The center of the critical Palestine immigration issue shifted today to London as Zionist leaders awaited the return from Zurich of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
Dr. Weizmann, immediately upon his return, will confer with Colonial Secretary Ormsby-Gore in an effort to obtain clarification of the heavily obscured situation. He will also make arrangements for the important meeting here Wednesday of the Agency’s administrative committee, originally scheduled to be held in Zurich.
While Jerusalem reports take for granted the right of High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope to promise suspension of immigration after the Arabs have discontinued violence, official circles here decline to disclose whether he has been so empowered or whether the final decision still remains to be taken either by Mr. Ormsby-Gore or by the Cabinet.
It is understood from reliable unofficial sources, however, that the decision on this momentous question rests with the Cabinet which is expected to consider the Palestine situation at its meeting Wednesday.
Increasing concern is being manifested in Jewish circles in Palestine and elsewhere with respect to the intervention of foreign Arab states in internal Palestine affairs. Emphasis is placed on this development in view of the openly asserted Arab claims that this is establishing a precedent, the right of the Arab states to take a hand in Palestine matters.
I.M.SIEFF PROPOSES ARAB-JEWISH PROBE BODY
Israel M. Sieff, prominent merchant and vice-president of the English Zionist Federation, in a letter to the London Times proposes the establishment, independently of the Royal Commission, of an unofficial body comprising public-spirited Arabs and Jews to investigate certain aspects of the situation.
Mr. Sieff suggests the group be headed by some disinterested expert such as Sir Flinders Petrie of University College, noted Egyptologist. He proposes that two principal problems be examined by this body: 1) the underlying causes of the psychological frictions responsible for the periodic outbreaks in the Holy Land, and 2) the points of contact where Jews and Arabs now work harmoniously, which might be expanded to embrace a larger number of such activities.
Mr. Sieff points out that a body of this nature would not compete with the Royal Commission, appointed last month to investigate the nineteen-week-old disorders which have taken close to 300 lives and wrought inestimable economic havoc. The body would be able to probe deeper than the official group, he said, and reach into the roots of the entire problem.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
