The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

Chapter 10
Palestine
“Waste of Time”
Arthur Ruppin, a prominent economist and sociologist, met with other Zionist
immigration experts to discuss the implications of the Evian Conference. He noted that
Palestine had a limited potential to absorb refugees. Since the British opposed increasing
Jewish colonization he recommended that Jews move to other areas first in order to
expedite their flight from Germany and Austria. Jewish resettlement, Ruppin believed,
should be viewed in a “more general perspective” with Palestine serving in a “central”
but not exclusive role. He urged Zionists, who would be attending the conference, to
present an appearance of solidarity and work towards such a goal while offering the
delegates “sound economic and political solutions.” 1
Yitzhak Gruenbaum took a contrary view during a session of the Jewish Agency
Executive and stated that if other territories were deemed acceptable then Palestine would
lose its centrality in the Zionist paradigm. Consequently, Zionists needed to uphold the
dogma that only Palestine was suitable for Jewish resettlement. David Ben-Gurion
agreed with Gruenbaum and felt that acceptance of Ruppin’s idea would diminish
1 Beit-Zvi, Post-Uganda Zionism, 180f. (Hebrew) cited in Diner, Beyond the Conceivable, 89-92;
Menachem Mor, ed. Eretz, Israel, Israel and the Jewish Diaspora: Mutual Relations (Lanham, MD:
University Press of America, Inc., 1988), 182, 183. The Palestinian newspaper Ha’aretz reported in June
1938 that an estimated eight to nine thousand Jews were unemployed within the Mandate. Broken down by
locale three to four thousand were jobless in Tel Aviv, 1,500-2,000 in Haifa, six hundred in Jerusalem and
in the agricultural settlements more than 2,500. The Sentinel, June 23, 1938, 3.
245