A clash of views on the question of illegal immigration into Palestine featured today’s session of the British Royal Commission’s investigation of Arab disorders.
Moshe Shertok, head of the political department of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, was the chief witness, the second to present the Jewish case before the commission.
Mr. Shertok had complained that the Government’s policy was responsible for illegal immigration into the Holy Land. He had pointed out that the illegally-entered immigrants were self-supporting, thus indicating that the Government’s immigration policy clashed with economic laws.
Lord Peel, chairman of the commission, interrupted to ask sternly:
“Are you, a representative of a highly qualified and responsible agency, entitled by the Mandate to advise and cooperate with the Palestine Government, justifying illegal immigration?”
Mr. Shertok replied:
“We warned everyone not to come illegally, but no one asked our permission.”
Lord Peel, pressing the point, asked why the Agency had not assisted the Government in exposing the illegal immigrants. Mr. Shertok replied that to expose them to deportation would have meant to ruin their lives.
“This is not the question,” Lord Peel insisted, “a responsible body such as the Agency should cooperate in this regard with the Government.”
To a suggestion by Mr. Shertok that Lord Peel place himself in the Agency’s position, Lord Peel asked him not to indulge in comparisons. The commission’s chairman then demanded of Mr. Shertok a straight reply on whether the Agency associated itself with an illegal policy and whether the Agency empowered him to do so. Mr. Shertok replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Shertok earlier in his testimony declared that immigration was the greatest factor in the upbuilding of Palestine. He defended the use of Jewish labor in the upbuilding work and denied that it is displacing Arabs.
Meanwhile, new Arab violence was reported today from Haifa, Tulkarem and Ramallah. Arabs at Haifa this morning shot and seriously wounded a 60-year-old Polish Jew, Ber Bernhard. Bandits last night held up a motorcade of ten cars near Tulkarem, robbed Arab and Jewish occupants and fled before troops arrived.
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.
