PALESTINE RIOTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 107, 2 April 1930, Page 2

PALESTINE RIOTS

ATTACK UPON JEWS. (United Press Association.— -By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, March 31. The report of the commission on the Palestine disturbances of August last was presented to Parliament to-day. The commissioners came to the conclusion that from the beginning the outbreak was an attack upon the Jews by the Arabs, for which no excuse had been established. The few attacks by the Jews upon the Arabs were mostly retaliatory. . , • _ , There ,was no proof that the Grand Mufti or the Palestine Arab Executive premeditated or organised the disturbances, as had been alleged. The outbreak neither was, nor was intended to be, a revolt against British authority. The commission have no serious criticism to make of the action taken by the Palestine Government either immediately before or after the outbreak. They consider that the Government has throughout discharged to the best of its ability the difficult task of maintaining impartiality between two peoples whose leaders have displayed little tendency to compromise. The commission consider that Jewish enterprise and immigration, when not exceeding the country’s absorptive capacity, have conferred material benefits on Palestine, which the_ Arabs have shared, but with regard to immigration they-consider that the Jewish authorities have departed from' the doctrine laid down in 1922 and accepted by the Zionist organisation, and ■ that the Zionist claims have been calculated to create among the Arabs apprehensions of the loss of livelihood and -political subjection. Attention is drawn to the number of evictions of Arab cultivators upon the sale of land they occupied, without alternative land having been provided. Complaint is not made against the Jewish land companies, who in some cases paid cash compensation and acted with the Government’s knowledge, but an acute situation has been produced, and a landless ; discontented class is being created, which is a potential source of danger. It is urged that some remedy be found for this situation. ARAB RESENTMENT. The commission’s conclusion is that Palestine cannot support an increased agricultural population without radical changes in its farming methods. It is believed that the difficulties of the Palestine Government are aggravated by Arab resentment at having no measure of self-government, and having, unlike the Jews, no direct access to His Majesty’s Government.. The reduction of the garrison in Palestine and Trans-Jordan is considered to have been carried too far. The commission consider _ that the fundamental cause of the disturbances was the animosity of the Arabs toward the Jews, arising,from disappointment in connection with their political and national aspirations, and fear for their economic future.

The immediate causes were the repeated incidents in connection with the Wailing Wall, provocative newspaper articles on both sides, propaganda among the less-educated Arabs, the inadequacy of the military forces and the police, and the belief among the Arabs that the Palestine Government’s decisions could be influenced by political considerations. STATEMENT OF BRITISH POLICY. The primary recommendation of tho commission is that His Majesty’s Government should issue immediately a statement of policy and make plain its intention of carrying out that policy with all the resources at’its command. Such a statement would -be more valuable if it contained n clearly-defined interpretation by the British Government of the passages in the mandate safeguarding the rights of non-Jewish communities and laid down more explicit directions for the guidance of the Palestine Government in the policy on vital issues, such as immigration and land. These recommendations are based largely on the assumption that the proposed definition of policy will clearly state that the rights of non-Jewish communities will be fully safeguarded. It recommends that a clear statement be issued of the future policy for the control of Jewish immigration and that the administration machinery be examined with a view to preventing a repetition of the excessive immigration of the years 1925-26. Machinery should be devised for consulting nonJewish interests on immigration questions. It is proposed that a scientific inquiry be held into the improved methods of cultivation being introduced. The land policy could then be regulated in the light of the results of the inquiry. Meanwhile, measures should be taken to check the present tendency toward the eviction of peasant cultivators. The Government should consider means of providing the poorer cultivators with credit facilities. WAILING WALL CLAIMS. No formal recommendation regarding constitutional developments is made, but attention is drawn to the view already expressed in the report, that the resentment of the Arabs at their failure to obtain any measure of self-government is aggravating the difficulties. The commission recommended that a commission be. appointed to determine rights and claims in connection with the Wailing Wall; that more effective control of Press propaganda be considered, and that the British Government reaffirm that the special position assigned to the Zion Organisation does not entitle it to have a share in the Government of Palestine. The existing garrison should be maintained for the present, and an independent inquiry be made into police organisations. ’ Attached to the report is a note of reservation by Mr Snell, a member of the commission. He takes a more serious view of the responsibility of the Arab leaders for the disturbance. He criticises the action of the Palestine Government in certain respects, and does not endorse the criticisms of the Jewish authorities regarding :m----migration limits. Mr Snell recommends a more extensive land inquiry than that contemplated by his colleagues. In emphasising the necessity of cooperation between the Jews and the Arabs, he proposes that a few men of both races, of high, character, and influence, should meet and discuss the possibility of .a common effort as a first step toward racial co-operation.

ARAB DELEGATION. (British Official Wireless.) - - - RUGBY, March 31. A Palestine Arab delegation reached London to-night. It is headed by Musha Kazim Pasha, and includes also the Grand Mufti and Mayor of Jerusalem. The delegation will see Lord • Passfield, : Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, early in the coming week.