Britain Reported Preparing New Immigration Plan for Palestine Parleys

Informed sources said tonight a new compromise formula may be proposed by Britain to Arabs and Jews at the Palestine parleys in January. The Arabs will be reassured, these sources said, that they can regard themselves as being at home in the Holy Land. At the same time the government will try to show that the Balfour declaration, by which Britain favored Palestine as a Jewish homeland, is in no way incompatible with this view. Jewish immigration according to this plan would be neither suspended nor prohibited but “Canalized,” or in other words established along well-defined channels.

The general plan would be to have periodic rather than continued immigration. At the same time a legislative council would be instituted on a basis of equality among all parties. In view of the delicate questions involved it is now considered likely that the conference will be a lengthy one, and that the British authorities will attempt to iron out as many differences as possible before the delegates assemble.

Quarters close to the colonial office said the conferences probably would be convoked for the third week in January. Discussions begun before Christmas between British authorities and Arab groups concerning the Arab representatives to the conference are near conclusion and only one or two names remain to be determined in their list of delegates. The list probably will be published early in January.

The delegation will be composed of six persons, one representative for each of the five Arab parties in Palestine and a non-official personage representing the ex-mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Aminel Husseini, now in exile in Syria. Palestinian Arab circles in London expect their delegation to arrive in London about Jan. 10. It had originally been expected the conference would take place during the first fortnight in January, but it will be slightly delayed to allow a complete exchange of views between London and the various participating Arab states.