Colonial Office Rejects Arab Demand for Immigration Stoppage

The demand by Arabs that Jewish immigration to Palestine be completely stopped has been categorically rejected by the British Colonial Office, Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, High Commissioner for Palestine, revealed today.

The rejection is contained in a reply by the Colonial Secretary to a memorandum submitted by Arab delegations to the High Commissioner on November 26 last. Acceding to a demand made recently by the Arab leaders following a meeting at which they attempted unsuccessfully to formulate an unanimous decision on the proposed legislative council, the High Commissioner today gave the Colonial Secretary’s reply to the Arab leaders.

Declaring that there can be no question of total stoppage of Jewish immigration, the Colonial Secretary wrote that the Government does not contemplate a departure from the guiding principle for that immigration which is the economic absorptive capacity of the country.

The reply reveals that the Government will establish a statistical bureau to conduct a survey of the country’s economic conditions in order to determine its absorptive capacity.

In answer to the Arab memorandum’s demand for a democratic government, the Colonial Secretary, J.H. Thomas, stated that this had been met with the already outlined proposal for a legislative council.

Replying to the memorandum’s demand that land sale by Arabs be curbed, Mr. Thomas wrote that he approved in principle enactment of a law which would prohibit sale of lands unless the seller retained a minimum area sufficient for subsistence. (That the Palestine Government is preparing such a law was reported by the J.T.A. on Jan. 27). The Beersheba section, in which water is scarce and which hasn’t yet been colonized by Jews, would be exempted from this law, under which the High Commissioner would retain the power to approve the sale of subsistence areas. Subsistence areas would be defined according to the conditions of cultivation and irrigation, varying in each district from time to time.

Discussing the projected law, Sir Arthur told the Arab leaders such measures were necessary and would apply equally to landlords and tenants. While at the present time there were no difficulties for Arab sellers of land finding employment, the High Commissioner pointed out that this condition was subject to change, adding that an increasing population will present increasing employment problems. This, he explained, necessitates precautions prohibiting unlimited disposition of their property by small landowners.

Sir Arthur concluded with an appeal to the Arab leaders for their advice and assistance in carrying out this proposal, pointing out that the utmost care was necessary in framing the complete program which he said would require considerable time.

A copy of the Colonial Secretary’s document in Hebrew has also been forwarded to the Jewish Agency for Palestine. The Arab delegation of leaders which received the reply today included Jamal Husseini, Ragheb Bey Nashashibi, former Mayor of Jerusalem, Yacoub Hussein, head of the Arab Youth Organization, and others.