Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 429

Political Reports. I.—POLITICAL WORK IN LONDON. 1. The period since the last Congress has witnessed on the one hand a far-reaching deterioration in the Jewish position in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and on the other, a striking increase in the pace of Jewish immigration and development in Palestine. That these factors are not unrelated requires no demonstration. Politically, however, it was a matter of principal significance that on all hands Palestine was accepted as the obvious, and indeed the only, hope and refuge for great masses of Jewry to whom emigration alone offered an escape from the intolerable conditions in which they found themselves. Relations with the Mandatory Power. 2. The recent changes in the composition of the British Cabinet have included the appointment as Colonial Secretary of Mr. Malcolm Macdonald, in succession to Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, who has become Secretary of State for Air. The retiring Secretary of State took a keen personal interest in developments in Palestine —an interest which it is believed is fully shared by his successor. 3. Close contact was maintained with the officials of the Colonial Office, and representations were made in regard to various matters affecting developments in Palestine. Interviews were also obtained at different times with the Secretary of State and with the Under-Secretary for the Colonies. A principal subject under discussion was naturally the question of immigration, and the need for a larger allocation of certificates under the Labour Schedules was strongly urged on several occasions. In this connection too, a deputation from the Board of Deputies of British Jews (whose co-operation was much appreciated), was received by the Colonial Secretary, while the shortage of labour in Palestine was, further, repeatedly stressed in Questions in the British Parliament, and also in speeches there on such occasions as affairs in Palestine came up for discussion (see below). It is gratifying to note that the Government's estimate of the absorptive capacity of the labour market in Palestine has risen from 5,500 in October, 1933, to 10,800 in April, 1935. This latter number, however, is still very considerably below the Executive's o'wn estimate of the country's needs, for which figure application had been made. It is to be added, further, that the deduction of a substantial number of 429