The Auckland Star WITH WHICH AND INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936. CONFLICT IN PALESTINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 117, 19 May 1936, Page 6

The Auckland Star WITH WHICH AND INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936. CONFLICT IN PALESTINE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the icrong that needs resistance For the future in the distance, And the good that tee can do.

The recurrence of conflict between Arabs and Jews ill Palestine again draws attention to Britain's difficulty of administering the mandate while at the same time fostering the establishment of "a national home for the Jewish people." Although the Balfour Declaration of 1917 specified that nothing should be done that might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, it was inevitable that an influx of Jews into a country predominantly Arab would create an economic disturbance that would be reflected in political action. Jewish immigrants since 1920 have numbered about 200,000, of whom 30,000 arrived in 1933, and 40,000 in , 1934. The Arabs have demanded that the rate of the inward flow be reduced, but the Government is expected to approve of a rate of 4000 a month, which is greater than that of recent years. Ever since the British Government took over the administration of Palestine it has intended to set up a Legislative Council, upon which Arabs and Jews should have representation. The present High Commissioner last year proposed that the Council have 28 members, of whom 14 would be Arabs, seven Jews and the rest British. This proposal was rejected by the Jews, who, though the Council was to be merely an advisory body, feared Arab domination. The Arabs themselves were divided, some leaders advocating acceptance of the proposal, and others, including an extreme nationalist section, opposing it. The nationalists aim to oust both British and Jews from the country and to establish a purely Arab Government. , As often happens when the population of a country is largely illiterate, there is among the Arabs an educated minority which alone is articulate, and purports to speak for all. This educated class desires above all to retain its political ascendancy and its economic privileges. It is hostile to progressive reforms, and it is especially hostile to the Jewish colonisation, which has been organised and is being carried on with vision and energy. The High Commissioner, who, under the British Government, is the supreme authority, has the exceedingly delicate task of holding the balance between a numerical majority of Arabs, whose spokesmen are not representative, but whose rights cannot be denied, and a progressive minority of Jews, who are anxious to live in peace but who inevitably are seen by the Arab leaders as economic competitors. The summoning of troops from Egypt is an indication that the. situation has become acutely dangerous, and that the declared policy of the British Government, although in the course of years it may prove to be wise, can during the transitional period be carried out only by repressive force.