“day” Expresses Keen Disappointment in Transjordan Developments

In a trenchantly worded editorial in the “Day” of yesterday expression is given to the keen disappointment felt over the announcement that the widely welcomed opening of Transjordan to Jewish settlement has been brought to nought by the cancellation of the lease of the Emir Abdullah’s private domain. Comment is also offered on the report that the Emir had been influenced in his decision by pressure that had been brought to bear on him by the Palestine Government.

“The Emir Abdullah,” says the editorial in the “Day,” “has obeyed. Under pressure of the Arab nationalists and of the British administration he has withdrawn his offer to the Jews and cancelled the contract he had concluded with a Jewish company.

“Politically the question is clear. England does not desire a strengthening of Jewish influence in Palestine. It is the old subterfuge that led to the separation of Transjordan—geographically and historically an integral part of Palestine—from the rest of Palestine and its conversion into a sort of autonomous Emirate. It is a fallacious and unhealthy policy of ‘divide and rule’ which might have had some value in olden times but is senseless and worthless nowadays, when politics and economics are identical.

“At a time when all the world is seeking to escape from the depression . . . England shuts up a country, dooms it to poverty and distress, cuts off Transjordan from contact with the rest of the world merely because the Mufti of Jerusalem is dissatisfied, or because a few short-sighted anti-Semitic officials in Jerusalem or at the Colonial Office wish to hit back at the Jews. It is the policy of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face….

“England must recognize that the sense of the Mandate which she has received is: assistance for the upbuilding and helping with all possible means in the revival of the mandated territory. This means: a positive policy and not merely political intrigues. . . .

“The question of the colonization of Palestine and the extension of immigration has become pressing. It must be solved with open eyes. And if Transjordan can help all parties, the opportunity must be used.”