PLANS REJECTED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19890, 18 March 1939, Page 6

PLANS REJECTED

ARABS AND JEWS FUTURE OF PALESTINE LONDON PARLEYS END VALUABLE CONTACTS BRITISH STEPS AWAITED (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 1 p.m. RUGBY, March 17. The Palestine conferences ended tonight without reaching agreement. The final meeting was With the Arabs, who found the British proposals unacceptable. The Jewish delegation had already declined to .accept the proposals. Interest now centres on the pronouncement next week by Britain of die policy for an imposed l settlement. It is generally agreed, however, that the discussions must have contributed to some degree to an understanding, and they certainly have been the means of establishing valuable personal contacts. In the meantime the mandatory’s duty of restoring order is inescapable and in Palestine itself military operations continue, but a great change has some over the scene since last autumn, vvhen, with large gangs of armed terrorists disturbing the peace of the country, it was decided to increase the garrison to two divisions. As a result of systematic drives most of the important gang leaders have fled f o Syria, while gangs have either been dispersed or split up into small parties which have concealed their arms. Troops searching for hidden arms and rounding up suspects have been encountering less and less active opposition, and the tactics of the terrorists are now confined to acts of individual terrorism. Serious dissensions have broken out among the rebels themselves and captured documents show ever-growing dissatisfaction with the financial adninistration, for which the rebel headquarters at Syria are responsible. The Arabs have issued a statement that the Arab demands solely expressed the minimum consistent with justice and national aspirations. •‘Throughout the conference we have been conciliatory and expressed willingness for the safe-guarding of the vital interests of the Empire and readiness to recognise the Jews as a privileged community and give them citizenship rights and treat them as a permanent privileged minority with rights guaranteed by Britain,” continues the statement. "Our essential claim is that the Arabs should enjoy majority rights. We have gone far to meet the British and Jewish interests. To go further meant abandoning all rights in favour of foreigners who ultimately would become dominant in the community.”