Great Britain. Foreign Office. Historical Section

“ In the event of Palestine coming within the spheres of influence of Great Britain or France at the close of the war, the Governments of those Powers will not fail to take account of the historic interest that country possesses for the Jewish community. The Jewish population will be secured in the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, equal political rights with the rest of the population, reasonable facilities for immigration and colonization, and such municipal privileges in the towns and colonies inhabited by them as may be shown to be necessary. ”

“ It follows that the establishment of a Jewish nationality in Palestine founded on this theory of Jewish homelessness must have the effect throughout the world of stamping the Jews as strangers in their native lands, and of undermining their hard-won position as citizens and nationals of those lands. Moreover a Jewish political nationality carried to its logical conclusion must in the present circumstances of the world he an anachronism. The Jewish religion being the only certain test of the Jew, a Jewish nationality must he founded on, and limited by, the religion. ”

“ The irreconcilables formed themselves into a 'League of British Jews' so as to protect each other against the insinuation that they are aliens in the land of their birth, and that, as Jews, they cannot be Englishmen! The League is believed to have achieved no great success; and the Zionists, while denying that there is any ground for their fears, retort that those who wish to stay in the wilderness may stay there. ”

“ The latter, or the 'pig and plough' Zionists, are agricultural, scientific, non-religious, perhaps anti-religious. Their chief adherents are the students and radicals, the intellectuals of the United States as well as Russia. The most forceful and energetic Zionist leaders belong to them. The long duration of the war and the vast upheavals of the Jewish populations of Eastern Europe have made it difficult to estimate the relative strength of the two parties. ”

“ The Conjoint committee, indeed, would have no objections to urge against a local Jewish nationality establishing itself in such conditions. But the present claim is not of this limited scope. It is part and parcel of a wider Zionist theory which regards all the Jewish communities of the world as constituting one homeless nationality, incapable of complete social and political identification with the nations among whom they dwell; and it is argued that for this homeless nationality a political centre and an always available homeland in Palestine are necessary. ”

“ The Committee was in close touch with similar Jewish committees abroad, especially the American Jewish Committee, and its labours were attended with considerable success, so that, before the war, they had almost persuaded the Governments of Russia and Rumania to relax their Anti-Semitic legislation and administration. When the war broke out everything was altered. The persecuting Governments became our friends, and Palestine was a most important factor in the war policy of the Allies. To Zionists and non-Zionists alike the future of the country had become a matter of vital interest. ”

“ Zionism and the Jewish Community
During the war, there have been cross-currents in Jewry which have resulted in a distinct triumph for the Zionists. The Palestine question is one of the great problems for the Peace Congress. The Governments of the Allied Powers, especially Great Britain, the United States, France, and Italy, are believed to see its solution in some government by or for the Jews. Most Zionists hope for this under the aegis of Great Britain. The great Jewish communal bodies, especially in England, have kept aloof from the Zionists. ”

“ Against this theory the Conjoint Committee strongly and earnestly protest. Emancipated Jews in this country regard themselves primarily as a religious community, and they have always based their claims to political equality with their fellow-citizens of other creeds on this assumption, and on its corollary—that they have no separate national aspirations in a political sense. They hold Judaism to be a religious system with which their political status has no concern ”

“ Organization
The Zionists form an organized democratic electoral system. All Jews become members on payment of
a nominal fee called 'shekel' (in the equivalent of currency, one shilling, franc, or mark) . Each member who has paid a shekel for two successive years has one vote, and every group of 200 Shekel-payers has the right to elect a delegate to the Zionist Congress.
A delegate must be not less than 24 years of age; a deputy is generally chosen to take his place in case of unavoidable absence from the Congress.
The Congress is the legislative body of the Zionist Organization. ”

“ The aim of the movement has been to move the head-quarters to Palestine as soon as conditions permit, because no other country can be more than an accidental and temporary head-quarters. The most convenient centre for the majority of Zionists would be in Russia, for, though the fame of the Organization is West European, its lifeblood and strongest membership consists of Russian Jews. ”

“ The adherents of the movement are formed into Societies, which in each country are nominally controlled by a local Zionist Federation, or a Zionist Separate Union, consisting of not less than 3,000 members. ”

“ The Association started as an English branch of the parent institution, but has, ever since 1871, maintained a separate existence, though the two have always preserved friendly and indeed intimate relations. ”