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IiH-_S_g U T H E R N ISRAFI.tc Why iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMimiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKimiiiiiiiiiiimiiniiiiiMiiiHMiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii r 'he Southern Israelite presents this ex it contribution by America's distinguished ney and liberal thinker. Darrow’s straight the shoulder condemnation of Zionism nlution of the Jewish problem will arouse ht d opposition; we believe, however, that a . ,<nality of the stature of Clarence Darrow aid be given a free platform to speak his './ even if his view's do not coincide with : iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiMiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiii I don’t know that the Jews have any mission in this world, or, for that matter, whether any people have a mission—but if the Jews do have a mission, surely it is not to hide themselves in one forsaken I corner of the universe, but to mix with the world, to spread among the goyim. Zionism, the movement for the re-estab- lishment of a Jewish National Home in | Palestine, is doomed to failure, both be cause of its practical defects and its spir itual shortsightedness. Zionism is an effort I to withstand the onsweeping currents of time, which are slowly but certainly de molishing those fundamental ideas to which the Zionist movement clutches for support. There can be no doubt that Zionism is, at bottom, a religious movement. I will be told that thousands of the men and women who to Palestine do not subscribe to the religious tenets of the old orthodoxy; others will tell me that a man like Theodore Herzl was not religious in any sense of the word, as many of the leaders of the Zionist movement today are not religious. Hut. nevertheless, in its spiritual ecstasy, in its mystic hope, Zionism is primarily religious in its motivation. That is the magnet which draws masses of Jews to it. Hut because Zionism is a religious move ment, it must suffer the fate which over- hns religious moves. They must all soon- later succumb to the march of time, ne growth of reason, to the widening ; °n of man in his evaluation of things ’ him. And without this religious back ed, Zionism must collapse, is probable that the persecution to h Jews are subject in many lands has cd an incentive to the Zionist move- • but that is not the predominant fac- as some observers have been led to ey e. As Dr. Stephen Wise pointed out ^ e time ago in a discussion I had with : the Zionist movement was started I he very day the Jews were taken to I h >ylon. onism is a woefully inadequate attempt 'Olve the Jewish problem. In the con ation upon Palestine, huge sums of e >’ are wasted in an effort to push ions of Jews into the country on a that has no promise. In the mean- e » the situation of millions of Jews in parts of the world, where the Jewish lem is immediate and pressing, is in Vlse improved. Don't Believe In By CLARENCE DARROW What drives Jews to a consideration of Palestine as the remedy for their ills? Is it a political state? Or is it the desire for a cultural center? I remember very well the days when Theodore Herzl started his work. At that time, when phrases were the only posses sions of the Zionist movement, grandiose dreams were developed. There was talk of a political state comparable to any Eu ropean state. Rut as time has gone on the folly and the impossibility of such a goal has become apparent to ever increasing circles of Jews. I have no doubt that if Clarfnce Darrow Jews should make an insistent drive for the establishment of a political state at this time that no many days would pass before thousands upon thousands of Jews would find their throats cut. And that would not be a sacrifice to attain the final end. It would merely be a vain spilling of blood. You cannot ignore the Arabs who live in Palestine. Perhaps the Jews do have some rights, though politically and even morally the land has always belonged to nomadic peoples—of which the Jews were once a part. But Jews, with a sense of reality, must realize that the 700,000 Arabs cannot be annihilated. And what do these gentlemen mean when they talk of a Jewish cultural center? The phrase is meaningless. What sort of cul ture could the Jews achieve in Palestine that they cannot achieve elsewhere, or for that matter, what culture could they cre ate that I am not as capable of creating? When I ask for an exact definition of what this culture is supposed to mean, I hear only stammering and indecision. And then I will be told that the Hebrew language will be revived. But one might just as well talk about bringing back the oxcarts and the sun dials. The laws governing the Zionism growth and death of languages cannot be controlled by man’s ambitions. The Irish tried exactly the same experiment by at tempting to revive the Celtic language. They are making a brave effort, but their failure is already apparent. The centuries of disuse, the centuries of acclimatization to new r languages, to new r vehicles of thought cannot be conquered by some fan tastic scheme of national regeneration. If Zionism were not a religious move ment, it would not ignore the very obvious fact that Palestine can never be a Jewish homeland. I have no objection whatever to any proposal that Jews as a group settle in some land where they may escape per secution. But is absurd to settle them in a country which is wholly inadequate. If Zionism had no religious source, the Jew's w'ould seek out some area in South Amer ica, or Russia, or Africa. If they planted seeds in such countries, they w'ould be sure of getting rich crops. But in Palestine they are not even certain of getting the seeds back. 1 am what might be called a territorial- ist, as w-as Israel Zangwill Not, however, that I believe that Jews should segregate themselves. The assimila tion of the Jewish people is going on steadily and should go on steadily. All the barriers of creed and dogma, of national istic pride and chauvinistic intolerance must ultimately come down. That way lies the only hope for the solution of the Jew ish problem. For the Jews to set them selves deliberately against the evolution of social thought is not characteristic of their usual intelligence. But outside of being socially undesir able, the establishment of a Jewish Na tional Home in Palestine is not feasible. Consider the width and length of the coun try. And on top of that keep in mind the two large mountain ranges. And you real ize that there cannot possibly be any land for agricultural colonization—on the scale which Jews have in mind. Five years ago I visited Palestine and studied the country—but much more of my information has come from a reading of the available documents in the matter. The land is hard and labor-resisting. It is deso late because that is the nature of the soil. Of course, there is much talk these days of developing the industrial growth of the country. But there must be an outlet for industry. The only available market are in the Near East. But that market is not re ceptive to industrial development. To change the habits of living and the customs of the peoples in that area would take a minimum of five hundred years. Then Jew ish industry in Palestine might find a real outlet. And what are Jews to do in the meantime? The Jews have tried their hand at devel oping the country. (Please turn to page 18)