that helps to protect tenants, be they Arab or Jewish, against exploitation of inconsiderate eviction. But we view this announcement with grave concern, and hope that anything that is proposed in connection with the protection of tenants will be directed towards the protection of bonafide tenants and will not be such as to encourage squatting on the part of the Arabs or the creation of all sorts of artificial claims whenever Jewish development is in question.
“There has been a good deal of this, and it is the impression of many Jews that the laws with regard to land in Palestine contain too much that can be abused for the purpose of putting obstacles in the way of Jewish development.
“The Jewish Agency will, of course, oppose any laws that will tend to render more difficult the already difficult conditions under which our work of land settlement has to be conducted.
“I do not think there will be any further statement until the Bill in connection with the Loan is brought to Parliament,” Dr. Brodetsky declared. “As regards further inquiries, I think that Palestine has had more than is good for it. First we had the Shaw Report, then the Hope-Simpson Report, and now the French Reports.
TOO MUCH INVESTIGATION
“It is clear that this continual examination of our work in Palestine, sometimes done in a manner which is biased and unsympathetic to us, cannot redound to the benefit either of Jewish work in Palestine or of Palestine as a whole. Much harm was done by the Shaw Report. The Hope-Simpson Report was followed by the White Paper, the effects of which I need not describe.
“We sincerely hope that the French Reports will not be used for influencing Government policy in the future, and that the spirit introduced by the majority report of the Shaw Commission, which was based upon the view that Jewish work in Palestine must necessarily do harm to Arabs, is by now completely dissipated and our work in the country will be allowed to proceed undisturbed and indeed, we hope, with the active support of the Government.
“The position of Palestine today is a perfectly clear indication of the great benefit of our work to the whole country, and Arabs in the countries around Palestine have indicated often enough how much they envy the Palestinian Arabs the benefits that they get from Jewish colonization,” he concluded.
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