PALESTINE LAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23595, 2 March 1940, Page 12

PALESTINE LAND

RESTRICTION OF SALES REASONS EXPLAINED RIGHTS OF THE ARABS By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received March 1, 7.30 p.m.) British Wireless LONDON, Feb. 26 The following points are made in explanation of the section of a White Paper relating to the new land regulations for Palestine announced by the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Malcolm Mac Donald, in the House of Commons :

(1) The restrictions will not prevent the 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 most of tht maritime plain. (2) 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 will be duly preserved.

(3) Whereas under Article 6 01. the mandate the Administration of Palestine is charged with the facilitation of Jewish immigration and the encouragement, under suitable conditions, of closer settlement by Jews on the land, it. is also required to ensure that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced. (-1) The British Government has been advised that the rights and position of the Arab population on the land will be prejudiced unless land sales are prohibited in some areas and regulated in others. (5) Apart from the obligation of the British Government under the mandate, and from a purely practical point of view, 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.

AGAINST BRITAIN JEWS DEMONSTRATE JERUSALEM, Feb. 29 Except for the stoning of two policemen, Jewish demonstrations against the new British regulations passed off peaceably. Police and soldiers controlled large crowds in the streets of Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Haifa. The demonstrators distributed blackbordered pamphlets.