‘can’t Encourage New Palestine Development,’ Colonial Secretary Says

“In view of the changed financial position of Palestine and the uncertainty of policy pending the Royal Commission report I cannot encourage new schemes of development,” William G.A. Ormsby-Gore, Colonial Secretary, declared in the House of Commons yesterday.

The Colonial Secretary was replying to Geoffrey Mander, Liberal, who had asked him to consider the advisability of Government subsidies for read development in Palestine and extension of the Haifa harbor.

Mr. Ormsby-Gore’s statement was made while Commons awaited announcement later this month of the results of the Royal Commission’s investigation in Palestine and the Government’s conclusions about the recommendations.

Meanwhile, Daniel Auster, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, opposed internationalization of the Holy City, reported under consideration by the Royal Commission. He declared that “the new Jerusalem defies isolation.”

The plan to isolate Jerusalem as a religious center under the reported scheme of partitioning Palestine between Arabs and Jews is “utterly impractical” Mr. Auster declared in a letter to the Manchester Guardian.

“The Jews form a majority of the population,” he said. “The Jewish community is from Central and Western Europe, whose requirements, aspirations and standards of life do not differ from those of Tel Aviv, Haifa and the Jewish agricultural settlements.

“The now population created factories, workshops and a network of schools and synagogue. The now Jerusalem defies isolation.

“The Jewish community is one-fifth of the Jewish population of Palestine, the tearing off of which from the suggested Jewish commonwealth means not merely the severance of the sanctuary of the Jewish people, but to deprive it of a significant part.”