UNREST IN PALESTINE.

Wairarapa Age, 20 May 1936, Page 7

UNREST IN PALESTINE.

COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE. LONDON, May 18. Questioned in the House of Commons concerning the disturbances in Palestine, the Colonial Secretary, Mr. J. H. Thomas, said that the Government had been giving earnest consideration "to the situation resulting from the continuing state of unrest. The first necessity was the re-establishment of civil order, and the High Commissioner was taking all necessary steps to that end. Subject to that, the Government had decided that the suggested Arab deputation to London would no longer meet the conditions which had arisen, and that - instead it was desirable for an inquiry on the spot to be undertaken.

It had therefore been decided, after order was restored, to appoint a Royal Commission which, without bringing into the question the terms of the mandate, would investigate cases of unrest and the alleged grievances either of the Arabs or of the Jews. COFFIN SNATCHED. EPISODE IN JERUSALEM. JERUSALEM, May 18. A scene occurred at the funeral of an Austrian Catholic, a mechanic, who was found shot dead in the street, presumably having been taken by the Arabs for a Jew. Arabs snatched the coffin as it was being lowered into the grave at the Catholic Cemetery at Mount Sion, and were carrying it away when they encountered police, who rescued it and took it back to the cemetery.