The Maccabaean

T would be dificult tt re-_ Massacre and Persecutic I call a period during the Consequences of the Del last fifty years when he —-The Problem of the ( Jewish people were more East European Jewry—4 sorely bestead than they are. Jewish “Leaders” —-Zior now. After the Russian Revolution everybody By ISRA thought that our emancipa- Special Correspondent of ' tion was completed, that persecution would cease, and the word “pogrom” would become obsolete and forgotten. Unfortunately the horrors and outrages that have overtaken the Jews in Central and Eastern Europe are much worse, if possible, than those which they endured before or during the war. Pogroms have broken out in so many places that contemporary historians will be kept very busy in chronicling them. Russia and Poland, Rumania and Galicia, Czecho-Slovakia and Hungary, new States and old, they have all disgraced themselves by shedding Jewish blood after a war-weary world had become utterly sick of the shedding of blood and believed that all nations were longing for peace. Europe is at present in a very feverish and irritable condition, and those who have to suffer the most are the weakest—the Jews. The situation is aggravated by the participation of some Jews, or rather of some persons of Jewish origin, in the Bolshevist movement, for although these Bolshevist Jews are an insignificant fraction of Russian or Hungarian Jewry, they provide the Anti-Semitic enemy with a welcome excuse for accusing Jews in general of Bolshevism and for justifyinge attacks upon the innocent.

What can we hope from the Peace of Paris? There are, of course, two distinct main questions with which the Conference is concerned: the future of Palestine and the complete emancipation of Eastern Jewry. The exact form in which the Balfourian Declaration is to be realized is not yet known and has not yet been determined. Had there been greater enthusiasm and unanimity in Jewry, among the leaders as well as among the led, in regard to the restoration of a Jewish Palestine, we should by now have been able to record much greater progress. But unfortunately many Jewish leaders, who have always been praying for the return to Zion, have a horror of reaching the goal of their prayers, and are afraid their position will become undermined even if others, more sincere than they are, resolve to live and work in Zion in our days. There is one thing that mitigates the act of treachery committed by M. Sylvain Levi at the Peace Conference: it is that he made his attack’ upon Zionism, which he was expected to advocate, in the hearing of Mr. Sokolow and Dr. Weizmann, who were able to undo the mischief on the spot. But M. Levi, as well as the unscrupulous Anti-Zionists of England and America, are still busy in Paris, trying to frustrate the achievement in full measure of our demands regarding Palestine. A remark made by Dr. E. Dillon a fortnight ago in one of his Paris articles in “The Daily Telegraph,” wherein he said that the Jews would simply get the same rights as the Arabs in Palestine, has caused a certain amount of uneasiness. But it must be remembered that Dr. Dillon has not made any special study of the Zionist question, and has no authorita-

Massacre and Persecution —Paris and Palestine— Consequences of the Delay—New Life in Palestine —The Problem of the Complete Emancipation of East European Jewry—A Chillul Hashem by Anglo-Jewish "Leaders"—Zionist Unity and Strength.

Special Correspondent of THE MACCABAEAN in London

tive information on the latest developments, and that he simply recorded as a fact that which the Anti-Zionists, who have coached him, would like to be the case.

ı URAN SU LU UL LIIU VA, L COHEN The delay in the Palestine HE MACCABAEAN in London _ settlement is certainly annoying. It causes the loss of a great deal of time which could be so advantageously utilized both in Palestine and in the Diaspora. As long as the coun- iry remains under the present military regime it is impossible to launch any big industrial enterprises, partly owing to the lack of raw materials, and partly to the inevitable feeling of insecurity which nothing but a definite settlement will cure. The difficulties of the Zionist leaders will be increased by the delay, though the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference might plead that it has much more formidable problems to solve, and that not until peace has been signed with Germany and Austria will it be able to settle definitely the Palestinian question. For the present, although the impetus to emigration in Eastern European Jewry is very powerful, although the impatience is very great, Palestine is practically closed to all but refugees, that is, to those who formerly lived there and desire repatriation. No little dissatisfaction has been expressed with the Zionist leaders on this account, especially by those at present suffering in Central Europe; but those who are complaining know nothing of the efforts that are being made to open up Palestine to them at the earliest moment, or of the elaborate measures that will have to be carried out for the regulation of suitable immigration into Palestine and the Prevention of an economic crisis.

Those who are already in the country are, of course, doing their utmost to repair the social, moral and economic damage wrought by the war. There has been a remarkable eflorescence of Hebrew letters: newspapers, periodicals, and books are springing forth like mushrooms. Jewish political life is taking on characteristic forms and developing specific parties: already one can discern the Conservatives (the landowners), the Liberals (intellectuals and business-men), the Socialists (artisan class), and the Clericals (the Rabbinical eircles and satellites). And among the most recent economic developments it is interesting to record the establishment of a Waters Company (Agudath Hamaim), which will devote itself to the fostering of shipping and fisheries and the proper training of mariners and fishermen. The services rendered by America, which has just sent to Palestine the “Mongolia” laden not only with flour, but also with a huge quantity of linen, flannel, woolen blankets, hospital equipment, sewing machines, and 200 motor cars to assist in the distribution of these commodities, can certainly not be overrated. Dr. Weizmann, who left London today for Paris, is expected to leave in a few days, together with Mr. I. Rosoff (of the Actions Committee) for Palestine, and their arrival in the country will undoubtedly give a new fillip to the life of the New Judea.