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Jewish History in the Making
,,„tinued from page 44)
r i' "f.Vh
years of uninterrupted
a iiich rose in a steady up-
. ;i rve were suddenly chal-
! t .,s than six months ago
i iU>tine found itself at the
r of a series of disorders
, ive had no parallel since the
v lu-ii British troops, bolstered
.I, wish Legionnaries, wrested
,-estral homeland from Turk
ish suzerainty.
M,,n than 400,000 Jews, to
cnn trad with 58,000 in 1919, were
m Palestine when violence
an d destruction laid their riotous
l, all ds on the country on April
j<i, lFor the fourth time since
the Jewish National Home policy
had been enunciated by the British
Mandatory Power native Arabs
ru se to denounce Jewish immigra
tion. to demand a ban on land
sales and to urge the establish
ment of a national Arab govern
ment.
The tragic events which startled
the world in April had been in
troduced by months of uncertainty
and tension. The Italo-Abyssinian
war, easting a shadow over the
entire Near East, causing a re
striction in trade, a tightening in
credit, a decline in tourism and a
general economic excitement, laid
tlm foundation for a challenge to
the British Empire, whose prestige
was weakened by the fiasco of its
foreign policy vis-a-vis Italy. In
November of 1985 the existence of
an Arab terrorist band was dis
covered. Its professed aim was to
drive Jews out by force and to seize
rule from the British. Accused of
murder, the members of the band
were hailed as patriots by their
coreligionists. Occasional sniping
thereafter and a series of highway
robberies, accompanied by ruth-
!c" assassinations, flamed into the
conflagration of April 19th, when
Arab> began to murder Jews on the
greets of Jaffa on the basis of a
tube rumor that Jews had assailed
\ralm
>mee then more than fifty Jews
have been killed by the guns of
\rab assassins, to the accompani-
of a general strike which has
;tlIII(, 'l to paralyze the country.
Ahuo>t three times as many Arabs
ha\e been slain by troops, whose
numbers were constantly increased
1 he Government found itself
unable to cope with widespread
ar> on, destruction of Jewish trees,
' and homes, and ambushing
"t travelers and vehicles.
Bbpensing with all party differ-
the Yishuv has shown a
unit. (I front to vandals and as-
It is well known that the
( d Palestine are adequately
dpped for self-defense. Prompt-
idealism and a wish to avoid
t° their cause, the Jews of
due have not retaliated against
-nost irresistible provocation
n Arabs. Though their sons
brothers and friends were
SOUTHERN ISRAELITE *
slain, though their flourishing acres
wrested out of swampland were
burned to a crisp, though their steady
progress was halted, they did
nothing except defend their persons
and homes. By their conduct
during these riots the Jews of Pales
tine demonstrated that they have
the capacity for self-government
and that no obstacles, no matter
how great, will deter them from
going forward.
The second important item re
sulting from the disturbances was
the establishment of the Tel Aviv
port, which will have momentous
consequences for the economic and
political development of the Yishuv.
The third important result is the
increasing employment of Jews by
Jew’s. Many of the planters were
notorious for their hiring of Arab
land workers in preference to Jews.
That Jews throughout the world
have reacted to the Palestine events
in the spirit manifested by the
Yishuv is reflected in the record of
uninterrupted immigration. Dur
ing the first seven months of 1936
a total of almost 19,000 Jews en
tered Palestine, still more than the
number absorbed by all other lands.
The principal problem faced by
Jewish Palestine today is political
rather than economic, for the Jew
ish economic structure in the land
has not been undermined to any
considerable extent by the Arab
strike. In many spots that struc
ture has been bolstered. But Great
Britain has an eye on sentiment in
other Moslem countries; it would
like to keep the support of Arab
potentates in the Middle East.
To what extent will it sacrifice its
promise to the Jew’s in obedience
to those two factors? So far the
odds would seem to he with the
Jews; because of their restraint
and because of the proof they have
given of their highminded political
and economic statesmanship.
UNITED STATES
The upward trend of the graph
of American economic recovery
reflected itself in the life of the
Jewish community of the l nited
States during 5696. The past
year can be regarded as a period
of stabilization in every phase of
organized Jewish life. 1 he depres
sion, almost forgotten, no longer
barricaded the advance and in
itiative of the important organiza
tions, fund-raising efforts, cultural
endeavors and other specifically
Jewish projects. From this point
of view 5696 can safely be classified
as the best year American Jewry
has enjoyed since 1930.
While predictions that Jewish
life in this country would divide
itself more and more according to
economic strata were not confirm
ed, there were evident two sharply
demarcated currents in Jewish lead
ership. These currents were at
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