JEWISH PROGRESS

Feilding Star, Volume 11, Issue 4179, 28 February 1934, Page 7

JEWISH PROGRESS

Return to Palestine ARABS BENEFIT A JEW’S REPORT Maidstone’s Rotary Club listened to a talk by Colonel R. G. d’Avigdor Goldsmid, <of Tonbridge on “Jews and Arabs in Palestine. ’ ’ VALUABLE ASSET The Colonel said Palestine was anything hut a burden to the British Empire. There was no question of the British administration “carrying the baby." Palestine was a very valuable asset. First of all as a base for protection of the Suez Canal, on account of the valuable deposits of potash, and as soon as tlie Iraq-Haifa, pipe line was completed, it would he the nearest place to Great Britain at which petrol and oil could he* obtained. Palestine was also a very valuable air base. Palestine had never been a charge on the Fixchequer. As far as tlie garrison was concerned, tlie Government of Palestine paid Great Britain tlie difference in cost between maintaining troops in Palestine and in Aldershot or any English base. v FOR C; Mile speaker dealt with the question of the effect of the influx of Jews into* Palestine on the Aral) population. Although the Jews were there before* the Arabs they desired to co-operate with them. In the last 10 years 100,000 Jews had gone into Palestine, which was tlie size of Wales. The influx, lie declared, hod not. to any material extent, displaced the Arab population. A great deal of Jewish money had been spent there in the last 12 years. As a matter of fact, not only were the Arabs, whose land Was seized given liberal compenation hut had received greater compensation than the law re.quir ed. Moreover they were satisfied there was ample accommodation for all the displaced Arabs on the Crown Lands. BENEFIT TO COUNTRY He wanted them to* realise that that influx had enormously beuefited the country and the Arab population. There was no unemployment and the budget showed a substantial surplusThe Arab population had grown to 34 per cent, of the total during the last 12 years, and the most material growth was where Jews had settled in the biggest numbers. As far as production was concerned, Colonel Goldsmid gave the export of.Jaffa, oranges as an example.'* Five years ago, he said, tlie exported numbered a million cases. This season four million cases had been exported. Within five years it should be ten million and within ten years urolvably twenty million. The Arabs had taken a very keen interest in orange growing when they saw hew successful it was and now roughly speaking, 40 I>er cent, of the t.fiade was fn the hands of the Aral) growers. He was chairman of the bank which lent money to Co-operative Societies in Palestine. The Jews were great Co-operators witli their ouanges and almonds and grape fruit during that 12 years they had not lost more than \ ner cent of the total advanced — so that, tlie Jews had benefited, the Arabs had also benefited, and the hank had its capital and reserves intact. They were thus able to look at Palestine from a business angle and not from a philanthropic one.

AIMS AND OBJECTS He .admitted that tlie Jew maintained a higher standard of life than the Arab, but one of their aims was to raise the standard of the latter race. When they raised the standard they increased tlieir requirements. “I am a Jew and very proud of it. I know that for many centuries my race has suffered injustice at the hands of a great many nations. They are suffering injustice to this day. We want Palestine as a home for Jews such as those in Germany who have nowhere to turn. We, who have suffered injustices, are the last people in the world to inflict injustice upon others and our desire is to give a chance to cooperate with .the* Arabs. We want Palestine to remain, under British administration, hut wo want it to remain as a home for the Jews of the World.”