The Denver Jewish news., 1925-03-05
Why Palestine? Why Keren Hayesod?
by HARRY VI. KAUFMAN

ous for the hardy fronticrsmcn to
build roads. drain swamps, etc. etc.
How much more strenuous for the
small, soft. velvety hands of our Jew
| ish intellcctuals. And to top 1t all,
many of cur Jewish pioneers come from
/ countries that have had taste of pro
lctarian freedom, and there where pro
| lctarianism has taken some hold. how
ever slight. big capital fears ta tread
/ Yet. with all these cXistant cir
cumstances, the Chaluzim in Palestine,
thru their co-operativcs, thru Keren
| Haycsod have commanded the respect
of the rest of the world by their Won
derful accomplishment. Perhaps in the
near future, some Jewish capitalists,
cut of sentiment probably more than
out of desire to heap fortune upon
fortune, will give these struggling
Chaluzim helping hand Perhaps con
ccSsinns will he given TO big capital
for limited period and under proper
''iiti'l' Iut, Nitn lht lHth VI SUCH
big capital, with the mcagre supply Of
housing, medical. school, agricultural
and manufacturing facilities. 1t would
be more than absurd to permit too
great an influx of immigrants into Pal
estine. TO make of them paupers, char
ity dependents, mendicants.
to l. -
who have undertaken the task of re
building Palestine TO construct large
cities entirely out of proportion with
the surrounding agricultural communI-
ties. 1t is sought TO bring the jew
back to the soil. not to huddle him
into close. congcsted quarters.
These are the motives behind the
slight immi migration restrictions of Pal
estine. The door is not sealed. 1t is
but slightly closed to avoid a destruc,
tion of our project, at n time when
our efforts are being crowned with
success. Yet. be it remembered, that
those who are at the ports OF Europe
awaiting permission TO enter are being
taken care of by the same forces that
are experimenting the rebuilding of
Palestine And be it impressed upon
your minds that the jew is heartily
welcomed to Palestine, and that this
policy is a purely economic one.
This, then. answers our well-meaning
brethren, who are perhaps unnecessnr-
lily perturbcd over the Palcstinian i'm
migration measure.
is Palestine big enough" This from
another well-mcaning brother.
Perhaps the question could be readily
answered by cmnter-question: How
much bigger is BeIgium;' But we are
not going to enter into tit-for-tat pole
mics.
Palestine is really tiny country,
hpprOXimating 1000 square miles. But
in that small area there are the va
rietics of climate and soil. the plains
both fruitful and barren, the majestic
peaks of the gorgeous mountains, the
beautiful lakes and rivers as those Of
Great America.
At present there are in Palestine be-
tween 100000 and 100000 Arabs. A
great influx of Arabs is no further cX
pcCted. With so much Arabic territory
surrounding Palestine, and with the
ncglihle Arabic immigration into Pal
cstine for these many centuries, it is
not reasonable to believe that they are
suddenly going TO migrate to Palestine
IN such large numbers, or miraculous
ly multiply in Palestine proper as to
make it physically impossible for
large number Of Jews to settle there.
1t has been estimated by those who
know that Palestine will be able to ac-
commodate 1000, 600 Jews. But this is
merely relatively speaking. ns this csti-
mate Is based upon numericnllyprc-
dominating agrariam population. Yet
what If manufacturing takes grenter
strides than agriculture? Surely it does
not take an intense stretching Of the
Imagination TO see that the number
that could be accommodated would he
greatly increased And what If all the
doors of the countries Of the World