“near East and India” Proposes Conference on Transjordan Settlement

A suggestion for a conference between representatives of the Emir Abdullah, the Arab politicians of Palestine and the Jewish Agency, under the chairmanship of a representative of the Palestine Government, for the purpose of discussing the question of Jewish colonization in Transjordan, is suggested in an editorial published in the “Near East and India” magazine in London, which is regarded as being in close contact with the Colonial Office. At such a meeting, the editorial suggests, “mere denunciation of the plan for Jewish colonization would not carry weight, and the different parties would have to produce arguments in support of their respective points of view.

“The dire straits to which the population of Transjordan has been reduced as a result of the poor crops and general economic depression, have subjected the Emir to at least as much pressure from his own people, to lease the land to the Jews, as the amount of pressure brought from Arabs in Palestine against this plan.” The attitude of the Palestine Arabs, the editorial points out, will certainly not place food in the mouths of their starving compatriots in Transjordan, as it is not accompanied by any readiness on the part of the Palestine Arabs to lease the land themselves, or even to advance money on it. The embargo is laid solely for political reasons, and it remains to be seen how long it can be maintained, or how long the people of Transjordan will put up with it, the editorial states.