Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 280

the Government drastically reduced the Labour Schedule and followed this up in the latter part of 1933, with persecution, degradation and the " hunting down " of these tourists. These severe measures aroused much feeling and indignation among Jewish communities all over the world. In Palestine they led to considerable disorganisation in the economic life of the Yishuv. Signs of public demoralisation began to appear—tourists Were exploited by means of worthless promises to regularise their position, informers sprang up, etc. The Jewish Agency in its negotiation with the Government explained its attitude on this question of tourists who remained in the country without permission. It emphasised the fact that it was the Government's drastic reduction of the Labour Schedule, its continuous restriction of immigration, that led those immigrants who could not obtain certificates to enter the country as tourists and, having found work, to remain here. The only way to counteract this was to allow an immigration fully consistent with the absorptive capacity of the country. The very fact that practically all tourists who had remained here without permission had succeeded in establishing a livelihood was proof that the Agency's estimate of immigration possibilities and the absorptive capacity of the country was most conservative. By leaving unsatisfied the demands for labour of the Jewish Yishuv, the Government created a gap which allowed tourists to be absorbed into the country and to find work. Now that all efforts are directed towards a legalised immigration in full accordance with the absorptive capacity of the country, the Jewish Agency cannot ignore the fate of those tourists who have already settled here, found work without displacing anybody and not become a burden on the community. The Agency has asked that these tourists should be given permission to remain. In addition to these general negotiations with the Government the Agency has given its attention to those individual tourists who are in danger of deportation, and it has taken steps to make their position easier. The Vaad Leumi, in conjunction with the Immigration Department, has set up special legal bureaux in the Jewish Communal Councils of Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Haifa, and connections have been established in Tiberias, in order to afford legal assistance when necessary. A new restriction has lately come into force. The Government has announced that it will oppose the granting of immigration certificates to tourists who have remained without permission, even if they leave the country, without first considering each individual case. Negotiations with the Government on the question of tourists are still pending, and this matter, which threatens the existence of thousands and keeps them in a constant state of uncertainty, has not yet been settled. It may be hoped, however, that the pressure 280