PALESTINE PROBLEM

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 903, 26 October 1933, Page 1

PALESTINE PROBLEM

Economic Reason for Arab Attack on Jews. LONDON, October 18. The idea that racial antagonism is responsible for the sudden enmity towards the Jews in Jerusalem, especially' on the part of the Arabs, is not tenable. The reasons are purely economic. Public opinion in Jerusalem w r armly supported the general feeling that Jew’s should be repatriated to Palestine, but reports to the British Government, which have not been published, showed the futility of this scheme in existing circumstances. Mr Lewis French, late Director of Development, author of the reports, found that the Arab executive would ha\-e nothing to do with the development plan, and local Jews avoided cooperation with him. There are large numbers of Arabs who are landless. All the land in Palestine suitable for settlement is already in possession of Arabs whose ownership, possibly, is disputable in many instances; but long occupation renders expulsion extremely difficult. Therefore, no land is immediately' available for Jews from Germany. Even if there were, there is no assurance of markets to absorb their produce, for Egypt and other contiguous countries have fixed high tariffs which prohibit them.