Arab Paper Pleased As Jewish Press Expresses Disappointment at Report

Typical of the reaction of the Palestine press to the Inquiry Commission’s report, is an editorial in the Arab newspaper “Felestin” hailing the report as a victory for the Arabs, and an editorial in the Hebrew daily “Davar” which terms the report a mixture of distorted or invented facts with the perverted ideas of the Grand Mufti and the Arab Executive.

If the government is not guilty of the riots, then it is the Commission’s opinion that the enlargement of the Jewish Agency is among the causes of the riots, exclaims the “Davar.” “It only repeats the words of the Arab counsel and voices the Arab disappointment of their political aspirations but the British Government in the White Paper of 1922 expressly declared that Palestine had been excluded from the MacMahon promises,” declares the “Davar.”

The “Davar” also says the Commission allegation that the Arabs failed to obtain any measure of self-government is wrong, “because the Moslem Supreme Counsel administers religious matters and properties, and besides there is the Palestine Education Board comprising the representatives of the various communities and the chambers of commerce, cooperating with the trade department, as well as the elected municipalities.”

The “Davar” takes issue also with the Commission’s assertion that the Arabs have no direct access to the British government. At the point the Hebrew paper says that “the Arab Executive and the Arab Supreme Counsel are in constant contact with the Palestine Government and the League of Nations, just as the Vaad Leumi and the Jewish Agency.”

Hailing the Commission’s report as a victory for the Arabs, the “Felestin” declares that “what the Commission says was said before by the Arab Counsel.” The Arab newspaper is especially glad at the Commission’s suggestion that “the Arabs should control immigration.” The “Felestin” insists that all immigration be stopped until a national government is established.

The report is a great blow from which the Jews will not soon recover, declares the Hebrew daily “Ha-Aretz.” “The Commission did not conceive of our suffering nation, nor did it appreciate the Jewish work of upbuilding, but was influenced by Arab propaganda by Luke, and his associates. It ignored the fact that the Zionists at their Congresses had repeatedly declared their desire for peace with the Arabs and ignored too the fact that immigration was always in conformity with the absorptive capacity of the country.”

Referring also to the fact that the Commission had exceeded its terms of reference in discussing the inherent difficulties in the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate, the “Ha-Aretz” points out that “the Commission’s attack on the Jewish Agency ignores the fact that the establishment of the Agency is our right and duty, according to the Mandate. We must insist that a Royal investigation commission be sent, one whose basis will be the upbuilding of the Jewish National Home. We must insist that England fullfill its obligations.”