LONDON OPERA HOUSE DEMONSTRATION
Some account must be given of the Demonstration at the London Opera House of the 2nd December held in order to express gratitude to the British Government. This great demonstration was attended by thousands of persons. The resolution read by Lord Rothschild, who presided over the meeting, expressed gratitude from all sections of Anglo-Jewry for the Government declaration in favour of establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people. Every member of the audience seemed to feel the greatness of the occasion.
Lord Rothschild said they were met on the most momentous occasion in the history of Judaism for the last eighteen hundred years. They were there to return thanks to His Majesty’s Government for a declaration which marked an epoch in Jewish history of outstanding importance. For the first time since the Dispersion the Jewish people had received its proper status by the Declaration of one of the great Powers. That Declaration, while acknowledging and approving of the aspirations of the Jewish people for a National Home, at the same time placed Jews on their honour to respect the rights and privileges not only of their prospective non-Jewish neighbours in Palestine, but also of those of their own people who did not see eye to eye with the Zionist cause. Feeling as he did that the aims of Zionism were in no way incompatible with the highest patriotism and loyal citizenship of the Jews in the various countries in which they were dwelling, he would like the meeting in passing the resolution which would be submitted to them to assure the Government that they would, one and all, faithfully observe both the spirit and the letter of their gracious declaration. He felt sure that the principal aim of the Zionists was to provide a National Home for those portions of the Jewish people who wished to escape the possibilities in the future of such oppression and ill-treatment as they had endured in the past, and he therefore held that all and every section of opinion in the Jewish people could work together for the establishment in Palestine of such a home, so as to make it a triumphant success.
It had often been said that the repeopling of Palestine by the Jews was bound to fail in so far as they were not an agricultural people, but they might dismiss that fear from their minds in view of the success of the great Jewish agricultural colonies which were established in Palestine before the war. The only thing necessary to achieve success in the movement was a thoroughly up-to-date organization for the development of the land, and for the guidance and selection of the settlers, who must act as pioneers. The aims of what now appeared to be antagonistic bodies of opinion, seemed to him to be so similar that he felt sure that when those objects had been properly examined in the light of experience they would find, sooner or later, that a common ground would present itself for all of those professing these apparently divergent opinions to work together in a common effort to make the re-settlement of Palestine a great and lasting success. Lord Rothschild then moved the following resolution:—
“That this mass meeting, representing all sections of the Jewish Community in the United Kingdom, conveys to His Majesty’s Government an expression of heartfelt gratitude for their Declaration in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. It assures His Majesty’s Government that their historic action in support of the national aspirations of the Jewish people has evoked among Jews the most profound sentiments of joy. This meeting further pledges its utmost endeavours to give its whole-hearted support to the Zionist cause.”
The Right Hon. Lord Robert Cecil, P.C., K.C., M.P., who was received with loud cheering, said: “I have come here with the greatest possible pleasure at the request of those who represent, or who have led the representation of the Zionist movement of this country, to offer to you, and to all Zionism, my hearty congratulation on the event which you are celebrating to-day. And perhaps you will allow me to mention in connection with these congratulations, not only your Chairman, but also Mr. Nahum Sokolow and Dr. C. Weizmann, who have done so much for the cause that we all have at heart this afternoon. Surely all of us must feel what a very striking gathering the present one is. The keynote of our meeting this afternoon is liberation. We welcome among us not only the many thousands of Jews that I see, but also representatives of the Arabian and Armenian races who are also in this great struggle struggling to be free. Our wish is that Arabian countries shall be for the Arabs, Armenia for the Armenians, and Judea for the Jews. Yes, and let us add, if it can be so, let Turkey, real Turkey, be for the Turks. I should like to be allowed to say that the part that this country is taking in this movement is not a new thing. I venture to claim for this country that in supporting Zionism it has been merely carrying out its traditional policy. To me, at any rate, it seems that there are two great foundations upon which the policy of this country has always been based. I believe that they are often described by the two words ‘Liberty and Justice.’ Perhaps, more accurately they may be called the supremacy of the Law and Liberty, for, be well assured, if we are ever to obtain that security which we have been recently told is so important for us, if we are ever to lift European civilization and national relations in Europe out of the anarchy in which they at present are, it must be by the same means by which we have secured liberty and happiness in each country, namely, by the supremacy of Law. And it was because the invasion of Belgium, the lawless invasion of Belgium, was felt by the true instincts of the British people to be an attack upon the principle of Law, because they recognized that that was a real blow at the heart of civilization, that they felt then, and they feel now, that until that outrage has been expiated it is impossible even to think of talking of the terms of peace. As for the second foundation of which I have spoken, and which has more practical bearing on our proceedings this afternoon, may I say this, we hear a great deal of a new word: ‘self-determination.’ Well, I don’t know that it is a new thing. It certainly is not new in the British Empire. The Empire has always striven to give to all the peoples that make it up the fullest measure of self-government of which they are capable. We have always striven to give to all peoples within our bounds complete liberty and equality before the Law. We are adjured to respect the principle of self-determination, but I say that the British Empire was the first organization to teach that principle to the world, and one of the great causes for which we are in this war is to secure to all peoples the right to govern themselves and to work out their own destiny, irrespective of the threats and menaces of their greater neighbour. One of the great steps—in my judgment, in some ways the greatest step—we have taken in carrying out this principle is the recognition of Zionism. This is the first constructive effort that we have made in what I hope will be the new settlement of the world after the war. I do not say that that is the only thing involved. It is not only the recognition of a nationality, it is much more than that. It has great underlying ideals of which you will hear this afternoon, and of which it would be impertinent of me to speak. It is, indeed, not the birth of a nation, for the Jewish nation through centuries of oppression and captivity have preserved their sentiment of nationality as few peoples could; but if it is not the birth of a nation, I believe we may say it is the re-birth of a nation. I don’t like to prophesy what ultimate results that great event may have, but for myself I believe it will have a far-reaching influence on the history of the world and consequences which none can foresee on the future history of the human race.”
The Right Hon. Herbert Samuel, M.P., who received an enthusiastic welcome, said: “I rejoice whole-heartedly in the pronouncement that has been made by the British Government with respect to Palestine. It is a policy which for nearly three years I have urged in the Cabinet and out of the Cabinet at every opportunity that arose. The fears and the doubts which this policy has evoked are, I firmly believe, unfounded. Three conditions must indeed be observed in any new development that may take place in Palestine. In the first place, there must be full, just recognition of the rights of the Arabs, who now constitute the majority of the population of that country. Secondly, there must be a reverent respect for the Christian and Mohammedan holy places, which in all eventualities should always remain in the control and charge of representatives of those faiths. In the third place, there must be no attempt now or in the future to establish anything in the nature of political authority from Palestine over the Jews scattered in other countries of the world, who must probably always remain the great majority of the Jewish race. There should be no disturbance, large or small, direct or indirect, in their national status or in their national rights and duties in the countries of which they are, or should be, full and equal citizens. On all these matters there is no divergence of opinion in any quarter, and the controversies that have taken place, I venture to think, are disputes over differences that do not exist. The reason why, for my own part, I support the policy which we are here to-day to approve and celebrate, are chiefly these. First, it may be that the genius of the Jewish race will again be able to give the world a brilliant and distinctive civilization. The richness of mankind lies in its diversity. We do not want the world to be like some great library, consisting of nothing but innumerable copies of one and the same book. The Jewish mind is a distinctive thing. It combines in remarkable degree the imaginative and the practical, the ideal and the positive. This combination of qualities enabled it for one thousand five hundred years in Palestine to produce an almost unbroken series of statesmen and soldiers, judges and poets, prophets and seers—thinkers and leaders who have left for all time their impress upon the world. The Jewish mind is tenacious and persists, and now, when all the powerful Empires that over-ran that land have been overthrown and almost forgotten, the Jewish people exists and is more numerous to-day than it ever has been at any period of its history. Who knows, I say, but that if it again finds a spiritual centre of its own, soundly based on an industrious population, untrammelled, self-contained, inspired by the memories of a splendid past, it may again produce golden fruits in the fields of intellect for the enrichment of the whole world. And my other reason is this: If this comes to be, what a helpful effect it would have upon the Jewish proletariat that will still remain scattered in other countries of the world. I see in my mind’s eye those millions in Eastern Europe all through the centuries, crowded, cramped, proscribed, bent with oppression, suffering all the miseries of active minds denied scope, of talent not allowed to speak, of genius that cannot act. I see them enduring, suffering everything, sacrificing everything in order to keep alight the flame of which they knew themselves to be the lamp, to keep alive the idea of which they knew themselves to be the vessel, to preserve the soul of which they knew themselves to be the body; their eyes always set upon one distant point, always believing that somehow, some day, the ancient greatness would be restored; always saying when they met in their families on Passover Night, ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’ Year after year, generation following generation, century succeeding century, till the time that has elapsed is counted in thousands of years, still they said, ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’ If that cherished vision is at last to be realized, if on the Hills of Zion a Jewish civilization is restored with something of its old intellectual and moral force, then among those left in the other countries of the world, I can see growing a new confidence and a new greatness. There will be a fresh light in those eyes, those bent backs will at last stand erect, there will be a greater dignity in the Jew throughout the world. That is why we meet to-day to thank the British Government—our own Government—that has made all this possible, that we shall be able to say, not as a pious and distant wish, but as a near and confident hope:
“‘לשנה הבאה בירושלם.’ ‘Next year in Jerusalem!’”
The Chief Rabbi said it was indeed a rare privilege to take part in that wonderful meeting called together to express the heartfelt thanks of British Jewry for the striking sympathy of His Majesty’s Government with Jewish aspirations. The epoch-making Declaration on Palestine was an assurance given by the mightiest of empires that the new order which the Allies are now creating at such sacrifice of life and treasure shall be rooted in righteousness, and broad-based on the liberty of, and reverence for, every oppressed nationality. It was a solemn pledge that the oldest of national tragedies shall be ended in the coming readjustment of the nations which shall console mankind for the slaughter and waste and torment of this terrible world-war.
In the face of an event of such infinite importance to the Jewish people, ordinary words of appreciation or the usual phrases of gratitude were hopelessly weak and inadequate. For the interpretation of their true feelings to-day they must turn to Scripture. Twenty-five hundred years ago Cyrus issued his edict of liberation to the Jewish exiles in Babylon; and an eye-witness of that glorious day had left them in the 126th Psalm a record of how their fathers received the announcement of their deliverance:—
“When the Lord brought back those that returned to Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing;
Then said they among the nations:
‘The Lord hath done great things with these.’
The Lord hath done great things with us;
We are rejoiced.”
Theirs was a similar feeling of joy and wonder. With them likewise it was the astonishment of the nations, the reassuring approbation of statesmen and rulers that caused them to exclaim: “We will see it done, and done consummately, the thing so many have thought could never be done!”
The spirit of the Declaration was that of absolute justice, whether to Jews out of Palestine, or to non-Jews in Palestine. They especially welcomed in it the reference to the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. That was but a translation of the basic principles of the Mosaic legislation. But it was the substance of the Declaration—the promise of a National Home for the Jewish people—that filled their souls with gladness. For only on its own soil could the Jewish people live its own life, and make, as in the past it had made, its characteristic and specific contributions to the spiritual treasure of humanity.
After the proclamation issued by Cyrus, the mass of the Jewish people still remained in Babylon. All told, only forty-two thousand men, women and children took advantage of the king’s proclamation and followed Ezra back to Zion, the land of their fathers. But that handful of Zionists and their descendants, because living on their own soil, changed the entire future of mankind. They edited and collected the Prophets, wrote some of the fairest portions of the Scriptures, formed the canon of the Bible, and gave the world its monotheistic religions. Now, as then, שאר ישוב “A remnant shall return.” But now, as then, it was the national rejuvenation of that remnant that is to open a new chapter in the annals of the human spirit.
Difficulties? Of course there were difficulties. The task of laying the foundations of a new Israel must be one of long toil and severe trial. But a people that for twenty-five centuries had stood victoriously against the storm of time, possessed vitality enough, patience enough, idealism enough, with the help of God, to rise to the level of this unique, world-historic opportunity.
Lieut.-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, Bart., M.P., said: “My lords, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to say, before I say one other word, that the reason I am interested in this movement is that I met one some two years ago who is now upon this platform, and who opened my eyes as to what this movement meant. He is on the list of speakers; you will hear him presently; his name is known to most in the records of Zionism: I mean Dr. Gaster. I speak as one from without, as a watcher, but I feel, as everyone present must feel, that this meeting here to-day marks not a turning-point in the history of your own race, but I think certainly a turning-point in the history of the whole world. When one thinks of the years that have passed, of the immense spaces of history which stand between what was—and now is—promised, one is truly dazzled by the possibilities and prospects which open before us. I see, speaking to you as a watcher—now you, in a sense, are perhaps watchers also—perhaps you see something, perhaps you see three nations stricken with plague, cumbered with ruin, and Europe a welter of blood. Perhaps you see these three nations, and you realize that it may be your destiny to be a bridge between Asia and Europe, to bring the spirituality of Asia to Europe, and the vitality of Europe to Asia. That I firmly believe is the mission of Zionism. I see here something which is greater than a dream or a League of Nations. It is a league of continents, a league of races, and finally a league of ideals. That is a great vision. That is what I believe lies before you, but no one present realizes more than I do—I know the ground, some of it—and boldly I dare to say that there lie before you dangers, difficulties, possibly obstructions, but, ladies and gentlemen, your time of probation has been long, you are schooled in adversity, you can look to difficulties with calm, and you will overcome them. I do not look for a sudden magic transformation, but I believe you are beginning a great beneficial and irresistible transition. That is what you are beginning. Now, I believe, I hope you are going to set up a power that is not the domination of blood, not the domination of gold, but the domination of a great intellectual force. I believe you will see Palestine the great centre of ideals, radiating out to every country in the world where your people are, and if there is one thing that gives me pleasure to be here to-day, it is to feel that at this turning-point of your history, when the Government made its Declaration, you not only thought of yourselves but you thought also of others, and you will always look back with joy to the fact that when the promise, when the hope was held out to you of redemption, you thought not only of yourselves, but thought of your fellows in adversity, the Armenians and the Syrian Arabs. It is said that the Jewish people have a long memory. I believe that you remember Cordova, where your influence on modern civilization was at its zenith, and I think you remember what you owed to the Arabs in Cordova. You remember in the days when the Jews were so oppressed in Russia what you owed to the Armenians, who were your companions in oppression. These tragedies are very different in their nature, and three tragedies destined to unite in one triumph. If all three hold together, the realization of your ideal is certain. There are evil people who will desire that you should fail. If these three forces should be dismissed, there will be the danger of any one of them becoming the prey of a political adventurer, militarist, or the financier. For Palestine to be a success you must have a satisfied and tranquil Syria. For liberty to be certain in Palestine, you must have guarantees that no savage races shall return there. You want to see Armenia free because you want to know that all people are free. You want to know the Arab is free, because he is, and always will be, your neighbour. Lastly, I would also say this: I look forward through difficulty and through pain to see Armenia free, and to prove the inevitable triumph of right over the greatest might there may be. I look to see the Arab civilization restored once more in Bagdad and in Damascus, and I look to see the return of Israel, with his majesty and tolerance, hushing mockery and dispelling doubt; and all three nations giving out to the world the good that God has infused into them.”
Dr. M. Gaster said he stood before them not as a new Zionist, but as an old friend. He stood before them, the old Zionist, deeply imbued with the spirit of faith, believing in the truth of the word of God and the glorious promise in store for our people, a dreamer of visions, if they would. People had mocked at their visions and ideals, at their aspirations and their hopes, and yet they continued their work, unswerving in their enthusiasm. What appeared to so many as a dream had now become a reality—and they were gathered there to begin to reap in joy what they had sown in tears and sorrow. He had originally acclaimed Herzl as the leader of the movement, and he had had to bear the burden of the difficulties, but he had been true to the trust and had kept the flag of Zion flying, and it was now for him, and for all of them, a day of joy to see the fruits which they had so long wished for. They had come together to thank the British Government for le beau geste, in the inimitable French, for their declaration of sympathy with their national aspirations. But Zionism was neither a local question nor did it affect English Jewry, except in a very small proportion. It was a movement which affected the whole of the race. Every Jew, therefore, wherever he might be, was united in that sentiment of gratitude. They were there, representing the feeling which animated the Jews of all the world. Therein lay the greatness of the British Government—that it had lifted the problem from its local geographical character and given to it that universally valued importance which they attached to it. But what Zionism stands for must be clearly apprehended, and also what the Declaration of the British Government was expected to embody. The term “National Home” was a circumlocution of the original word which formed part of the Basle programme, the foundation-stone of Zionism, and that word had been chosen when no definite political meaning could be assigned to it. Circumstances had changed. It was for them to give to the word its true original meaning. What they wished to obtain in Palestine was not merely a right to establish colonies, or educational, cultural, or industrial institutions. They wanted to establish in Palestine an autonomous Jewish Commonwealth in the fullest sense of the word. They wanted Palestine to be Palestine of the Jews and not merely a Palestine for Jews. They wished the land to be again what it was in olden times and what it had been for Jews in their prayers and in their Bible—a land of Israel. The ground must be theirs. They stood, indeed, as a people for the same programme as British statesmen were standing to-day in a larger sphere. Jews stood for reparation, restitution, and guarantees, and it was in the very application of those principles that the greatness and importance of the Declaration of the British Government stood out so luminously. England owed to Jews no reparation. Here they had liberty, full freedom, equality of right and equality of duty, and they had risen to the responsibility which had thus been placed upon them. For many of them there had their children now fighting the battles of England. But the British Government had now made itself the champion of reparation to the Jewish people for the wrongs done to them by the world. It had made itself a champion, too, of the restitution of the land to our nation for whom it is the old inheritance, and it had given them a guarantee—security of tenure, independence, right and freedom of action as a people, in their ancient land. The establishment of a Jewish Commonwealth in the land of their fathers would also consolidate and clarify the position of the rest of the Jews throughout the world. He believed that a new world was to arise in which the Jew as Jew would find himself a free man. In conclusion, he reminded them of an old legend which told that when the Temple was destroyed the stones were split into splinters and each one entered the heart of a Jew. It was this memorial of our fallen nation which the Jew carried in his bosom, and which bent his back. But they were coming together once again as a nation in Palestine, and they would take the splinters of the stones from out of their hearts—“and,” exclaimed Dr. Gaster, “I feel the stone in my heart already loosening.”
Sheikh Ismail-Abdul-al-Akki then addressed the meeting. He spoke in Arabic, which was translated by Mr. Israel Sieff, who mentioned that the speaker was under sentence of death by the Turkish Government for having joined the Arab national movement. Sheikh Ismail said he desired to tender deep gratitude to the British nation and the British Government for affording his countrymen and himself help and asylum in their hour of persecution. His country was held in chains by the Turks, who were supplied with German gold, and he looked with confidence to England and France to deliver them from bondage, as he believed in the ultimate good over evil, and was confident in the victory of the Allies. He not only spoke as an Arab, but as a “Moslem” Arab, having studied five years in theological schools and being granted a degree, and it was the duty of every Moslem to participate in the movement for the liberation of their countrymen. The meeting was to celebrate the great act of the British Government in recognizing the aspirations of the Jewish people, and he appealed to them not to forget in the days of their happiness that the sons of Ishmael suffered also. They had been scattered and confounded as the Jews had been, and now began to arise, fortified with the sense of martyrs. He hoped that Palestine would again flow with milk and honey.
M. Wadia Kesrawani, another Arabian representative, spoke in French, also to the effect that his countrymen appealed to England and France for their liberation, and applauded the Declaration of the Government.
Mr. Israel Zangwill, in supporting the resolution, said: “In my capacity of President of the Jewish Territorial Organization, I have been honoured with an invitation to appear on your platform on this momentous occasion. In that capacity I have often criticized your leaders. But to-day I am here not for criticism, but for congratulation and co-operation. I congratulate them, and especially Dr. Weizmann and Mr. Sokolow, upon their historic achievement in the region of diplomacy. To see that this is followed by a similar achievement in the more difficult region of practice is the duty of all Israel. Particularly is it the duty of the Ito, founded as it was to procure a territory upon an autonomous basis. For the Ito to oppose any really practicable plan for a Jewish territory would be not only treason to the Jewish people, but to its own programme. And as a first-fruit of the friendly negotiations with Zionism, which began in July, I am happy to be able to join with you this afternoon in welcoming the sympathy of the Government with Jewish aspirations.”
Mr. Zangwill, of whose speech the above were the opening words, spoke at great length, and with even more than his usual brilliancy. It is with great regret that we are unable, owing to lack of space, to include the rest of his oration, with the exception of the concluding paragraph, which ran as follows:—
“And though our goal be yet far, yet already when I recall how our small nation sustained the mailed might of all the great Empires of antiquity, how we saw our Temple in flames and were scattered like its ashes, how we endured the long night of the Middle Ages, illumined by the glare of our martyrs’ fires, how but yesterday we wandered in our millions, torn between the ruthless Prussian and the pitiless Russian, yet have lived to see to-day the bloody Empire of the Czars dissolve, and the mountains of Zion glimmer on the horizon. Already I feel we may say to the nations: Comfort ye, comfort ye, too, poor suffering peoples. Learn from the long patience of Israel that the spirit is mightier than the sword, and that the seer who foretold his people’s resurrection was not less prophetic when he proclaimed also for all peoples the peace of Jerusalem.”
Capt. the Hon. W. Ormsby-Gore, M.P., said he was particularly glad the Zionist Declaration had been made by the British Government at a moment when British arms were saving that land, because it showed that the British Government was not out for gain. The Jewish claim to Palestine was, to his mind, overwhelming, and he rejoiced to see what an overwhelming mass of British representative opinions in the House of Commons was now supporting the movement. He supported it as a member of the Church of England, as Sir Mark Sykes had supported it as a Roman Catholic. In the return of Palestine to be the Jewish home, he held out the hand of friendship to the Zionists, who sought to bring it into effect. He felt that behind it all was the finger of Almighty God. From the moment he met their Zionist leaders, whether in Egypt or in this country, he felt there was in them something so sincere, so British, so straightforward, that at once his heart went out to them. They had in their leader in this country a man of great qualities, a statesman who had shown a skill, a determination, and a patience which had endeared him to everyone. He (the speaker) had done what little he could to help forward the movement, and in the future, if they were looking out for a friend, they could count him as one of them.
Mr. H. N. Mostditchian, a member of the Armenian delegation, said he availed himself of the opportunity of giving their Jewish brethren the heartiest greetings of the Armenians and sincerest congratulations for the dawn about to break upon the glad valleys of their ancestral land. He made a comparison of the two nations, who had gone through the same persecutions, but who notwithstanding were not willing to die, and had not died, and who stood to-day hand-in-hand on the eve of a new era, when both of them would be able to live once more their national lives, of which they had given good evidence in the past. They all knew that Armenia was one of the first countries mentioned in the History of the Jews, and there had reigned one thousand two hundred years ago a Dynasty of Armenian Kings who had in their veins a good deal of Jewish blood. After the loss of their independence the Jews had continued to live a life of captivity and exile, and the Armenians, after the loss of their independence, had suffered the same exile. It was not the time to say what the Armenians had suffered during the last three years, a state of things to which the worst pogrom was a heaven, but they, as well as the Jews, looked towards ‘to-morrow’ with great fervour as a result of the Declaration. They had waited long enough with their Jewish brethren, for centuries and centuries, and these two nations, as well as the Arabs, would make Palestine another promised land and a garden of Eden—a centre to which humanity might look up.
The author then proceeded to read a statement in behalf of the Executive of the Zionist Organization. The text of that statement is given later.
Mr. James de Rothschild said he stood there as the son of one who had spent his life in endeavouring to bring about what they were celebrating that day. Jewish ideals up to that time had been met at the gate, but they could not get through. With one stroke of the pen the English Government had flung open these gates. Therefore in every Jewish heart gratitude was overflowing, and they must not forget that all their aims of the future had been strengthened by the country whose Government had framed the generous and just Declaration.
Dr. Ch. Weizmann, President of the English Zionist Federation, referred to the many good and brilliant words which had been said about the Jews, and he hoped that the Jews of to-day and the Jews of to-morrow would rise to the occasion in the needed power and dignity, and give their answer to the great resolution, not only in words, but in deeds. It was a fact, and no metaphor, that twenty centuries looked to see if their actions were worthy of the opportunity which the British Government had given them. The present generation had upon its shoulders the greatest responsibility of the last two thousand years, and he prayed that they might be worthy of that responsibility.
He then called upon the meeting to rise, and with hands uplifted to take the old historic oath—each man and woman of them—
אם־אשכחך ירושלם תשכח ימיני.[¹]
[¹] “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.”
(Psalm cxxxvii. 5.)
The meeting rose en masse, repeating the words of the psalm amid great enthusiasm, which culminated in the singing of “Hatikvah” (the Jewish national song) and “God Save the King” by the Precentors’ Association.
Lord Rothschild, in rising to put the resolution, said it was a great honour for all of them to feel that they as Jews had met with a sincere welcome that day from representatives of no fewer than five different religions. He then read the resolution, which was carried with acclamation, the whole audience rising.
Among those who sent messages to the meeting were the following:—
From the Right Hon. Viscount Grey of Falloden, K.G.[¹]
I am in entire sympathy with the Declaration made by Mr. Balfour, and am very glad that this has been announced publicly as the view of the British Government.
[¹] Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1905–1916.
From the Right Hon. Walter Long, M.P.[¹]
Mr. Long desires me to thank you for your letter of the 14th ult., and to say that he wishes all success to the Zionist movement.
[¹] Secretary of State for the Colonies.
From the Right Hon. Arthur Henderson, M.P.[¹]
Labour recognizes the claims generally of Jews in all countries to the elementary rights of tolerance, freedom of residence and trade, and equal citizenship, that ought to be extended to all the inhabitants of every nation’s territory. Further, it trusts that an understanding may be reached at the close of the war, whereby Palestine may be set free and form a State under an International Agreement, to which Jewish people may return and work out their own salvation without interference by those of alien race or religion.
[¹] Member of the War Cabinet.
From the Right Hon. the Marquess of Crewe, K.G.[¹]
I have long hoped that it would be possible to make such a Declaration; and it is now pronounced in terms that should be equally welcome to those Jews who have found happy homes on friendly shores, and to those who have longed for the re-establishment of their race in the ancient land. Within its borders even now triumphs are being won, and noble lives laid down, for the common cause of which this hope forms part.
[¹] Secretary of State for India, 1910–1915.
From the Right Hon. Viscount Bryce.[¹]
For years past, and especially since my visit to Palestine in 1914, I have been in cordial sympathy with the movement for re-establishing the Jewish population in its ancient home, and rejoice to see that His Majesty’s Government have recently expressed their approval of the idea, which will, I hope, take practical shape in measures to be put through after the war is over. It will be a great benefit to the Jewish race everywhere to have this ancient home to look to as the centre of its national life, even though a comparatively small part of the race can actually find room to dwell in Palestine. The country seems to have been recently terribly devastated, but when its resources have been developed, it can support a much larger population than it has under the blighting rule of the Turk. Syrians, Arabs and Armenians are also interested in being delivered for ever from the alien domination of the Turkish invaders.
[¹] H.M. Ambassador at Washington, 1907–1913.
From the Right Hon. the Earl of Selborne, K.G., G.C.M.G.[¹]
I warmly and altogether adhere to the policy of His Majesty’s Government, in sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations as announced by Mr. Arthur Balfour.
[¹] High Commissioner for South Africa, 1905–1910.
From the late John Edward Redmond, M.P.[¹]
I am in complete sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations as I understand them.
[¹] Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
From the Right Hon. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, K.T., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O.[¹]
I am in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and sincerely trust the policy will be successfully carried out.
[¹] Secretary for Scotland, 1895–1903.
From the Right Hon. John Hodge, M.P.[¹]
I fully sympathize with the view expressed in Mr. Balfour’s letter to Lord Rothschild, and further, may I express the hope that the end of the war may speedily see the realization of the Zionist dream.
[¹] Minister of Pensions.
From Lord Hugh Cecil, M.P.
... I very cordially sympathize with the purpose of it, and heartily rejoice that there is good prospect of securing to the Jewish people a National Home in their own country.
From Lord Sydenham of Combe, G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., G.C.S.I.[¹]
... I am in fullest sympathy with the object, and I am glad to know that Palestine may again become the National Home of the Jewish people. This would be one of the many happy results which, we may hope, will arise from the appalling sacrifices and the abiding sorrow which the war has brought upon the world.
[¹] Governor of Bombay, 1907–1913.
From the Right Hon. Lord Emmott, G.C.M.G.[¹]
... The movement for the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people is one which has my most cordial sympathy, and I sincerely hope that your demonstration may be a success.
[¹] Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1911–1914.
From the Right Hon. Lord Tennyson, G.C.M.G.[¹]
... It seems to me that the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people would make for the peace of the world. This Jewish State should be, as George Eliot finely says, “a republic where the Jewish spirit manifests itself in a new order founded on the old.”
[¹] Governor-General of Australia, 1902–1904.
From the Rt. Rev. James Cooper, D.D., Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The Church of Scotland cordially endorses the Declaration of the Cabinet in favour alike of the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and of the maintenance of the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities in a land so dear to Christians and Jews, rejoices in the prospect of this double honour being given to Great Britain, and prays that it may usher in a day of the richest blessings to the whole Israel of God.
From His Excellency Boghos Nubar Pasha, President of the Armenian National Delegation.
On the occasion of the Zionist meeting, organized by your Committee, I am happy, as President of the Armenian National Delegation, to renew the sincere congratulations of the Armenians for the Declaration which His Britannic Majesty’s Government has made to you. We participate in a great measure in the joy which the powerful support gives you which permits us to hope that in the day of victory of those who are fighting for the liberation of oppressed peoples, the Armenian aspirations will be realized at the same time as the Jewish people will attain the reconstruction of its nationality and the realization of its historic claim to the soil of its ancestors.
The Jewish Chronicle gave a list of several hundred Jewish institutions in England which sent congratulatory messages to the meeting, as well as of an immense number of such institutions which were represented at the meeting in person.
An overflow meeting, over which Mr. P. Horowitz presided, was held in the Kingsway Theatre, which was crowded in every part. Among those who addressed the audience were the Chief Rabbi: Lord Lamington, G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., Mr. Israel Zangwill, Mr. Joseph Cowen, Dr. Selig Brodetsky, Dr. David Jochelmann, and Mr. Israel Cohen.
In the course of his observations, Lord Lamington, who was very cordially received, expressed his pleasure at the opportunity afforded him to express his sympathy with and support of the Zionist movement. He cordially agreed with the statement made by Lord Robert Cecil at the Opera House, that the Declaration represented the first act of constructive statesmanship which the allied nations had so far carried out on the basis of the great principles of freedom and justice for the smaller nationalities, for which they stood. The Declaration was as much in the British interest as in the Jewish interest. Both races, as well as the East in general, stood to gain, and gain substantially, from an active British and Jewish co-operation in the Near East.
A resolution in identical terms with that carried at the London Opera House was passed with much enthusiasm.
The Author’s statement ran as follows:—
The Zionist Organization in the Entente countries which I have the honour of representing is filled with feelings of the deepest and keenest satisfaction caused by the Declaration of His Majesty’s Government of November 2nd. The Zionist masses are grateful to His Majesty’s Government for their official and formal statement of their intentions in clear and unmistakable terms. Posterity will praise the qualities which are revealed by this historic document; the strength of will, the sentiment of uprightness, the unshakable fidelity to the spirit of Justice, and the beneficent and generous sympathy for the oppressed.
But the feeling of joy evoked by the Declaration is much more than the legitimate satisfaction aroused by the successful result of our representations to the British Government. Quite apart from and above all written conventions, we realize that the Declaration symbolizes that harmonious union of spiritual ideals and political considerations which have made and will make of the Zionist Movement a precious instrument working for civilization and for the brotherhood and emancipation of all oppressed peoples and for their final deliverance from the sad heritage of age-long hatreds and misunderstandings, which have dismembered them and subjected them to the forces of oppression.
Three problems confront the world at this hour: the problem of nationality, the problem of territory, and the problem of liberty. Nationalities are being reconstituted; peoples are seeking one another, joining together, or separating from one another; territories are being redistributed; the spirit of freedom is spreading, seeking incarnation in new forms, and giving a new lease of life to ancient peoples. Everywhere is instability, ferment, movement; from all sides are heard complaints, demands, claims; all things are being recast in new moulds; everywhere new groupings are forming round new interests. The world is fighting for the untrammelled self-expression of nations and races, for an unaggressive international order; the hundreds or thousands of years’ old aspirations, purposes, and aims of nations have become the demands of the moment and the programmes for the future. He only would be certain of harvesting nothing who had not sown during the present world storm. In this noise, in this welter, in this struggle, ancient Judea awakes, claiming her right to live again. This right is inalienable and unalterable. All the force of the indestructible Jewish race is in it. All the sadness of the two thousand years of Jewish martyrdom is in it. Is this right to be denied because of its being so old? Humanity, real humanity, will not extinguish old rights. It has not extinguished it in the case of Greece; neither will it extinguish it in the case of Judea.
History has demonstrated that a nation deprived of its heritage and liberty, which is determined to live and regain her lost country, no matter how long she suffers, cannot be exterminated by any conceivable means employed by her persecutors. And the Jewish people is determined to live and to work for all that is good and ennobling, believing firmly that justice would be but a word of mockery if the sun of liberty could not shine over it again.
In the midst of universal war, amid grief and desolation which go beyond the most tragic imaginings, Great Britain has proclaimed the idea of creating a centre of the arts of peace, and a model of justice. The idea is not only extremely practical, it is profoundly poetical. We are living in the most critical time in history. It is our fate to be spectators of and actors in the greatest drama ever known to humanity. The present war will take its place in history as one of the events which irrevocably divide two epochs. The Jewish people is fortunate in being able to consider itself one of the models which have inspired the noble initiative of Great Britain and her Allies. It is still more fortunate in having been found worthy of the generous protection of His Majesty’s Government, manifested in so striking a manner by the recent Declaration. And what glory awaits, on the other hand, Great Britain and her Allies, if they will be instrumental in the creation of a Jewish National Home in Palestine!
What is it that we wish to preserve in our National Home? Our own precious heritage. You all know it. The sacred Jewish home-life, the intimately personal sentiment of our qualities and of our inner freedom. That is our heritage which we have been able to preserve intact during the eighteen centuries of our Dispersion, untouched by the ambition and hatred which sought to undermine them. We wish to live and to live by our labour and untiring efforts. We want to be invigorated by that force which the children of the soil absorb from contact with it. We want to give form and visibility to our mental conceptions. We desire to perform Israel’s allotted part in the purpose of the eternal progress of humanity in all branches of life, in all human activities. The Jewish National Home will stand out in the world as an inspiring symbol of the triumph of justice over tyranny, as a proof of the right of nationality to be itself. It will be a priceless monument to the future at a time when ruins of the past are everywhere, and the whole world stands in need of rebuilding.
Our object in establishing the Jewish National Home on the sacred soil of our fathers is to carry on the noblest traditions of our race in all their beauty and plenitude. Judea it was which revealed to humanity the path of progress, it was Judea which taught the greatest and noblest lessons in the life of nations—the lessons of Freedom and Right—and it is Judea which will become a centre of liberty and a blessing for the nations. Palestine is not to be weighed down by military powers. She is a home for a small and free nation, and not for a troop of subjects. The glory of invaders is to be conquered by humanity. The glory of tyrants is to yield to civilization. The glory of the land of shadows is to receive the lamp of light. The cloud passed and the star reappeared. And this star is not one of wrath. Nor is it one of hatred, or fanaticism. Christendom has its great sanctuaries in Palestine. Islam has there some of its important sanctuaries. All our glorious holy places are there. They will be respected and safeguarded with reverence and devotion, in peace and mutual love. But around the places of worship life will spring—honest, simple, pure life. We are a peaceful people. We are going to cultivate the soil; we are going to cultivate our ideas. Our future is the ploughshare, and not the sword; the book, and not the bullet. The beneficent spiritual influence of a regenerated Palestine is undoubted; its future, which is boundless, belongs to you; each of you already possesses a portion within himself. Let us but work together so that our people may preserve and improve its title to be considered the conscience of the human race.
We realize, however, that our position needs to be clearly defined. We must be fully conversant with every side of the problem. Vague complaints or expressions of yearning are not enough. There is, first of all, the problem of Emancipation. We have been accused of endangering by our aspirations towards a National Home the position of the Jews in the various countries of the world. We have racked our brains in trying to discover how the establishment of a National Home in Palestine could possibly harm the emancipation of Jews in the world. We have failed to solve this mystery. The British Government in their Declaration have put to flight this fear, which is a pure figment of the imagination without foundation in theory or fact. It would undoubtedly be a great elevation of the Jewish character in the eyes of the world at large, could the Jews prove themselves capable of conducting a Commonwealth harmoniously and successfully; and we are sure they will be able to do so. This is our belief, our ambition, our Jewish optimism. It is because we believe in Israel’s genius that we are Zionists. This will help emancipation. The Jews of the various countries who do not wish to participate actively in the work, who do not desire to take advantage of the right to settle in Palestine, can remain where they are at the present time. We are not emigration agents. We are apostles of a historic ideal, and we want the Jewish people to help in its realization.
It would be a crime at a stage of Jewish history like the present to paralyse by internal dissension a movement which may be productive of so much good. This should not be. Unity of Judaism before all, above all! The majority will support the efforts of their fellow-Jews with great enthusiasm for Judaism, and those who refuse to take any part (a type which is doomed to disappear, like the mammoth, from the face of the earth) must keep the peace. The least we can demand of them is not to disturb us or hinder us in our efforts. Where is the Jew who could neglect this duty which is inspired no less by reason and well-understood interest than by conscience and honour? Where is the Jew who would fail to offer the tribute of his humble share of effort, of help, and of faith to the old land of Israel, now so downtrodden, but all the greater and more beautiful, as its sufferings and trials—so heroically endured—are approaching their end and leading to its renascence which, far from being a mere satisfaction of national egoism, is an exaltation of the noblest Jewish and human ideal?
The attempt has also been made to put forward the non-Jewish population of Palestine and the neighbouring countries as an obstacle in our way. The breath of intriguers tends to poison every noble aspiration; they seek to create among us also a spirit of dissension, a spirit of destruction. We are firmly resolved to refuse them this satisfaction. In vain do they raise this kind of bogey. The deep sense of the realities before us guards us from any error of this kind. We have work to do which will prevent our interests from clashing with those of the Arabs. Are we, then, anti-Semitic?
The relations between the Jews and the Arabs have hitherto been scanty and spasmodic, largely owing to mutual ignorance and indifference. There were no relations whatever between the two nations as such because the oppressive bureaucracy did not recognize either of them, and whenever points of connection began to develop they were destroyed by intrigue to the detriment of both nationalities.
We believe that the present hour of crisis and the opening of a large perspective for epoch-making developments offers a fruitful opportunity for a broad basis of permanent, cordial relations between the peoples who are inspired by a common purpose. We mean a real entente cordiale between the Jews, the Arabs, and the Armenians. Such entente cordiale has already been accepted in principle by leading representatives of these three nations. From such a beginning we look forward with confidence to a future of intellectual, social, and economic co-operation. We are one with the Arabs and Armenians to-day in the determination to secure for each of us the free choice of their own destinies. We look with fraternal love at the creation of an Arab kingdom re-establishing the ancient Semitic nationality in its glory and freedom, and our heartfelt wishes go out to the noble, hardly-tried Armenian nationality for the realization of their national hopes in their old Armenia.
Our roots were united in the past, our destinies will be bound together in the future.
This is our declaration to our future neighbours. And now, one more word to our brethren. We Jews, we who hoped for a better future, an era in which moral rights would count, what were we before the present situation? Dreamers and madmen. Material power believed itself unconquerable. It produced an atmosphere of indifference in which all hope seemed Utopian. We slept in the general decadence. Now we arise, endowed with an unconquerable moral force by the Declaration of His Majesty’s Government. Our first and immortal leader, Theodor Herzl, insisted, many years ago, in having the institutions of Zionism established in this great, blessed country, for which every Jew has a warm corner in his heart. Was he a statesman or a prophet? I think he was both a statesman and a prophet. There is an old Talmudical saying:—
הניחו להן לישראל אם אין נביאים הן בני נביאים הן׃
פסחים סו׃[¹]
[¹] “Leave Israel alone!—If they are not Prophets, they are the sons of Prophets.”—Pesachim, 66a.
Twenty years ago 220 Jews from all the countries of the world met at the First Zionist Congress at Basle. They possessed, though everything else was wanting, that wonderful power of improvising things. And such was the power of right these 220 men, having nothing to support them but the goodness of their cause, made headway against millions of opponents among their people. During the long duration of the struggle, a struggle without truce, where all the strength and rage was on one side and all the right on the other, not a single section of those 220 men failed to respond to the call of duty, and, although divided in their views, not one section drew back from the fundamental national idea, not one gave way. They increased in numbers and they increased in activity. Let me, at this solemn hour, render honour to those men, to that insulted, calumniated and misunderstood Zionist Organization which always stepped gallantly into the breach, which never took rest for a single day, and which defended Zionism even when abandoned and momentarily hopeless, and that not only with tongue and brains, but also with heavy sacrifices. Thanks to them we exist, and thanks to the progress we made here new life and new energy will enter not only into our Zionist Organization, but into the whole Jewish people. Mr. Balfour has sent the Declaration to Lord Rothschild for the Zionist Organization. We received and accepted it joyfully; but, I am afraid—or I am rather glad—that we shall have to re-address it to the Jewish people, and I hope they will receive and accept it as joyfully as ourselves, the Zionists. This is perhaps the greatest achievement of the British Government that before having given us Palestine they already gave us something which is very precious and very necessary—Jewish unity. History will record that Mr. Balfour was the greatest peace-maker among the Jewish people, greater than many Rabbis and Conjoint Committees.
We were divided, distracted; and now we are indissolubly united, all one band of brothers in arms for Liberty! I welcome the representatives of the Jewish Territorial Organization, with their famous leader, Israel Zangwill. I welcome the oldest Jewish organization of this country, the Board of Deputies, and all other organizations which are represented at this meeting. The opponents of yesterday are our allies of to-day, and the opponents of to-day will be our allies of to-morrow, if they will read the signs of the time. Much is still to be done in this direction, but much has already been done. Yes; this is the miracle which has brought about our spiritual rebirth.
What does this mean if not that wrong has always feet of clay: that right, truth and liberty are from this time forward the true paths of the earth, the only ways which no physical force will ever dishonour?
Friends, brothers, our new society makes of you new men. This is a day of alliance and of reconciliation. Old words—Virtue, Love, Liberty—which had lost their brightness by long disuse have regained their lustre as on the day when they were first engraved on the heart of man. Awake from the long night. It is a new dawn which arises. The Jewish people which has endured, and will still endure, with great firmness of heart the heaviest sacrifices, rising to the heights of the great arguments of this War of Nationalities, affirms that it is ready and determined to work with all its power and full loyalty for Governments and peoples until the realization of its destiny. May this destiny be one in which Liberty will triumph—one from which man and humanity, the individual and the Nation, will derive benefit, one bringing to the Jewish people as to every oppressed people the possibility of living and of realizing its ideal. It is in this spirit that the Zionist Organisation recommends to you the resolution.
On the 14th of December the Zionist representatives, Lord Rothschild, Mr. James de Rothschild, Dr. E. W. Tschlenow, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, and the Author, were received by the War Cabinet. They offered to the British Government the gratitude of the Jewish people for the Declaration of the 2nd November and at the same time expressed their congratulations on the occasion of the capture of Jerusalem. Mr. Bonar Law, who replied to the deputation on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, thanked them for the kind sentiments they had expressed.
The following Manifesto was issued shortly after the British Declaration:—