTALLING ABOUT HALF A MILLION DOLLARS MORE. IT HAS INVESTMENTS IN LEADING PALESTINE DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISES, SUCH AS THE PALESTINE POTASH COMPANY, $400,000; PALESTINE HOTELS, $92,000; PALESTINE ELECTRIC CORPORATION, $136,000; PALESTINE FOUNDRIES AND METAL WORKS, $23,000; AND AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE COMPANY OF PALESTINE, $55,000.
OF AMERICAN JEWISH NON-COMMERCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD PALESTINE, THE LARGEST AMOUNTS HAVE GONE TOWARD THE NATIONAL HOME. THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND AND JEWISH FOUNDATION FUND, PRINCIPAL AGENCIES FOR BUILDING THE NATIONAL HOME, HAVE TOGETHER COLLECTED ABOUT $19,000,000 IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE THE WORLD WAR. FROM THE UNITED STATES ALSO CAME ABOUT $2,000,000 IN CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD THE EMERGENCY FUND ESTABLISHED DURING THE 1929 ARAB ATTACKS ON THE JEWS HERE; $1,500,000 FROM TRADE UNIONS FOR THE HISTADRUTH, ZIONIST LABOR ORGANIZATION; AND OVER $2,000,000 FROM THE AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE.
THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY ON MT. SCOPUS, NEAR JERUSALEM, IS LARGELY AMERICAN-ENDOWED AND SUPPORTED, AS ARE THE HOSPITALS AND WELFARE CENTERS OF HADASSAH, OF WHOSE $350,000 HEALTH AND WELFARE BUDGET THIS YEAR, $220,000 COMES FROM THE UNITED STATES.
FOR THIS YEAR, AMERICAN JEWISH CONTRIBUTIONS TO PALESTINE WILL TOTAL ABOUT $2,000,000, HALF OF WHICH IS FOR ZIONIST ACTIVITIES. AMERICAN ENTERPRISES NOT PRIMARILY JEWISH HAVE INVESTED AND CONTRIBUTED MORE THAN $8,000,000 IN PALESTINE, DISTRIBUTED AS FOLLOWS: IRAQ PETTOLEUM CORPORATION, $2,400,000; SOCONY-VACUUM CORPORATION, $500,000; RELIGIOUS AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS, $2,700,000; ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTERESTS, $2,200,000; MISCELLANEOUS (MOSTLY HOLDINGS OF ARABS NATURALIZED AS AMERICAN CITIZENS), ABOUT $500,000.
THE AMERICAN INTEREST IN THE IRAQ PETROLEUM CORPORATION IS 23.75 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL INVESTMENT OF $80,000,000, OF WHICH $50,000,000 IS REPRESENTED BY PIPELINES AND ACCESSORY FACILITIES. ABOUT $10,000,000 OF THE PIPELINE AND ACCESSORIES IS LOCATED IN PALESTINE. THE AMERICAN FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THE HOLY LAND THROUGH IPC HOLDINGS IS THEREFORE ABOUT $2,400,000. OF THE COMPANY’S 1936 PRODUCTION OF 4,000,000 TONS OF CRUDE OIL, HALF WAS EXPORTED THROUGH THE HAIFA PIPE LINE TERMINUS. THERE IS A PROJECT FOR BUILDING A REFINERY AT THAT CITY.
OF AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, THE LARGEST INVESTMENT IS REPRESENTED BY THE JERUSALEM Y.M.C.A., WHOSE $2,000,000 GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS ARE THE GIFT OF JAMES N. JARVEY, OF MONTCLAIR, N.J. THERE ARE EIGHT OTHER AMERICAN CHURCH AND MISSIONARY ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING IN PALESTINE. IN THE FIELD OF ARCHAEOLOGY, THE LARGEST AMERICAN-FINANCED INSTITUTION IS THE PALESTINE ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM, ENDOWED WITH $2,000,000 BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. OTHERS ARE THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, AT JERUSALEM, THE EXPEDITION OF THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, AT MEGIDDO, AND H.D. COLT’S PRIVATE EXPEDITION AT AUJA EL-HAFIR, NEAR THE EGYPTIAN FRONTIER.
NONE OF THE BONDS OF THE PALESTINE GOVERNMENT, SO FAR AS IS KNOWN, ARE HELD IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT THE BOND ISSUE OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF TEL AVIV, ISSUED IN 1923, AND OF WHICH $125,000 IS STILL OUTSTANDING, IS LARGELY OWNED THERE.
THE 10,000 AMERICANS RESIDING PERMANENTLY IN THE HOLY LAND INCLUDE A ONE OR TWO HUNDRED MISSIONARIES, BUSINESSMEN AND SCHOLARS, AND ABOUT 800 ARABS WHO RETURNED HERE AFTER REQUIRING AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, AND THEIR CHILDREN. OF THE 9,000 JEWS, 90 PER CENT OF WHOM CAME HERE AFTER THE WORLD WAR IN CONNECTION WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL HOME, ABOUT 55 PER CENT, OR 5,000 WERE NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND OF THESE, LESS THAN 4,000 ARE NOW ENTITLED TO UNITED STATES PROTECTION, THE OTHERS HAVING ALLOWED THEIR CITIZENSHIP TO LAPSE BY CONTINUED ABSENCE.
THE INCREASE IMMIGRATION OF JEWS FROM PALESTINE TO AMERICAN BEGAN EARLY THIS YEAR. A YEAR AGO THE AMERICAN CONSULATE IN JERUSALEM WAS ISSUING THIRTY TO FORTY VISAS A MONTH TO JEWS (NOT PALESTINIAN BORN). A GRADUAL INCREASE OVER A SIX-MONTH PERIOD BROUGHT THE NUMBER OF VISAS TO 100 A MONTH, WHICH RATE HAS CONTINUED FOR FIVE MONTHS. OF THIS EMIGRATION, 40 PER CENT ARE POLES, 40 PER CENT GERMANS AND THE REMAINDER OF VARIOUS EUROPEAN NATIONALITIES. THE MAJORITY ARE IN THE “CAPITALIST” CATEGORY.
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.
