In 1920 the majority of the largest Jewish Socialist organization in Europe, the non-Zionist Bund, voted to join the Communist International. Within the ‘far left’ of the Zionist movement pro-Communist tendencies had also emerged. In August, 1921 the Comintern made explicit its demand that Poale Zion abandon Palestinian colonization before relations could develop. After the majority of Poale Zion rejected that demand the following year, the leadership of the Comintern issued this statement.

‘To the Jewish Proletariat’ by the Executive Committee of the Communist International from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 2 No. 63. August 1, 1922.

To the Communists of all Countries!
To the Jewish Proletariat!

The conference of the World Union Poale Zion has considered the conditions of entrance into the Communist International, which were jointly deliberated on by the Executive Committee of the Communist International and representatives of the majority and the minority of the World Union.

The Conference has rejected these conditions.

The position is therefore clear. Since the third congress, the petty bourgeois nationalist and opportunist elements of the majority of the delegates from the various sections, have attempted to sabotage and hinder the efforts of the proletarian and Communist elements in the Poale Zion to effect affiliation with the Communist International. They have taken advantage of the negotiations with the Communist International, which they intentionally drew into infinite length, for the purpose of ruthlessly suppressing the Communist elements and to exclude them from the World Union in order to secure for themselves a majority against affiliation at the congress. Owing to the patience of the Executive Committee of the Communist International these tactics have been successful insofar as these wire-pullers have actually succeeded in bringing about an overwhelming majority against affiliation with the Communist International.

The Communist International laid down as a condition for entrance the abandonment of the nationalist, opportunist Palestine program and the dissolution of the Poale Zion, as well as the entrance of the Jewish proletarian Communist elements into the national sections of the various Communist great concessions with regard to propaganda and organization, great concessions with regard to propaganda ang organization, in order to facilitate thereby the development of Communism even among the most backward portions of the Jewish proletariat. For real Communists these conditions of entrance are quite acceptable. This is proved not only by the fact that the minority representatives from the Poale Zion accepted them but also by the fact that the real proletarian revolutionary elements have already turned their backs upon the Poale Zion which is guided by petty bourgeois sectarians, and have joined the Communist Parties of their respective countries in order to work shoulder to shoulder with their non-Jewish class comrades for the World Revolution and for Communism. The Executive Committee of the Communist International declares it to be the duty of these national sections to carry on the most intense struggle against the petty bourgeois sectarians. The Palestine objective, the attempt to divert the Jewish working masses from the class war by the propagation of mass settlement of Jews in Palestine, is not only nationalist and petty bourgeois, but in its effects counter-revolutionary; for, broad masses of workers are captivated by this idea and have been enticed away from an effective prosecution of the class war against their Jewish and non-Jewish capitalist exploiters. The Communist International considers it the duty of its sections to give full and effective support to the minority of the Poale Zion in its fight against the majority, insofar as the former have accepted the conditions of entrance and have decided on loyally carrying out these decisions by unitedly leaving the Poale Zion and joining the Communist International.

At the Fourth Congress of the Communist International, in November of this year, a conference of Jewish groups already affiliated or about to affiliate will be held in order to lay down a final working program and the tactical theses for the propaganda bureau which will be established by the Executive Committee of the Communist International, for propaganda among the Jewish proletariat.

The statement of the majority representatives of the Poale Zion to the effect that after the refusal of the conditions of entrance by the Poale Zion, further negotiations are being carried on with the Executive Committee of the Communist International, is not in accordance with the facts. The only relations between the Communists and the Poale Zion since the rejection of the conditions of entrance have been those of the greatest hostility.

The Executive Committee of the Communist International. Moscow, July 25th, 1922.

The ECCI published the magazine ‘Communist International’ edited by Zinoviev and Karl Radek from 1919 until 1926 irregularly in German, French, Russian, and English. Restarting in 1927 until 1934. Unlike, Inprecorr, CI contained long-form articles by the leading figures of the International as well as proceedings, statements, and notices of the Comintern. No complete run of Communist International is available in English. Both were largely published outside of Soviet territory, with Communist International printed in London, to facilitate distribution and both were major contributors to the Communist press in the U.S. Communist International and Inprecorr are an invaluable English-language source on the history of the Communist International and its sections.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1922/v02n063-aug-01-1922-Inprecor.pdf