PALESTINE LANDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20186, 2 March 1940, Page 10

PALESTINE LANDS

SALE RESTRICTIONS REGULATION CONDITIONS SUBJECT TO REVIEW ENSURING ARAB RIGHTS (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 9 a.m. RUGBY, Feb. 29. The following points are made in explanation of the section in the White Paper relating to the new Palestine land regulations announced, by the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, in the House of Commons. First, the restrictions will not prevent further development of the Jewish national home. Land purchases will not be stopped. They can be continued without (restriction on a considerable scale in many areas, including the bulk of the maritime plain. Secondly, the boundaries between the free, restricted and prohibited areas are not to be regarded as fixed for all time, but are subject to review and modification by the High Commissioner if he is satisfied that the rights and position of the Arab population are duly preserved. Thirdly, that whereas under Article 6 of the mandate the Administration of Palestine is charged with the facilitation of Jewish immigration and encouragement under suitable conditions of closer settlement by Jews on the land, it is also required to ensure that the rights and the position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced. Fourthly, the British Government has been advised that the rights and the position of the Arab population on the land will be prejudiced unless land sales are prohibited in some areas and regulated in others. Fifthly, apart from the obligations of the British Government under the mandate, and from a purely practical viewpoint, if land sales remain unrestricted there is likely to arise a “landless Arab” problem of such dimensions that it will be extremely difficult to find any solution of it.