Knowledge of the Hebrew language is necessary as a qualification for securing promotion in the Palestine Police Force, like Arabic, Mr. Spicer, the Commandant of the Palestine Police Force, declared to the J.T.A. here to-day. Omission of the fact from the order which has just been issued on the subject was due to a mistake, he said, which will be rectified.
The question of the status of the Hebrew language in Palestine was raised in the House of Commons this year, by Mr. Mills, a Labour member, who asked Dr. Drummond Shiels, the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, whether he could state the number of British officials in Palestine who had passed examinations in Arabic or Hebrew, or both, and if he was aware that the governmental communications were written in Arabic when replying to that race, and in English when replying to Hebrew communities, and would he cause an enquiry to be made into this distinction. Dr. Shiels replied that he was not in a position to give the figures asked for by Mr. Hills, and he went on to say that the Colonial Secretary (then Lord Passfield) was not aware of any general rule or practice as described with regard to the conduct of official correspondence in Palestine, but he would make enquiry in the matter.
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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.
