Palestine Handbook

The Palestine Yearbook.
by Sophie A. Udin.
Washington, Zionist Organization of America, 1945. 526 pp. $3.50.

This useful compendium issued by the Zionist organization of America is a fine reference book which is rendered especially useful by a series of articles rich in data on various aspects of the Jewish community in Palestine.

Jewish economic development is discussed by Eliezer Kaplan, treasurer of the Jewish Agency, and David Horowitz, a highly competent economist, who writes on Palestine’s absorptive capacity. Horowitz discusses internal and external political conditions, among them government currency restrictions, which limit economic expansion. The principal agricultural and industrial developments necessary for large-scale immigration are outlined. Horowitz also points out the significant role of immigration in expanding absorptive capacity by bringing skilled personnel and investment capital into the country.

Z. Abramowitz, a Palestinian writer and economist specializing in Arab problems, outlines the great transformations in the Arab economy resulting from heavy war-time expenditures by the military in Palestine. The demand for labor on army projects and in factories attracted thousands of Arab peasants as well as citrus-plantation, dock and construction workers whose customary jobs were suspended under war-time conditions. About 20,000 workers were, in addition, imported from Syria. Abramowitz reports that:

"Among the tens of thousands of workers mobilized by the government, several thousands had to be skilled men, masons, carpenters, electricians, etc. At first these skilled workers were all Jews, for skilled Arab workers were hard to find. However, within a relatively short time many thousands of Arab workers had acquired various specialized skills. Not only did thousands of fellaheen and their children join the ranks of the wage-earners, but many of them became skilled workers."

Many Arab peasants were able to rid themselves of the yoke of usurious debt under which they had labored for years. Arab businessmen greatly enlarged their capital resources; and several Arab labor organizations were formed.

A large section, “Palestine: Survey of Progress,” includes developments in government, colonization, rescue work in Europe, sports, cultural life and scientific research. There are also lists of Hebrew periodicals, books published on Zionism and Palestine, and Jewish organizations throughout the world.

We note that the lists of Zionist organizations in the book include the official Revisionist bodies as well as their several “front organizations,” without identifying them as such. This is perhaps no accident, for the Revisionists have lately been befriended by leaders of the Zionist Organization of America, who are actively interested in having the Revisionists participate in the forthcoming World Zionist Congress.