77 Killed, 247 Wounded in Palestine in 2 Weeks; Macdonald Denies Policy Change

Seventy-seven persons have been killed and 247 have been wounded in Palestine in the fortnight ending yesterday, Colonial Secretary Malcolm Mac-Donald revealed today in the House of Commons. The disorders, he said, include 32 cases of bomb throwing, 52 cases of sniping, 70 armed robberies, one kidnaping, two outbreaks of arson in Ha fa and a number of acts of sabotage. Most of the bombs were manufactured in Palestine, he declared, and no information was available on the number imported from Germany.

Replying to Geoffrey Mander, Liberal, Mr. MacDonald denied that Lord Winterton’s statement to the Evian refugee-aid conference, that Jewish immigration in Palestine was restricted to maintain the existing balance of population, constituted a change in the British Government’s policy. He asserted that it was fully in accord with the March 10 declaration of policy.

Pressed by Mr. Mander to state whether the League of Nations Mandates Commission had approved abandonment of the absorptive capacity principle of immigration to maintain the population balance, the Colonial Secretary declared that the commission had approved an interim policy, and added that the interim period would end “as soon as the government are able to reach a final decision on policy in Palestine.” Lieut.-commander Reginald T. Fletcher, Laborite, urged Mr. MacDonald to ask the Palestine Partition Commission to expedite its report.

Arming of Palestine Jews for self protection was urged yesterday by Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson, Conservative M.P., in an address at the Dalston Synagogue. Describing Palestine as the “obvious answer” to persecution of Jews, he voiced British determination to “keep order,” adding that the “day is coming when we are going to cross the Jordan and plant Jews there.”