British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 956

CHAPTER XXIII.

"Baltimore Programme", the attitude to which has largely determined the grouping of these parties during the past three years. The following short explanation appears therefore to be required. A conference of American Zionists was held in May, 1942, at the Baltimore Hotel, New York, and passed a number of resolutions defining the Zionist aims in Palestine. These resolutions, generally known as the Baltimore Programme, were eventually adopted without reservation by the majority of Jewish political parties in Palestine.

The resolutions were as follows :-

(a) The immediate establishment in Palestine of a Jewish commonwealth as an integral part of the new democratic world. (b) The rejection of the White Paper of May, 1939.

(c) Unrestricted Jewish immigration and settlement.

(d) Jewish Agency control of immigration and settlement.

(e) The formation and recognition of a Jewish military force fighting under its own flag.

32. In general, Jewish political parties in Palestine differ in their outlook on social and economic matters and not in their approach to Zionist principle. The parties are as follows.

A. Labour parties.

MAPAI (Palestine Jewish Labour Party).

33. This is the foremost political party among the Jews of Palestine. It is represented on the Executive of the Jewish Agency by six out of the seventeen Zionist members; its representatives inclnde the Chairman of the Executive (Mr. D. Ben Gurion), the Treasurer (Mr. E. Kaplan), the head of the Political Department (Mr. M. Shertok) and the head of the Immigration Department (Mr. E. Dobkin). Mr. I. Ben Zvi, M.B.E., President of the Vaad Leumi (the General Council of the Jewish Community), is also a member. The party is the principal motive power behind the establishment of collective and small-holders' agricultural settlements based on self-labour and cooperation. Through the Hehaluts (Pioneer) movement, The party trains Jewish youths abroad for agricultural work in Palestine. -One of its main tenets is that all manual labour in' the Jewish economic sphere in Palestine should be done by Jews only, lest the .Jewish revival should be regarded as exploiting the labour of others. The party's political complexion is socialist and it is affiliated to the Second International. The Mapai is the leading group in the General Federation of Labour Histadruth , see under section !! of Chapter XVII), where it polled 57 ,135 votes or 53% of the

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