Speech #780125873

They might be called the Magna Carta of the Jews. But even more important a milestone is the tangible evidence of the development of Palestine during the past quarter century. It is easy to speak of growth of population. and to point out that the Jewish communities of Palestine have increased tenfold. and now number some 580.000 souls. of whom more than half are refugees from persecution under the swastika. The exiles of today have found a haven in the ancient land of their fathers. in a strip of semitropical greenery along the coast of Palestine. in this spiritual homeland of the Jew who for 2.000 years has said at Passover: "Next year. in Jerusalem." But what these 580.000 people. most of them from cities where pioneering In a new and semiagricultural life was undreamed of. where such matters as farming and carpentering and draining swampland and planting orchards belonged only to the traditional tales of the Old Testament. many of them from cities where they were hounded into cramped and noisome quarters. and. at the end. hounded from them to death or frightened exile. have accomplished with this land. which for centuries has lain waste and neglected. is the real miracle. and the real milestone for our history books. Something over $5.000.000 has poured into the Jewish homeland from Jewry all over the world.