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Transjordan Gives Land to Dead Sea Company; for Commercial Use Only

January 31, 1933
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The government of Transjordan has handed over to the Palestine Potash Company, which is exploiting the mineral deposits in the Dead Sea, a stretch of land, bordering on the Dea Sea.

It is stipulated, however, that the land be used for commercial purposes and not for Jewish colonization.

The “Rundschau,” organ of the German Zionist Federation, today calls upon the Jewish Agency Executive to render a comprehensive explanation of its part in the cancelled Transjordan land lease and the part played in this connection by the Palestine government.

The explanation is in order, says the paper, particularly in view of the rumor that the whole affair was not handled carefully and that such steps as were taken were without the authority of the political department of the Jewish Agency Executive which is the sole instrumentality authorized to deal with it.

In addition, says the “Rundschau,” the attitude of reserve which the Jewish Agency Executive has maintained until now, is no longer valid and an explanation in full is in order.

The “Rundschau” holds that the cancellation of Emir Abdullah’s land lease to a Jewish company proves that the expansion of Jewish colonization to include Transjordan requires a preliminary political understanding. On the other hand the opposition of the Palestine Arabs to the Transjordan land lease proves how baseless is their argument that the reason they oppose Zionist colonization in Palestine is the fact that Palestine is over-populated.

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