File No. 763.72/11594
The Agent and Consul General at Cairo ( Gary) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 30.]
Sir: Believing that it would prove of interest to the Department to have a report on some of the work I have performed the past seven months growing out of the British occupation of Palestine I have the honor to submit a résumé of same.
[Page 562]Relief Work
Soon after my arrival in Egypt last January various Jewish organizations in America became active in their endeavor to send financial relief to Palestine (Jerusalem having been captured by the British forces), and I was called upon to investigate and report upon the condition of the people and the measures of relief most needed. At the same time the Jews in Egypt were making similar plans and finally organized the “Special Committee for the Relief of Jews in Palestine.” I think I may say that it was largely due to my efforts that cooperation between American and Egyptian Jews took place and that general relief work became centralized in the local Committee. This tended to bring about systematic organization and effective control, and brought the work into more harmonious touch with the military authorities who exercise, of course, absolute authority over all matters in the Holy Land.
When the “Special Committee” in Cairo with its subcommittees in Palestine became organized, I notified the Joint Distribution Committee in New York, and thereafter American relief funds commenced to flow into Palestine through the intermediary of this office.
Upon the arrival in Egypt of the International Zionist Commission, headed by Doctor Weizmann, all Jewish relief work was absorbed by the Commission. Doctor Weizmann called at the Agency with the members of his Commission to confer with me on the subject of relief in Palestine and other matters, and it was finally decided to establish an office in Cairo, to represent the Commission in relief matters, with Mr. Jack Mosseri in charge thereof.
I have continued to act as the intermediary for the transmission of all relief funds from America to Palestine—both for general purposes and for individual cases. Many tens of thousands of dollars have been and are being handled by this office for such relief.
American Red Cross Commission to Palestine
The American Red Cross Commission to Palestine, under the command of Col. St. John Ward, arrived in Egypt early in June last. Before proceeding to Jerusalem Colonel Ward and most of the members of the Commission came to Cairo to complete their organization and make certain necessary arrangements for their work in Palestine.
Colonel Ward and his principal officers called at the Agency to confer with me and enlist my advice and assistance particularly in their relations with the local officials and others.
Mrs. Gary and I entertained Colonel Ward and the members of his party to tea the day after their arrival in Cairo.
[Page 563]The Commission was soon followed to Egypt by Col. John H. Finley, of New York, its chief commissioner, who took charge upon his arrival. Colonel Finley made a special trip from Port Said to Cairo to confer with me for a few hours before proceeding later in the day to Palestine. On a subsequent visit I presented Colonel Finley to the High Commissioner, Gen. Sir Reginald Wingate, with whom we discussed at length the purposes of the Commission. Later His Highness the Sultan received Colonel Finley and myself in private audience at his palace in Ramleh.
The Red Cross Commission established an office in Cairo under the charge of Captain Millikin, who has frequently enlisted my intervention in his dealings with the local authorities. I have been able to render considerable assistance to Captain Millikin, not only in his work generally but also in the many perplexing problems that have confronted him. The Agency has also been the intermediary for the transmission of all cablegrams to and from the Commission.
American Zionist Medical Unit to Palestine
A few days ago there arrived in Egypt the American Zionist Medical Unit to Palestine, a party composed of some 38 members of whom 33 are citizens of the United States. They stopped in Cairo only a brief time on their way to Jerusalem. Mr. Moses Baroway, of Baltimore, Md., secretary attached to the Unit, who remained a few days in Cairo, called on me here at the Agency. He told me that there were 20 nurses and 18 physicians in the Unit headed by Miss Alice Seligsberg. He further stated that the Chairman of the Unit, Mr. E. W. Lewin-Epstein, was ill in London but hoped to proceed to Palestine in the near future. In response to his request I gave Mr. Baroway such data and information about Jerusalem and the situation there as I thought might prove helpful to him and told him to write or telegraph me whenever I could further serve him and the American Zionist Medical Unit.
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I have [etc.]