A number of questions asked by Commander Kenworthy yesterday in the House of Commons served to establish the facts regarding the imprisonment in Palestine in 1920 of Vladimir Jabotinsky, leader of the Zionist Revisionists and the founder of the Jewish Legion which aided in the conquest of Palesetine. Some weeks ago, charges by Howard Bury, M.P., that Jabotinsky had been better treated than Arab “agitators” had remained uncontested and had created a false impression, which has been dispersed by the replies to Commander Kenworthy’s questions.
On February 6, the House of Commons was told that Jabotinsky had been freed from prison in 1920 after being sentenced to 15 years, and was deported on the understanding that he would not return to Palestine. The matter came up when Bury claimed that Jabotinsky’s Tel Aviv speech in December of last year had gone unpunished, while the Arab boycott agitator Mouzza Far, had been imprisoned.
Dr. Shiels pointed out that the 1920 events had occurred before the Colonial Office was connected with Palestine but he said the facts showed that Jabotinsky had appealed from the original 15-year sentence, which was subsequently reduced to one year and then he was entirely amnestied as a result of which the proceedings in the military court were quashed with the exception of finding Jabotinsky guilty of the possession of a revolver without a license. Dr. Shiels declared he was unaware that Jabotinsky had promised never to return to Palestine.
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