Jewish organizations of varying functions and political orientations joined during the week-end in hailing the U.N. establishment of a Jewish State.
The American Zionist Emergency Council, speaking for the entire Zionist movement in the U.S., called the Assembly’s decision “a milestone in the history of the world.” It expressed “deep thanks” to the U.S., the Soviet Union and the other governments who had fought for partition and paid tribute to the “ceaseless efforts” of American Zionists. The Council foresaw difficult days ahead, but voiced confidence that the Jews of Palestine backed by American public opinion could meet all eventualities.
The Zionist Organization of America, in a statement issued by Dr. Emanuel Neumann, ZOA president, announced a victory-thanksgiving rally in Manhattan Center on Tuesday night, to be addressed by Drs. Silver and Neumann. A two-day extraordinary conference of the ZOA’s administrative council will be held next week-end to discuss problems arising from the creation of a Jewish state.
Dr. Israel Goldstein, national chairman of the United Palestine Appeal, said the U.N. action was payment of a “debt due the Jewish people from the world in reparation for the tragic story of persecution and homelessness.” He warned, however, that both inter-governmental assistance as well as large-scale giving by American Jews will be necessary to implement fully the decision to set up a Jewish State.
The American Jewish Committee, through Judge Joseph Proskauer, welcomed the Assembly action and hailed the contributions of the U.S. delegation. It reiterated,
Hadassah, which hailed the U.N. move as “a decision which will and Jewish ##elessness,” immediately wired its branches in 47 states to set aside this Wednesday as Victory Day. Mrs. Samuel W. Halprin, president of the organization, said ##t Hadassah’s institutions in Palestine would continue to serve both Jews and Arabs ##ke as they have been doing.The National Council of Jewish Women, in a statement issued by Mrs. Joseph ##t, president, said that the General Assembly “has taken a long step which will ##p solve a problem that has caused injustice and hardship to thousands of Jews ## DP camps and Palestine.” She termed the U.N. action “a necessary part of any program that will enable the Jews of the world to rebuild their lives in freedom and security,” but pointed out that “it is not a complete and permanent answer to all the problems which world Jewry faces today.”
Justice Meir Steinbrink, national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League, ##id establishment of a Jewish State “means life and dignity for thousands of our follow Jews who have faced only death and degradation.” He added that by normalizing ##e lives of DP’s and disinherited Jews, the new state will help to eliminate antagon?m between Jews and non-Jews in many parts of the world and deprive anti-Semites ## this country of fuel to feed the fires of anti-Semitism.
REVISIONISTS OPPOSE PARTITION; HISTADRUTH GROUP SETS $7,500,000 GOAL
Meir Grossman, president of the United Zionist Revisionists of America, oppsed the partition vote, declaring that “against the background of the present-day Jewish tragedy and the ever-increasing need for Jewish immigration, this decision {SPAN}##s{/SPAN} clearly unjustifiable.” He said that the Revisionists would continue to fight for international revision of the boundaries of a Jewish state to extend it to the con{SPAN}##nes{/SPAN} of historic Palestine.
The National Labor Committee for Palestine, which concluded its 24th annual convention here today, called on the labor movement of the U.S. to support the new Jewish state and urged the Arabs to abide by the U.N. decision. Calling on American Jewry for greater efforts to support the Histadruth, the convention adopted a $7,500,000 quota for the 1948 Histadruth campaign.
Other organizations which voiced gratification at the Assembly decision included the Mizrachi Women of America, Jewish War Voterans of the United States, Pioneer Women, and the Masada, Zionist youth group, whose 13th annual convention in Cincinnati today adopted a resolution backing the Haganah and declaring that an attack on Jews in the Middle East would constitute an attack on American Jewish youth.
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.
