Arab-jewish Round Table Conference Proposals” Central Committee of Revisionist World Union Claims to

It has come to the knowledge of the Executive Committee that following the very difficult situation in which the Zionist movement has been placed as a result of the Passfield white Paper, the stoppage of immigration, and the virtual restriction of land purchase by Jews, attempts are being made to induce the Jewish representatives to take part in an Arab-Jewish Round Table Conference in circumstances which spell inevitable defeat at the outset, Mr. Meer Grossman said at a press conference held this afternoon at the Revisionist Central Office here. Arab circles, apparently aware of the British Government’s attitude to such proposals, he went on, regard the time as sufficiently favourable to put forward their own terms. It is sufficient at this stage to indicate the lines which the Arab proposals follow in order to realise that we are faced with a conspiracy to complete the work of wrecking the Jewish National Home. The Arabs request that an Arab-Jewish Conference should be called in order to discuss proposals worked out by them with the assistance of Indian Moslem leaders in close touch with the British Government and the Palestine Administration. The following proposals have been submitted to the British Government on the understanding that they are to serve as a basis of negotiation with the Jews, and that the Government is to act as convener:

Legislative Assembly representing Western and Eastern (Transjordan) Palestine to be elected as soon as possible, the first task of which is to be the conclusion of a treaty with the British Government, similar to that of Iraq, as a preliminary to the surrender of the Mandate. That Palestine should be divided up into Arab and Jewish regions. The areas in which the Jews at present form a majority of the population should be declared Jewish and should be granted provincial autonomy under the supreme control of the National Arab Government to be set up. That in all questions affecting the respective numbers of the Jewish and Arab populations, the census of 1931 should serve as a basis. Jerusalem is to be regarded as a case for special treatment and is not to be included in the Jewish region, though its population is overwhelmingly Jewish, and forms almost a third of the enire Jewish population of Palestine. The Jewish and Arab regions are to be strictly delimited and a period is to be fixed in which emigration of minorities from one region into another is to be permitted. Arabic is to be the only official language in the Arab region, but in the Jewish region Arabic is to enjoy the same rights as Hebrew. Immigration from outside Palestine into the Jewish region is to be under the control of the Legislative Assembly.

THERE CAN BE NO AGREEMENT TO TERMS WHICH DO NOT EXPRESSLY RECOGNISE JEWISH RIGHTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH TERMS OF MANDATE MR. GROSSMAN DECLARES

Apart from this document, Mr. Grossman said, developments during the past week connect up naturally with what has gone before and with what is suggested in the above-quoted proposals. Already preparations have been concluded for a Conference to be held in Amman (Transjordan) for the purpose of demanding the abolition of the Mandate. In this case, as in that of the recent Moslem Conference, no such gathering can be held except with the connivance of the British officials who are in control of the whole region. We are also aware that the Egyptian prime Minister is acting as a go-between, and that the ex-Khedive’s movements are not unconnected with these events. Attention should be drawn to the High Commissioner’s visit to the Egyptian Prime Minister, and the Egyptian Prime Minister’s forthcoming return visit to Palestine.

There is now reason to believe that the British Government will take the initiative in calling an Arab-Jewish Round Table Conference for the apparent purpose of resolving Arab-Jewish differences. Although the basis of the proposed negotiations which we have detailed will not be announced, it is evident that the British Government, having suspended Jewish immigration and land purchase during the past few months, having in its possession the so-called “expert report” by Mr. French, having behind it the organised Moslem opinion as expressed through the Moslem Conference, may exert a tremendous pressure on the Zionist movement. The Jews will be confronted with a situation in which Jewish development in Palestine has practically ceased. They may be presented with the alternative of a continuance of the present regime, which must mean the death of Zionism, or the acceptance of the Arab terms which must be interpreted as the establishment of a new Ghetto where there can be no more Jewish land settlement or immigration.

By this manoeuvre, it is hoped to avoid the odium and responsibility of directly destroying the Jewish National Home. It will be pointed out that the organised Moslem hostility and the consequent Jewish insecurity, the Simpson Report, the report by Mr. French, the opposition of the Indian Moslems and the Egyptian ruling classes are factors too strong to overlook, despite the Mandatory’s avowed sympathy for the Jewish National Home. It is our duty to unmask before the whole world this deliberate plan which cannot be regarded as other than a conspiracy, under the pretext of a peace gesture, against a people which put its material and personal resources under the protection of the Mandate.

There can be no question, Mr. Grossman declared, of any Arab-Jewish Conference called in such circumstances, nor can there be any agreement to terms which do not expressly recognise the Jewish rights in accordance with the terms of the Mandate, which have the sanction of all the civilised nations of the world. We believe that this timely warning will, at this stage, rouse Jewish public opinion to a realisation of what is contemplated.

INFORMATION INCOMPLETE J.T.A. UNDERSTANDS: PROPOSALS MADE INCLUDE POINTS SAFEGUARDING FUTURE OF JEWISH NATIONAL HOME

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency understands from reliable quarters that the information secured by the Revisionist Executive is not complete and that there are many important points safeguarding the future of the Jewish National Home included in the proposals made by Arab quarters in Palestine. The J.T.A. may be in a position soon to publish the full text of the documents on which the Revisionist statement appears to be based.