Vandyke, photo.
Rᵗ. Hon. David Lloyd George
Mr. Lloyd George gave the following reply:—
“It is with feelings of the greatest satisfaction that I accept the address which you have done me the privilege of presenting to me. The aspirations which you share with multitudes of your race scattered throughout the world found a natural response in the minds of those responsible for the government of this country, because they are in permanent accord with the sentiments of the people of Great Britain. I have to-day had the honour of receiving addresses from the representatives of three elements most intimately concerned in the establishment of a rule of order and justice in an area which has hitherto been the prey of tyranny and outrage. The fulfilment of the historic hopes and aspirations to which you refer in your address is, I believe, an essential corollary to the necessary enfranchisement of the oppressed peoples of the Near East.”
Considerable interest was taken everywhere in the evidences of the effect produced in America by the political success of the Zionist movement. The Zionists of America, unable to participate in many of the Zionist activities of the day, owing to the fact that America was not at war with Turkey, conceived the idea of helping in the reconstruction and extension of the Jewish colonies after they were relieved from disasters due to the war, by sending a Medical Unit to the Holy Land.
The Unit was organized by and at the expense of American Zionists, the principal promoters being a group of women Zionists who are banded together under the name of the Hadassah. It consisted of about forty-five persons—doctors, nurses, mechanics, chemists, specialists, secretaries, dentists, a social expert, an administrator, and a representative of the Hadassah. The Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs in America voted a sum of fifty thousand pounds from their Palestine Restoration Fund for its equipment. The plans in Palestine will necessarily depend upon the conditions prevailing in that country at the time of the arrival of the Unit, but the present intention is to set up a central hospital of one hundred beds in Jerusalem, a branch hospital in Jaffa, as well as dispensaries and a nursing school, and several travelling hospitals, which will be equipped for service in the colonies and wherever needed and will be supplied from permanent dispensaries in the large cities. A hospital in Jerusalem, originally owned by a German society, the L’maan Zion, was handed over to this Unit, as well as the Shaare Zedek Hospital. In connexion with the equipment of these “Red Cross” ambulances for the relief of civilians, the Hadassah collected quantities of clothes, bed-linen and towels, as well as medical stores for the use of the destitute of Palestine. Eighty-six cases, containing twenty-four thousand garments, one thousand pairs of boots, thirteen thousand men’s socks, and two tons of soap, have been sent out. Mrs. Mary Fels contributed largely to this stock.
The Unit is under the general control of Mr. Lewin Epstein, Treasurer of the American Zionist Organization.
On its way to Palestine the Unit passed through London, where it was welcomed by a great meeting at the London Opera House, on July 14th. The Right Hon. George N. Barnes, a member of the War Cabinet, in a speech then delivered, said:—
“Palestine has for three hundred years been under the tyranny of Ottoman oppression, and I take it that it is now ready for the word of the teacher, and the knowledge of the scientist, to make the desert places again into smiling villages. Our visitors will take part in that transformation. They will link together the knowledge, the science, and material resources of the present and the future. It is a great thought and a happy augury that the first definite act of Zionism is to go East and to take part in the realization of a great ideal for the uplifting of all the people, irrespective of class or creed, or condition of any kind whatsoever. That is indeed a great ideal, and I congratulate our visitors in being pioneers in its achievement. They are going to help to lay in Palestine that basis of sanitation and conditions of healthy life which are the chief foundations of civilization. It is a work not only of interest to the Jewish race; it is a work which is of interest and value to the whole world, because the prosperity of Palestine is the concern of us all. Irrespective of race or religion, we look to Palestine as the Holy Land. From it there came those great moral inspirations which still guide the life and conduct of half the world. From it there issued forth those wondrous influences of which the mind of man can scarcely yet conceive the full meaning. It has been the inestimable privilege of the Allies in this war to have rescued this land, consecrated by religion and history, from the sacrilegious hands of the German and the Turk, who have slain and enslaved the people. It will be their greater privilege to rebuild the holy places, to create conditions under which opportunities will be given to all peoples to live together in tolerance and mutual help. It will be the aim of Zionism once more to make Palestine a fountain of knowledge and idealism, and by the creating of places of knowledge and education, open to all, again to clothe ancient truths in modern garb. The British Government proclaimed its policy of Zionism because it believed that Zionism was identified with the policy and aims for which good men and women are struggling everywhere. That policy is the policy of the Allies in this war. It is the policy to which we are pledged; it is the policy which we believe accords with the wishes of vast numbers of the Jewish people, many of whom have cast wistful eyes to Palestine as again destined to be their national home. Using the word in its largest and best sense, they are going on an errand of mercy, being the harbingers of health and happiness to a people who have been long oppressed and heavy laden. They have, I doubt not, many difficulties in front of them—perhaps a long road to travel, but I feel sure they will be borne up by the consciousness of what they are doing, and that they have the good wishes of all good men and women.”