The question of granting Palestinian citizenship to many Arabs who had quit the country after the war to go to the United States was raised in the House of Commons by Howard Bury. In asking that similar treatment be given to the Arabs as that accorded to Jews who desire to return to their country, Bury pointed out that many requests by Arabs to return to Palestine had been refused.
Drummond Shiels, under-secretary for the Colonies, replying to Bury, declared that many applications for Palestinian citizenship had been accepted from Turkish nationals living abroad who were Palestine natives. He explained that when an application for naturalization was refused the applicant could be naturalized by residing in Palestine for two years. Visas are freely granted to natives of Palestine desiring to return if they can prove that they were born in Palestine, Shiels said. They can also return if they possess Turkish citizenship and this regulation is applied without distinction as to race.
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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.
