The Northern Advocate Daily “Northland First." SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1938. BRITAIN AND PALESTINE

Northern Advocate, 8 January 1938, Page 6

The Northern Advocate Daily “Northland First." SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1938. BRITAIN AND PALESTINE

Registered for transmlsstop through the post as a Newspaper.

Following’ the report last week that I he British Cabinet was seriously divided on flu* Palestine question, and that several members were urging the Prime Minister to abandon his partition scheme, comes the announcement, in a White Paper, that the Government is appointing another commission—a technical one this time—to examine and report on the partition scheme. It is emphasised that the new body is impartial and non-political. Apparently the new move by the British Government is in the direction of finding a way of escape from the dilemma in which it has placed itself. While declaring that it is not necessarily bound to accept Hu* partition scheme which has caused so much trouble in recent months —and which satisfied neither Jews nor Arabs—the Government has certainly placed itself in the posi-

tion of having to accept the findings of a body of men whom it chose with great care, and who made an exhaustive study of the situation on the spot, unless it can find a good excuse for not doing so. Pros Of Partition. To the Arabs, the main advantages of the partition scheme, as recently summarised by the Vice-Chairman of the Palestine Royal Commission, in an address to the Royal. Empire Society, are: f. They obtain their national independence and. can co-operate on an equal footing with the Arabs of the neighbouring countries in the cause of Arab unity and progress. 2. They are finally delivered from the fear of being “swamped” by the Jews, and from the possibility of ultimate subjection to Jewish rule.

3'. In particular, the final limitation of the Jewish National Homo within a fixed frontier and the enactment of a new Mandate for the protection of the Holy Places removes all anxiety lest, the Holy Places should ever come under Jewish control. The advantages of partition to the Jews are; 1. That it secures the establishment of the Jewish National Home and relieves it from the possibility of its being subjected in the future to Arab rule. 2. It enables the Jews in the fullest sense to call their National Home their own. for it converts it into a Jewish State. Its citizens will bo able to admit as many Jews into it. as they themselves believe can. ho absorbed. They will attain the primary objective of Zionism—a Jewish nation planted in Palestine, giving its nationals the same status in the world as other nations give theirs. They will cease at last to live a “minority life.” Alternatives To Mandate, The alternatives of the present

mandatory arrangement, declared by tbe Palestine Commission to be unworkable, are to carry out the partition plan or to leave the Jews, increased by 300.000 since the Mandate, to' their fate. The second alternative is unthinkable; the difficulties of the first have been greatly exaggerated. Arab propagandists have succeeded in creating tbe impression that Palestine Arabs are united in their opposition to partit ion and that they can count on the support of a united Moslem world. The truth is very different. The Arab High Committee has always been a minority organisation and its programme of terror lias been directed, not only against the Jews, but also against those Arabs who have spoken openly in favour of conciliation. Again, there is no “Arab'world,” if the phase is intended to imply a sense of racial unity among Arab peoples; and it is significant that the leading Arab leader of today, Ibn Sand, has given the Arab High Committee no encouragement, has. in fact, urged upon it the advisability of a more conciliatory policy. However, the longer it is •found necessary to use repressive measures against the Arabs, tin stronger the extremists will grow, especially with the Italian Government stirring up feeling against Great Britain throughout the Middle East. Arab unity is a myth now; but it may not be a myth for very long.

Neither Jew nor Arab was satisfied with the proposal to form two separate States; neither Jew nor Arab is satisfied with tilings as they are. The major operation of partition is not a perfect solutipn of the problem, but is the best available and is practicable, whereas another year of wobbling policies and possibly no solution will be practicable.