LIFE IN PALESTINE

Waikato Independent, Volume XLIV, Issue 6172, 12 November 1948, Page 2

LIFE IN PALESTINE

COMMUNAL VILLAGE DESCRIBED The corrfmunal village life _of the Jews in Palestine was explained to members of the Women’s Social Progress Movement in Wellington by the Rev. E. W- Hancock, who was stationed in Palestine as a chaplain during the war. Each settler in a village received a grant of land, only so much as he could cultivate, said Mr Hancock, and all produce was shared out. Usually, in such a village, there were 160 persons on 4000 acres of land. All able bodied people, both men and women, worked. There were no wages, all income going into the common purse. “There is a committee elected by the community”, said Mr Hancock. “Each week they are allotted jobs. People are housed in homes very much like our State houses, though two families would occupy them. No children live at home. When they ard old enough the babies are taken care of in a communal place, and the par•jptoAA o* aauj qjai auu uauioM. put? liaui qqoq suuara sttft Ag -sauioq s ( U9jpu:qo ut 3Ai{ ua.ipjiqo aqq. ‘aapeg •auiiq aands jjia'qq ut luaqy aas pus o 3 uea sq.ua “No one does his own washing. There are communal washing centres. The women who have to do the washing are rather unfortunate, but then, I expect it only comes round eveify few weeks.. Nor has the wife any cooking, except of course, those detailed to do the work that week. All meals are served in a communal dining room. There is no real home life at all, and I think that is one of the disadvantages. The village had a library, dispensary and doctor, school and hospital, all built in the square with the farms radiating from it. The communal farms were excellent, but there was going to be a problem to face in Palestine in 30 or 40 years’ time, when the farms were self-sup-porting”. Mr Hancock touched on the bigger problem of Palestine and said that he felt that the Jews and Arabs Would realise in time that they must come together under a joint government