Norman BENTWICH, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF PALESTINE, PROPOSED TODAY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BI-NATIONAL STATE IN THE HOLY LAND DIVIDED INTO ARAB AND JEWISH CANTONS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE PARTITIONING OF THE COUNTRY.
BENTWICH, WHO IS PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY IN JERUSALEM, SUGGESTED THAT A CENTRAL GOVERNMENT BE ESTABLISHED FOR MATTERS OF COMMON CONCERN, WHILE IMMIGRATION WOULD BE A MATTER OF CANTONAL AUTONOMY.
OUTLINING HIS PLAN IN A LETTER TO THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, PROF. BENTWICH POINTED OUT THAT THE JEWS WOULD HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF IMMIGRATION INTO THE JEWISH CANTON ACCORDING TO ITS ECONOMIC ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY, WHILE THE LARGE UNPOPULATED AREAS IN THE SOUTH WOULD BE A JEWISH CANTON AND OPEN TO THEIR ENTERPRISE AND COLONIZATION.
PALESTINE WOULD HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LINK HERSELF WITH AN ARAB CONFEDERATION, PROF. BENTWICH SAID, THUS OPENING THE DOOR TO SETTLEMENT IN AN AREA 25 TIMES AS LARGE AS PALESTINE. AN AGREEMENT ON THESE LINES WOULD BE SANCTIONED NOT ONLY BY BRITAIN BUT BY THE RULERS OF NEIGHBORING ARAB STATES, HE ADDED.
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