In commemoration of the 45th yarzheit of Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky, founder of the World Union of Zionist Revisionists in 1925, more than 400 people gathered at the Roosevelt Hotel last night to, according to Hart Hasten, president of the Herut Zionists of America (HZA), which sponsored the event, “remember the greatness … the spirit of the man who sent a stateless people on the path of independence.”
Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel, leader of the Herut movement which is based on Jabotinsky’s teachings and philosophy, sent a statement from Jerusalem which declared: “On the 45th anniversary of Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s death, we recall his life’s work, his deeds, his teachings, and his achievements which changed the character of our people and the course of our history. He put us on the path to statehood and sovereignty, and what we do today is in keeping with his philosophy which has triumphed.”
Prof. Herman Carmel, author and lecturer, told the meeting, “It is impossible to imagine the Zionist movement without his (Jabotinsky) ideas and dynamism. “Carmel noted that Jabotinsky’s soul “shines with increasing radiance from the distance of time.”
Yoram Aridor, former Israeli Finance Minister, told the audience that Jabotinsky “was a statesman without a state, a soldier without an army, a leader without a people. There is no doubt that his personality changed Jewish history. He taught us to believe in our own power … not to give up our rights because if Jews waive Jewish rights no one will give them what we ought to have … what we will not claim for ourselves.”
Aridor also stressed that Jabotinsky “taught us to be proud Jews — to respect others, but also to respect ourselves, our own life, and our heritage … We are proud to call ourselves the disciples of Jabotinsky.”
MESSAGE FROM BEGIN
Former Israeli Premier Menachem Begin, once the leader of Betar, the youth movement founded by Jabotinsky, declared in a statement from Jerusalem: “Ze’ev Jabotinsky taught us to love our people, fight for its liberation, defend its dignity, believe in our inalienable right to Eretz Yisrael, to do justice. There are eternal values: they live today after the greatest events, tragedies and achievements of the past 45 years, and they shall live forever.”
Prof. Howard Adelson, past president of the United Zionist Revisionists and honorary president of the HZA, called upon the audience to rededicate themselves to Jabotinsky and defined Jabotinsky’s “great message” that “weakness will not yield success and appeasement will not win.” Adelson continued: “It is time for every Jew to proclaim himself a follower of Jabotinsky and a believer in the Jewish people.”
Jabotinsky, who advocated a State of Israel as he pressed for the mass evacuation of the Jews from Eastern Europe, several years before Nazi Germany began exterminating Jews, was remembered last night for warning:
“We are standing at the edge of an abyss. I see an avalanche on the horizon rolling toward us. We are facing an elemental cataclysmic calamity of immeasurable. consequences and proportions. Either you liquidate the diaspora or the diaspora will liquidate you.” The memorial service began with the Betar anthem, written by Jabotinsky. Cantor Zvi Aroni conducted the music and prayer. There was also an intense campaign by the HZA to recruit new members at the meeting last night.
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.
