Evening star., 1932-01-10
|XON'S GOLDEN JUBILEE ..-
In PALESTINE ARRIVES
Founding of Colony by Students in 1882
Recalled on Dual Ami
VerSary.

~ IONISTs everywhere today are
celebrating a dual anniversary
IN the stn history o Of III ziopism hsni1rine tine
of colonization in Palestine, and
the thirtieth anniversary of the Zion
ist organization. In Palestine the
event will be commemorated by tributes
to the handful Of living members of
that group of pioneers who began the
colonization effort half century ago.
Although the World Zionist Organi-
zation dates from 1897, when DR.. Theo-
dor Herzl convened the first Zionist
congress, which adopted the so-called
Basic program, which declares that
Zionism aims to establish publicly
recognized legally secured home in
Palestine for the Jewish people. Jews
have hoped and prayed for their return
to Palestine ever since the destruction
of the temple. The yearning for Pales-
tine was expressed in poetry and prose.
In the Middle Ages Jewish scholars re-
vived the glorieS Of Jewish learning in
the holy cities of Safed and TiberiaS.
The seventeenth century produced the
pseudo Messiah, Sabbatai Xvi, who at
tracted thousands of followers by the
promise that he would lead them back
to the Holy Land.
1t was not until the last quarter of
the nineteenth century however, that
the movement for turn to Palestine
began to take shape. At this time the
hope of recreated and vigorous Jew
ish life in Palestine was given vivid
expression by such writers as Peretz
Smolenskin and Leo Pinsker. The ink
| was hardly dry on their writings when
wave of pogroms swept over Russia.
Under the stimulus of the national
istic writings of Pinsker and Smolen-
| skin and the persecution in Russia, was
! born the first Jewish pioneering effort
! In Palestine late in 1881. The fore
runners of the present Jewish settlers
were a group of Russian university stu
dents who organized the circle of the
BILO (abbreviation for Beth Iaakob
Leku Unelkah-"O house of Jacob,
come ye and let us go").
Colony Established In 1882.
Early in 1882 band of these ideal
iStic students landed in Palestine and
set to work clearing the ground for
| the establishment of the colony of
Rishon lie Zion. simultaneously there
came into being a society calling itself
''Hoveve Zion" Govers of Zion), whose
avowed object was the acquisition of
land in Palestine for colonization by
Jews. The groups of enthusiasts sent
to Palestine by the "Hoveve Zion" were
the fathers and mothers of modern
Jewish colonization in Palestine.
The beginnings of the "Hoveve Zion
work were modest. They founded
small settlements of enthusiastic but
inexperienced colonists at Gederah
Zichron Jacob, RoSh Pinah and Petact
| Tikvah. Enormous difficulties con-
fronted them; they suffered from the
malaria ridden climate; they were sue
rounded by unfriendly neighbors; the
Turkish authorities opposed any effort
working toward the development OF
Palestine by Jews; officially no immi-
grafton was permitted and the holding
of land by foreigners was forbidden anc
all land purchased had to be regis
| tered in the name of an Ottoman sub
ject
The venture would probably have
failed altogether but for the timely anc
sympathetic support of the real founder
o. modern Palestine, Baron Edmond dt
Rothschild, whose munificence not only
saved the struggling colonies, but added
| to their number. In 1899 he placed the
work carried on under his auspices in
Palestine Sn a permanent footing by
| confiding his interest in the colonies to
the Jewish Colonization Association
| GCA), from which it has been trans
ferred to the Palestine Colonization AS
sociation (PICA).
Shortly before Baron Edmond's in
| tervention, TheCdor Herzl had created
the World Zionist Organization and sub
stituted the unorganized program of
having the Jews steal into the land of
their fathers" for the daring conception
OF negotiation for the right of entry
with self-respect. Herzl quickly realized
that the Zionist Organization itself
could not deal with all phases of the
work of Palestine colonization.
To facilitate the work, three subsidi-
ary organizations were founded-the
! Jewish National Fund Q901), to acquire