Brief by
Gareth Jones for David Lloyd George 30.4.30
THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE.
The Population In Palestine.
Census 1922. Total population 757,182
Moslems 590,890
Jews 83,794
Christians 73,024
1928
estimated population.
Total 898,000
Moslems 680,000
Jews 150,000
Christians 79,000
There is a united demand that the
Government shall restate definitely and with the least possible delay,
the policy which they intend to pursue in Pales tine.
Since the younger generation is not
clear as to why a Jewish National Home was established in Palestine, it
would be advisable to restate in an article or in a speech the
fundamental historical and moral rights of the Jews to be in Palestine
and to give an account of the events and aspirations which led up to the
Balfour Declaration.
To-day the problem is mainly ECONOMIC and centers
upon 2 questions
:-
(I) Immigration.
(II) Land purchase.
Summary of Dr. Weizmann’s and Zionist views on these
questions.
(1) Immigration.
(a) There is room for another 50,000 families if
modern scientific methods are adopted. “Where the Arabs used to grow
water-melons or graze goats, we grow oranges or work dairy farms
according to the most modern methods of cultivation.”
(b) We have not sent more people into Palestine
than it can absorb. Proof; there is no unemployment there.
(o) Transjordan is the land reserve of
Palestine.
(d) The Administration is unsatisfactory; the
level of civil servants is low. What is required is a first class High
Commissioner with a first class Chief Secretary.
(o) No case of injustice to the Arabs is quoted in the
report.
We have paid compensation to tenants even when the land
did not require it.
(f.) The Arab accusation that the Jews seize the best
land is not true. We make it the best land.
(g) There are great possibilities for close settlement,
especially on the coast.
The Commission however has vindicated
the Government. The Administration is placed in a difficult position by
the tendency of Arabs and Jews to accuse the Government of favouring the
other side, because it does not favour their own side.
It is uncontested that the Arabs have
always been well compensated. The competition between the Arabs and the
Jews is mainly the competition, not between two religions and races, but
between old—fashioned methods and science. The efficient are ousting the
inefficient as everywhere in the world. The leaders play upon religious
feeling, but at the bottom of it all is the fear that the Arabs will be
deprived of their livelihood.
Land Settlement.
The British Administration’s Land
Ordinance provides that long notice to quit must be given and that the
tenant must be fully compensated for improvements effected by him. The
report of the High Commissioner on the Administration of Palestine for
1920—25 states “The price paid for these purchases (i.e. land) is
usually some two or three times the pre-war value of the land. Large as
is the demand the quantity of land which is offered for sale is far in
excess of the possibility of purchase.”
The Commission differs profoundly from
Dr. Weizmann on the problem of land settlement. The report states:
“There is no alternative land to which persons evicted can remove.
In consequence a landless and discontented
class is being created.”
The main conclusion is that after the
Government has clearly stated its policy with regard to the rights of
non-Jewish communities and to Immigration and land-purchase, drastic
measures must be taken to increase the productiveness of Palestine.
Growth of Population.
Araba
End of Year. Jews
Settled
Popu1ation
1919 (estimate) 57,900 546,100
1920
“
67,700 552,300
1921 77,600 559,800
1922 (Census) 85,300 572,700
1923 (estimate) 91,200 584,200
1924 104,300 599,200
1925
“
138,300 611,900
1926 147,500 629,200
1927 (August) 148,100 640,400
1928 (July) 149,500 645,000
Total
Increase for
about 10 years 91,600 98,900
Number of Jewish Immigrants.
1920 8,223
1921 8,294
1922 8,685
1923 8,093
1924 12,905
1925 33,135
1926 13,244
1927 2,320
1928 2,178
Trade
and Commerce.
The
total value of Imports and exports for the whole of Palestine 1924-8
Imports Exports
1924 £5,733,00 £2,175,313
1925 7,798,895 1,628,879
1926 6,680,340 1,538,329
1927 6,588,142 2,280,810
1928 6,966,214 1,864,800
Public Services.
In the public services, the chief posts are held by
English civil servants. In the High Commissioner’s Council all are
Englishmen, of whom 3 are Christians and 1 a Jew. The following Table
shows the personnel of the
Civil service on the 1st July, 1929:
/
Christian Moslems
Senior:
Junior:Total: Senior:Jun1or:Tota1
British 221 122 343
-
- 1 1
Pales: 78
l,098 1,176 87 1,024
1,111
299 1,220
1,519 87 1,025
1,112
Jews
Senior:Junior:Total:
18 35 53
50 664 714
68 899 767
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