Evening star., 1914-12-22

II every large city the Hebrews are
vtelng with each other in raising thi.
money promptly. the 500, 900 being .
sort OF emergency fund to relieve spe.
cial needs brought about by the war
II Turkey had remained neutral. the
Jews In Palestine would have escaped
with comparatively little loss. except
from the lack of transportation for
their exports. and the stoppase Of in
comes derived from them. But condi-
tions are now much worse than antici-
pated, and grave suffering exists, which
only the generosity of the American
Hebrews can relieve.
*x
In addition to the large fund for the
emergency relief. there must be regu-
lar contributions
Emergency Relief to support the
and Other Funds. now U,Ia1.on nnaao Wv worn y
Palestine. Most of this had been start
ed by European Hebrews In order that
it may not fall behind, julius Rosen-
wald of Chicago has pledged the sum of
$1,000 monthly during the war and for
twelve months after the war Others
are coming forward with equal gener-
osity. SO that there is no reason to
doubt that in her assumption of re-
sponsibility the United States will full
fill her duty toward the Zionist move
ment as well as her other phiianthro-
pies.
Mr.. Brandeis makes his appeal to the
Hebrews of America upon the ground
that in re-establfshing their own race
and national life in the land of their
forefathers they are fulfilling the high
est American ideals of democracy and
social Justice.
Securing Palestine for the Jews means
that in the future Jews will be enabled
to have an option as to whether they
will live in the land of their fathers or
in some other country. right which
members of small nations as well as
large-which Irish, Greek. Bulgarian,
Sefv;an or Belgian-may now exercise
as fully as the Germans or English.
The Zionist movement was first pro-
posed by Theodore Herzl. a Viennese
Journalist, in 1895, and was ridiculed
as preposterous dream. ZaHgwill.
the novelist, read of it, and was con-
vinced of the value of the thought.
Largely through his influence the prom
inent Hebrews of England were inter-
ested in 1t, and the first Zionist con-
gress was held in Basel in 1897. At
this congress a constitution was drawn
up which declared: The object of Zion
ism is to establish for the Jews pub
licly and legally assured home in Pal
estine."
This declaration suggested in a mega
tive way what the Jews of every ma
tion have been
Jews, as People, made to feel
Have No Home. s's' asws ss ana, neon,e sne
have no home and are thus continually
made the playba!l of contending fac
tions and warning interests. Herzl set
himself actively to work to obtain the
original home of the race through the
cooperation of the Turkish govern
ment Largely through his efforts, the
Turkish government stood back of the
movement in guaranteeing the protec-
tion of the Jewish immigrants who
returned to take up their residence
in Palestine. Many Jews have done
this today. Palestine contains more
of these are in Jerusalem. and the
others are to be found in Jaffa. safed.
Tiberias. Haifa and scattered In small
colonies in the rural districts. From
the time of the destruction of the tenn
pie. nearly 1900 years ago. the hope
of return to the land of his fathers
buoyed up the Jew amid direst perse-
cution.
Jews were driven by persecution out
of Russia and Roumania, arrangements
were made for some of them to return
to Palestine as colonists instead of
coming to America to find an asylum.
as thousands of them did. The first
Zionist colonists had to face obstacles
of many kinds. The land seemed an
arid treeless desert. All natural re-
sources had been destroyed. 1t was
unwhoiesome and malarial. SO that
man. lost their lives in establishing
the earliest settlements. The people
were III equipped to grapple with the
difficulties of pioneer life. They were
Ignorant of the ways of farmers lives
which they proposed to lead. For cen
mania have been denied the oppor-
tunity of owning and working land.
Their activities had been confined to
commercial pursuits in the towns.
The land has now been reclaimed by
modern methods of agriculture. SO that
1t bids soon
Land Is Reclaimed again to be
by Modern Methods. mI1s nIs'ag agd w'.h Sann
ey" Oranges. grapes. almonds and
grain grow In abundance. Those who
understand the natural resources of
Palestine claim that 1t Is a miniature
California in Its climate and agricul.
tural possibilities. Its commercial pos
sibilities are proved by the fact that
its orange expectations have increased
within ten years from $4,000 boxes an
nually to 100000 boxes. This export
is expected to be doubled within Ave
years when the newly planted orange
trees begin to bear fruit. Other fruits