The American Palestine Committee was a political lobby group in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

founded in 1932 to influence American policy towards the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, an aim achieved in 1948 with U.S. support for the

Partition of Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations, which recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the Plan as Re ...

and subsequent recognition of the new state of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

History

Conceived by Emanuel Neumann, a member of the Executive of the

Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

, late in 1931, following the 1930 publication of the

Passfield White Paper The Passfield White Paper, issued October 20, 1930, by colonial secretary Lord Passfield (Sidney Webb), was a formal statement of British policy in Palestine, which previously had been set by the Churchill White Paper of 1922. The new statement r ...

by the British government, which was seen as a retreat from the commitments of the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate for Palestine. The idea of the American Palestine Committee was to organize a group of prominent (mainly non-Jewish) Americans in political support of the

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

project of creating a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. The Committee was launched at a public dinner in Washington on January 17, 1932, and attended by members of both houses of Congress, and government dignitaries, including Vice President

Charles Curtis Charles Curtis (January 25, 1860 – February 8, 1936) was an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover. He had served as the Sena ...

. A letter of greeting from President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

was read to the audience.Message to the American Palestine Committee
January 17, 1932 The principal speeches at the inaugural meeting were delivered by

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...

, Emanuel Neumann, and

Elwood Mead Elwood Mead (January 16, 1858 – January 26, 1936) was an American professor, government official, and engineer known for heading the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1924 until his death in 1936. During his tenure, he oversaw ...

. By the 1940s, the membership of the committee had grown to 15,000 and included two-thirds of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, as well as many members of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, state legislatures, mayors and other influential political figures. The main event in its calendar was an annual dinner. In 1944 the committee sponsored a National Conference on Palestine which passed resolutions calling for maximum Jewish immigration to Palestine and the conversion of Palestine into a Jewish Commonwealth. The American Palestine Committee worked jointly with other bodies including the Christian Council on Palestine and the

American Zionist Emergency Council American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and succeeded in 1945 in having the U.S. Congress adopt a resolution supporting the creation of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine. In 1946 the organization merged with the Christian Council on Palestine to become the American Christian Palestine Committee. At that point its membership numbered over 15,000 Christians. On August 22, 1946,

Bartley Crum Bartley Crum (November 28, 1900 – December 9, 1959) was an American lawyer who became prominent as a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, his book on that experience, and for defending targets of House Un-American Activities Commit ...

spoke at a committee lunch, during which he "tore into British and U.S. Officialdom and the handling of the Palestinian question." In 1947 it advocated quick implementation of the

United Nations Special Committee on Palestine The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947 in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 of the Charter, concerning the future govern ...

's plan. A few years following the successful creation of Israel in 1948, the American Christian Palestine Committee felt its work done and disbanded.

References

{{Reflist

External links

American Palestine Committee

Zionism in the United States Zionist organizations Defunct organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1932 1932 establishments in the United States

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links