Interest was aroused here today by a proposal, made by Dr. Edwyn Robert Bevan of New College, Oxford, to settle the Palestine problem by transferring the Palestine Arabs to Iraq, largely at Jewish expense.
In a letter to the London Times, Dr. Bevan, a noted Hellenistic scholar who has held important Government posts, advances the thesis that Iraq, since it is greatly underpopulated and therefore unable properly to develop its resources, would offer the Palestine Arabs larger and richer holdings than they now possess in the Holy Land.
Dr. Bevan voices the opinion that a large part of the 800,000 Arabs in Palestine could be induced to migrate to Iraq. He declares there is no question of using pressure to force removal of the Arabs, emphasizing the move must be voluntary.
Dr. Bevan points out it would be impossible for the Royal Commission, which is scheduled to investigate the disorders as soon as peace has been restored, to suggest such a solution of the Palestine problem as removal of natives outside of the Empire, adding that such an offer must come from Iraq.
The project would require large sums of money to execute, Dr. Bevan declares, adding that “it would be reasonable to expect the Jewish community to find a good part” of such sums.
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.
