Official quarters declared tonight the British Government will not seek League of Nations approval for its Palestine policy, maintaining that only the section on termination of the mandate comes within the purview of the League, other measures not involving the mandate.
The Government intends that the immigration and land-transfer measures enter into effect immediately after ratification of the policy by Parliament and the constitutional section will be deferred until peace and order are restored. It is admitted in official circles that there is little hope of acceptance by either Arabs or Jews and a long period of trouble may be ahead.
The League Council is expected next week to ask its Mandates Commission to report on the White Paper at its June session.
Official quarters emphasized that peace and order must precede commencement of the transition period and stress that even after the decade envisioned the Government reserves the right to postpone Palestine’s independence if it is not satisfied with the conditions. Asserting the Government’s belief that the policy is absolutely just and conforms to its obligations to Jews and Arabs, these quarters indicated clearly that the Government’s motive in issuing the policy was to remove a permanent source of friction in the Near East.
The official view is that in the future, the Jewish national home will be safeguarded by clauses in the proposed Anglo-Palestine treaty and it is held that even if the Jews are a minority they will be considered as an “extraordinary” minority.
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.
