Arab determination not to compromise with Great Britain or the Jews and an implied threat of an Arab declaration of independence were voiced today before the Royal Commission of Inquiry by Auni Bey Abdul Hadi, militant Arab nationalist leader.
Warning that "Palestine isn’t British," the leader, who spent weeks in a Government concentration camp during the recent Arab disorders, declared:
"Great Britain cannot assign any part of Palestine except by force. The Balfour Declaration (which committed Great Britain to establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine) is based on force. Unless justice is done the Arabs, they will govern themselves for themselves."
Reiterating demands for stoppage of Jewish immigration, termination of the League mandate and institution of a Nationalist Arab Government, Abdul Hadi declared his people would never accept a compromise. He also ruled out cantonization proposals, roundtable discussions with Zionist leaders and even fixing of the Jewish population at its present figure (estimated at 410,000 against approximately 850,000 Arabs).
Abdul Hadi placed before the six commissioners charges that the Jews monopolized the country’s natural resources and that the Arabs thus were prevented from obtaining concessions. He cited concessions in the Dead Sea.
Reference was again made during his testimony to the Arab situation under Turkish rule, which yesterday the Grand Mufti, Haj Amin el Husseini, had painted as more desirable than under the British mandate.
Dispersal of the Jews and their persecution throughout the world, Abdul Hadi declared, "should not bring destruction to the Arabs, who had lived under Turkey as their own masters with high ambitions."
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.
