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The
Zionist Century - Concepts - Zionist Congresses
During the British Mandate on Palestine
Article Four of the League
of Nations Mandate for Palestine called
for the creation of a Jewish Agency,
"to secure the cooperation of all Jews who are willing
to assist in the establishment of the Jewish National Home."
The proposal to include non-Zionists in the Jewish Agency was a matter
which aroused considerable opposition and was defeated at this time. (Weizmann
however, succeeded in implementing this program some six years later).
The Congress met at a time
of significant Jewish immigration
to Palestine, mainly from Poland. Those in sympathy with the building
of the Jewish National Home by private enterprise saw in this wave of
immigration the realization of their hopes, while the workers' movement
saw it as a threat to their constructive socialist efforts.
The Revisionists, led by Ze'ev Jabotinsky attended their first Congress
and demanded a more activist policy for the Zionist movement. They also
opposed the inclusion of non-Zionists within the Jewish Agency.
The Congress met under
the cloud of a growing economic crisis in Palestine which had already
left many unemployed and impoverished. 1927 was to be the year when more
Jewish emigrants left the country than arrived at its shores (the first
and only year that this was to occur in the pre-State period). It was
natural that the Congress should spend much of its time dealing with this
issue. Weizmann and Ruppin delivered speeches on how to alleviate the
crisis.
Discussion also continued on the question of expanding the Jewish Agency.
Eulogies were delivered on Ahad Ha'am, the ideological
leader of the cultural Zionists who had himself only attended the first
Congress.
In the elections to the position of President of the WZO, Weizmann was
again re-elected. Sokolow, too, was re-elected to the position of President
of the Executive, while Henrietta Szold became the first woman to be elected
to the Zionist Executive.
Unlike its predecessor,
the Sixteenth Congress met in an atmosphere of optimism concerning economic
developments in Palestine. Immigration was up and economic recovery -
unlike in the USA and Europe - was underway.
The Congress approved the enlargement of the Jewish Agency -- much to
the chagrin of a vocal minority dominated by the Revisionists. This decision
ended a debate that had lasted seven years. Weizmann and Sokolow were
elected respectively to the positions of President of the WZO and the
Executive.
Only a few days after the
Sixteenth Congress had closed, riots had broken out in Palestine. The
Shaw Commission reported
unfavorably on Zionist activity in Palestine as did Hope-Simpson,
who had been sent to Palestine shortly thereafter. Their recommendations
were adopted by Lord Passfield in the White
Paper bearing his name. The Zionist movement was in uproar and Weizmann
tendered his resignation as President of the organization. However, following
negotiations with the minority government of Ramsay MacDonald, many of
the negative clauses were retracted.
During the Congress, a large number of delegates protested Weizmann's
policy towards the British, in particular his commitment to maximum cooperation
with the Mandate authority. The Revisionists were not alone in opposing
Weizmann, although they were the most demonstrative. Jabotinsky,
the undisputed leader of this stream in Zionism, called on the organization
to adopt a resolution stating that Zionism's end goals were the establishment
of a Jewish majority and Jewish State in Palestine on both sides of the
Jordan river. When the Congress rejected this plea, Jabotinsky tore up
his delegate card and shouted, "This is not a Zionist congress!"
This was to be a further landmark on the road to Revisionist secession
from the Zionist organization. Weizmann did not withdraw his resignation
and Sokolow was elected in his stead. Given the increased Labor representation
in the Executive, Weizmann's pro-British orientation was to continue.
Congress met under the
impact of three major developments:
- the advent of the Nazis to power in Germany;
- an inflationary economy in Palestine, and finally
- the assassination of the Labor leader and head of the Jewish Agency
Political Department, Chaim Arlosoroff.
Mutual recriminations between the Labor movement - united in Palestine
as Mapai in 1930 - and the Revisionists reached new heights. A committee
of inquiry was established to investigate the murder.
This was the first Congress where the Labor movement outnumbered the
supporters of General Zionism.
Once again, the Labor faction
was the largest at Congress. A broad coalition was brought together, enabling
the return of Weizmann to the position of Presidency.
Sokolow was chosen as Honorary President of the WZO
and the Jewish Agency, but died the following year.
Congress discussed various issues, many of which centered around the
rescue of German Jewry and their immigration to Palestine. In this context,
Henrietta Szold outlined the work of Youth Aliyah. David
Ben-Gurion was elected to the Executive of the Jewish Agency and was
to play an increasingly important role in its work. The Revisionists did
not participate in the Congress following their decision to secede and
establish their own New Zionist Organization.
Following the outbreak
of the Arab Revolt in Palestine during the Spring of 1936, the British
Government dispatched a Royal Commission to investigate a possible solution
to the Arab-Zionist conflict. The central recommendation of the Peel
Commission (known after its chairperson) was the partition of Palestine
into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Congress was called upon to determine
the position of the Zionist movement towards this scheme.
The crisis that emerged within the movement was comparable to that which
had rocked the organization during the days of the so-called Uganda controversy.
Zionist factions were divided not only between but also among themselves.
For example:
- within Mapai (Labor) Ben-Gurion supported
the proposal whilst Berl Katznelson and Yitshak Tabenkin opposed it.
- The opposition led by Menachem Ussishkin (the
Revisionists had seceded from the WZO), argued that the proposed Jewish
State was too small to absorb the potential Jewish immigration, could
not be defended from Arab attack and excluded Zion (Jerusalem).
- Against them, Weizmann and Ben-Gurion
argued that a Jewish State afforded free immigration and sovereignty.
In these uncertain times they doubted that the British would improve
upon their offer. With European Jewry in crisis an immediate solution
was necessary. If the Jewish State were to be attacked, Ben
Gurion argued, the Zionist movement would be within its rights to
claim an adjustment to its borders.
In the event, the Congress decided to reject the specific borders recommended
by the Peel Commission but empowered its executive to negotiate a more
favorable plan for a Jewish State in Palestine.
Congress met only days
before the outbreak of the Second World War. Since the last Congress,
Britain had staged a withdrawal from the Partition plan that had been
initially proposed by the Peel Commission: the
Woodhead Commission had called the scheme impractical: the St.James
conference in London did not bridge the gulf between the parties;
and Britain's war interests led the Prime Minister to the conclusion that
"if we must offend one side, let us offend the Jews
rather than the Arabs."
In May 1939, the White
Paper had been published severely curtailing immigration and giving
a pledge to create an independent Palestine state.
Congress condemned British policy in the strongest possible terms and
a number of delegates praised the activities of organizations involved
in illegal immigration. Given the climate of impending war, the outgoing
executive was requested to remain in office. Weizmann concluded Congress
proceedings with the statement,
"I have no prayer but this: that we will all meet
again alive."
The Congress met after
the conclusion of the Second World War and the Holocaust, in which most
of European Jewry had been massacred.
- The major human resource for the Zionist movement had been destroyed.
- The Jewish community in Palestine had volunteered in large numbers
for the British war effort but had been able to do little to bring sustenance
to their brethren behind enemy lines.
- The British had only consented to the establishment of the Jewish
Brigade in October 1944 and therefore this unit could play only
a limited role.
- The Yishuv had also tried unsuccessfully to pressurize the British
authorities into repealing the White Paper.
Initially, the policy of violent confrontation had been rejected by the
vast majority of the Yishuv but, by the summer of 1945, the various armed
groups were co-ordinating their efforts against the Mandate. This led
to increased tension with the British who, in July 1946, incarcerated
the leaders of the Yishuv at Latrun.
Congress met following the publication of the Morrison-Grady
report which had recommended the cantonization of Palestine into four
districts and called for a Jewish-Arab conference to be held in London.
Weizmann, still President of the WZO, called on the delegates to approve
the political platform of the Zionist movement as passed at conferences
at the Biltmore hotel in New York during May 1942 and in London, 1945.
The central passage of this program was the call that
"Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth
integrated in the structure of the democratic world."
Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the program but rejected Weizmann's
call for participation in the London conference. Weizmann resigned his
position as President of the WZO, which then remained vacant until 1956.
For specific references to
people and places mentionned in this file, please follow the relevant
pointer
[Jabotinsky] [Ahad
Ha'am] [Weizmann] [Ze'ev
Jabotinsky] [Ruppin] [Sokolow]
[Henrietta Szold] [Chaim
Arlosoroff] [David Ben Gurion]
[Berl Katznelson] [Yitshak
Tabenkin] [Menachem Ussishkin]
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