Arabs Rejoice, Jews Sad at Results of Parliamentary Debate

Arab and Jewish leaders here are divided in their attitude toward the results of yesterday’s debate on Palestine in the British Parliament.

The Arab Executive, now in session, is considering a motion to cable a message of thanks to the British government for not retreating from the White Paper on Palestine, which was the subject of Monday’s Parliamentary debate. A statement by the Arab Executive, signed by its leaders, Mussa Kazim Pasha, Faraj, Auni Bey and Moghanem, is expected to be issued on Wednesday for submission to the Palestine government. The statement will formally reiterate the Arab demands for a constitution, but will accept the policy of the White Paper.

A contrary attitude is assumed by the Jewish National Council of Palestine. At a special meeting tonight the Council debated a resolution for publication on Wednesday, denouncing the report of Sir John Simpson, upon which the White Paper policy was based, as “dishonest” and “resulting, like the report of the Shaw Inquiry Commission, from a conspiracy against the Jewish people. The government’s endorsement of these treacherous documents is a violation of the solemn obligations made to the Jews,” the resolution states. The Council also adopted a resolution demanding that no negotiations be undertaken with the government on the basis of the White Paper.

A leading Arab who desires anonymity declared here today to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the declaration made by the British government during the debate in the House of Commons “was a triumph for the middle-course of British statesmanship, which appreciates Jewish influence in the West and Arab influence in the East, as against Lord Passfield’s pro-Arab group and Lloyd George’s pro-Zionist group. The Arabs welcome the government’s declaration, because the White Paper was not cancelled.”