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THE SOUTHE RN ISRAELITE
Zionist Merry-Go-Round
A Theory Caught In a Trap, Beating Its Wings Against Reality
Zionist Congresses have long been insti
tutions in Jewish life, quite apart from
Zionism as such. The highly articulate,
but politically suppressed Jewish people,
especially in Eastern Europe, have found
in these biennial gatherings a vehicle for
expressing their suppressed desire for
political discussion and parliamentary pro
cedure denied them in their own countries.
These Congresses with their grandiloquent,
rhetorical manner of a people's Tribune,
have served them as a substitute for a Par
liament, with all its showy, stage-like
activities, even as Zionism itself has served
them as a psychological proxy for a real
State of their own.
But, if Zionist Congresses correspond
thus to Parliaments, then the Seventeenth
Zionist Congress, held recently at Basle,
in Switzerland, has shown that the Jewish
Parliament is sharing the general decline
of all Parliaments of the post-war period.
It was, perhaps, the stormiest of all Zion
ist gatherings, patterned on the old Polish
Sejm, with a dash of the German Reich
stag in its recent, demoralized condition
since the advent of Hitlerism, and it has
thrown into light the unfitness of the East-
European Jewish temperament for parlia
mentary procedure in time of emotional
stress.
By WILLIAM ZUKERMAN
Special to The Southern Israelite
Mr. Zukerman, Europe’s best informed
Jewish journalist, analyzes the change
which Zionism is going through. “Why
Was the Seventeenth Zionist Congress a
Landmark?” “Can Palestine Become A
Jewish State?” “Did the Balfour Declara
tion Guarantee a Jewish Majority in Pal
estine?” “Is Jewish Nationalism A
Danger?” “Was There Personal Animus
in the Removal of Dr. Weizmann?” “Is
Zionism at the Beginning of o New Era
or Moving Towards its Destruction?”
Zukerman, premier foreign observer,
answers these questions and reveals the
unadulterated truth of what happened in
Basle—This article tells all about the
Basle—Merry-Go-Round.
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struck deep roots, then the Seventeenth
Zionist Congress may well be a unique
landmark in the long Jewish story, and
not a pleasant landmark at that.
The Seventeenth Zionist Congress neces
sarily reflected the present acute crisis in
the Zionist movement, and the best that
can be said about it is that the stormy
spectacle which it presented was an expres
sion of the inherent turbulence of Zionism
at the present moment. For it was at this
Congress that the Zionist movement for
the first time realized the limitations of
Zionism, and the need for adjusting the
old ideal to the limitations imposed by
reality. What most non-Zionists and many
of the sober Zionists have known and
anticipated for years, the Zionist move
ment as a whole came to face only at this
Congress—namely, that present-day Zion
ism is not, and cannot be, what its nine
teenth century founder, and still more
his adherents, believed it to be: that Pales
tine cannot be a Jewish State; that the
Balfour Declaration did not guar;; itee a
Jewish majority in Palestine, and that
in the words of Dr. Weizmann, “the com
paratively narrow strip of country stretch
ing along part of the Mediterranean coast
cannot solve the Jewish problem—the
problem of finding relief for the millions
of oppressed Jewish people in Eastern
European countries.”
It was painful to watch this realization
of a bitter truth by an emotional people.
A theory, caught in a trap, was beating
its wings against the iron walls of reality
until it bled; a social movement pulled up
by insurmountable barriers was dashing
itself against the hard cliffs of fact only
to fall back in impotence. It was this that
was doubtless responsible for the many
wild scenes, irrational acts, and inexcusa
ble blunderings commited by this gather
ing. In vain did the more sober men, who
had seen the approach of this crisis for
years, counsel calm, fortitude, patience and
hard work on a smaller scale. In vain did
they point out that shouting and scream
ing, and putting extreme demands, would
not change the situation by one iota; that
it were far better to settle down to do
what it is possible to do in Palestine;
to build what can be built, and on a scale
which circumstances permit. In vain did
Dr. Weizmann attempt to save the move
ment from further foundering by propos
ing the first really constructive programme
Zionism has ever (Please turn to Page 16)
But it has revealed also something much
more important and new; namely, the rise
of a new force in Jewish life which hith
erto was never associated with Jews. If
this proves to be not merely a transient
appearance, but something which has
Palestine Pavilion At French
Colonial Fair
“The eyes of the world look upon
Palestine” is a phrase quite frequently
heard at Jewish gatherings. Now it is
not a mere phrase. It’s a fact.
This picture shows a structure which
quite resembles Rachel’s Tomb. It is tht
Palestine Pavilion at the French Colonial
Fair, recently opened in Pans, to which
multitudes from all parts of the wot d
are attracted daily.
The Palestine Pavilion is shared by
Jewish National Fund, which has a st
ing exhibit of its work and progress
Palestine; the Zionist Executive and
Palestine Potasch Co., Ltd., which sh
the progress of the work in wres'
industrial life for Palestine from
Dead Sea. When the pavilion was opc
recently, Baron Edmund de Rothch ild
present and the well known French sta
man, Painleve, delivered an enthusia•*
f address on the i^-eals of Zionism and
f Jewish accomplishments in Palestine.
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