The Jews of Palestine were among the earliest victims of the war. The
greater part of them are dependent, wholly or in part, upon their
co-religionists in Europe and America. With the outbreak of the war
all the normal channels of communication were temporarily interrupted.
Even had this not occurred the complete stagnation of trade in Europe
would have made it impossible for the Jews, who were themselves in
difficulties, to continue to afford material assistance.
The difficulties of the situation before Turkey became a belligerent
are briefly set forth in the following extracts from a report, dated
October 21, 1914, made by Mr. Maurice Wertheim, who was entrusted
by Ambassador Morgenthau with the distribution of a fund of $50,000
contributed by American Jews.
The colonists themselves did not stand in actual need of assistance,
as they are largely men of certain means and can help themselves.
Furthermore, they are able to obtain their bank deposits in the
following manner: the Anglo-Palestine Bank, with which most of the
Jews in Palestine do business through their various branches in
Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Safed, and Tiberias, etc., are registering
or certifying for their depositors checks down to the smallest
denominations. These checks are made payable to the drawer, endorsed
by him, and the registration stamp of the bank is equivalent to a
notice that the check will be cashed by the bank after the moratorium.
With these checks the colonists are able to supply their immediate
needs and harvest their crops.
The only pressing requirement of the colonists was to exchange some
of these checks for gold in order to pay Government taxes and military
exoneration fees, and this was arranged.
Further than this, the two great needs of the Jewish colonies,
generally speaking, were: (a) to take care of Jewish laborers thrown
out of employment by existing conditions, and (b) to secure new
markets for their products to take the place of those that had been
affected by the war.
There are about 2,500 Jewish laborers in the colonies. It is
impossible to determine the exact percentage of unemployed amongst
them, but even if we assume that only half of them are out of
employment, it is easily seen that the amount of money we were able
to divert to this purpose will not go very far. I might say here that
in dividing the fund amongst the various districts in Palestine, we
allotted to the colonies a somewhat larger proportion than their
population justified.
The opening up of new markets for Palestinian agricultural products
(oranges, wine and almonds, are the chief articles of export), is
probably the most pressing need of the colonist movement in Palestine.
Colonists feel that the chief market for the oranges which in the past
has been England, will be greatly interfered with, and if they are not
able to dispose successfully of their products, their entire future
and very existence will be threatened.
The situation in the larger centers of population is very bad.
Almost no currency enters the country and foreign checks that do find
their way there are not realizable. This naturally places in great
want those who depend on the “Chaluka” contributions and also the
large class who depend on money sent by relatives. Furthermore, the
industries of manufacture of antiques and souvenirs are completely
stopped, owing to want of customers, and there is no money to conduct
industries such as building, carpentering, tailoring and shoemaking,
in which large numbers of Jews are employed. I found that the better
class of Jews had themselves organized temporary relief, but their
possibilities of assistance are rapidly drawing to a close. People who
had, a few weeks before my visit, contributed to the maintenance of
soup kitchens, stood in need themselves upon my arrival. One Jewish
hospital had already closed.
The food situation in Palestine was precarious, for while prices had
not risen to any large extent, yet the source of supply was limited.
The introduction of wheat from the East of the Jordan had been
prohibited by the Government (which restriction through the efforts
of the Ambassador we have endeavored to have lifted). In order to
guard against possible shortage of food and also to offer food at the
cheapest possible price, our Committee will purchase from time to time
as large quantities of food as it can, have bread baked itself, and
will sell same at cost, or possibly a little less.
When Turkey entered the war as an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary
the situation of the 50,000 Russian Jews, who constituted half of the
Jewish population of Palestine, became precarious. As nationals of an
enemy country, they became liable to any restrictions or deprivation
of rights which military necessity or international animosity might
dictate. Thus these thousands of Jews were to suffer because they
technically bore the nationality of a country which had virtually
exiled them.
Upon the intervention of the German and American Embassies, however,
the Ottoman Government made special concessions to these Jews. Several
weeks’ time was allowed for those who so desired to become Turkish
subjects by naturalization. Upon the expiration of this period,
those who had not availed themselves of this offer were ordered to
leave. About 600 were forcibly expelled and about 7,000 others left
voluntarily. Most of the fugitives took refuge in Egypt, whence a
number emigrated to the United States. In the spring of 1915, however,
the Council of Ministers decided that the deportations be discontinued.
The difficulties of the economic situation of the Jewish population
were further increased by Turkey’s entrance in the war. The Government
confiscated most of the crops, and a great many of the settlers were
either drafted into the army or compelled to buy immunity.
In March, 1915, the American Jewish Relief Committee and the
Provisional Zionist Committee were enabled, through the courtesy of the
United States Government, to send a food ship to Palestine. Although
considerable portions of these supplies were diverted by the Turkish
Government into non-Jewish channels, the food question was to a great
extent solved, and conditions have been steadily improving. The
present situation is briefly described in the following extracts from
a report of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist
Affairs, dated August 10, 1915:
The _economic_ situation has also shown some improvement. The arrival
of the relief food ship “Vulcan” has been partly responsible for this
result. After considerable discussion with the government authorities,
the following ratio of distribution has been agreed upon; 55 per cent.
for the Jews, 26 per cent. for the Mohammedans, and 19 per cent. for
the Christians.
The sending of the relief ship has had the important effect of
lowering considerably the prices of food. The gathering of the harvest
is now in full swing. The crops are satisfactory, especially in
Galilee, which is principally a corn growing country. Our farms, in
particular, have proved an important factor in the present crisis by
supplying the colonies and cities with grain at reasonable prices.
There is reason to believe that Palestine will now be able to hold its
own in the matter of food, without depending on further shipments from
America. There is still some shortage felt in sugar and in some less
important groceries, of which small quantities may still be procured
from Egypt.
The economic prospects would be considerably brighter were it not
for the _locust_ which has swept over Palestine in large numbers.
In corn-growing Galilee the danger is less palpable than elsewhere
where plantations are the principal feature of agriculture. The fight
against the plague has been taken up energetically and systematically.
The danger of a shortage in grain was another problem that needed
careful consideration. While in normal times Palestine is in a
position to export grain abroad, the outbreak of the war, owing to the
heavy requisitions of the Government and the difficult communications
with the North of Palestine and the Hauran, the granaries of the
country, brought an alarming situation. To deal with it, a special
committee was organized. A number of well-to-do Jews bought up
quantities of grain and had them milled, offering the flour to the
public at cheap prices. In this way the danger threatening the
population from unscrupulous speculators was averted and the prices
were kept down. Thus, when, shortly before Passover, the price of
flour had soared up as high as 65 francs, the action of the committee
had the effect of reducing it to 48. The committee also supplied
public institutions with cheap flour.
As another means of relief, public stores were opened by the committee
for the sale of provisions. In spite of the fact that some of the
goods were requisitioned by the government, the stores served a good
purpose, helping, among other things, to circulate the checks of the
Anglo-Palestine Company.
From the very beginning of the crisis, the Palestina Amt made it a
rule that no workingmen were to be dismissed, as such action might
subject them to the danger of starvation. To supply all the workingmen
with employment, public works were undertaken, such as road building,
canalization and water supply. Several builders who had been forced
to discontinue their building operations were assisted with loans to
resume them.
Finally, a Public Loan Association was organized to meet the needs of
those who had formerly received remittances from abroad, and, owing to
the discontinuation of these remittances consequent upon the outbreak
of the war, found themselves in pitiable circumstances. Some 900
persons took advantage of the facilities offered by the Association.
According to the statistics compiled by the Palestina Amt and embodied
in a separate report, some 8,000 Jews left the country during the
crisis. Of these, 4,000 were from Jaffa, 2,000 from Jerusalem, 1,500
from the Judean colonies and 500 from the colonies in Galilee. The
estimated number of Jews at present in Palestine is 88,100, of whom
13,500 are to be found in the colonies.
The requisitions and the war contributions levied upon the Jews during
the war, amount to 152,805 francs.