Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

American League for Free Palestine ALEF was headed by G.M. Gillette, former senator from Iowa, and included Will Rogers, Jr.
Jewish Post.com cites: the ALEF American League for Free Palestine, being established on June 6, 1944, by the Bergson Group, as a branch of the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation which was established on May 18, 1944.
The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studiies cites: The Bergson Group created the American League for a Free Palestine, in 1943, to mobilize American public support for Jewish statehood.
The leaders of American League for Free Palestine ALEF were:
* Hillel Kook Peter Bergson
* Shmuel Merlin
* Arie Ben-Eliaza
* Itzhak Ben-Ami
* Eri Jabotinsky
* Alex Rafaeli

In 1946, the Thyne Shipping Company acquired USS Cythera (PK-31) Ben Hecht בן הכט, classified as war surplus, from United States Coast Guard.
She anchored in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, where Yitzhak Ben-Ami oversaw the refurbishing and repairs.
USS Cythera (PK-31) Ben Hecht בן הכט was unique in that she was the only ship prepared by ITzL, with financial help from New York Revisionists and the American League for Free Palestine ALFP, headed by G.M. Gillette, former senator from Iowa.
She was acquired with donations from The League for Free Land of Israel/American League for Free Palestine; the Bergson Group used the proceeds from “A Flag is Born”, which brought in nearly $1-million in ticket revenues and post-performance donations, to purchase the ship.
She was operated by the American Sea and Air Volunteers for Hebrew Repatriation.
Elliott Roosevelt, son of the late president and an experienced yachtsman, offered to serve as captain of USS Cythera (PK-31) Ben Hecht בן הכט, but withdrew after objections from his mother.

On March 11, 1947, American League for Free Palestine ALEF distributed an announcement in the name of the American Sea and Air Voluneteers for Hebrew Reptatriation, stating that it had recruited the volunteer crew for USS Cythera (PK-31) Ben Hecht בן הכט.

Jeno Berkovitz, home for less than a year, cites: “I had been home for less than a year when I read in the newspaper one morning that a group called the American League for a Free Palestine was looking for sailors, They wanted us to help bring Holocaust survivors to Palestine. How could I not go?”