Excitement in Palestine

Consternation and excitement among the Jews of Palestine are spreading like wildfire as the full import of the government’s statement of policy and the report of Sir John Simpson on land settlement, immigration and development begins to be understood. Reports from all parts of the country are pouring into Zionist headquarters and the offices of the Jewish Agency describing the wide-spread indignation that has been aroused and indicating a spontaneous desire for a protest demonstration.

JOINT ACTION OF EXECUTIVES

The Executives of the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Council have called a joint meeting to convene tonight in Jerusalem while the entire membership of the Jewish National Council has been summoned to consider what action should be taken. It is expected that the resident members of the Zionist Actions Committee and of the Administrative Committee of the Jewish Agency will also be called into emergency session together with the local directors of the Jewish National Fund in view of Simpson’s strictures on the Fund’s methods of land purchase.

A special edition of the Palestine Daily Bulletin, the only English daily in the country, and the regular editions of the Hebrew press using the cable service of Reuters and the Palestine Telegraphic Agency spread the summaries of the Simpson report and the government statement on which it is based. Although there is good reason for believing that the Palestine government was in possession of the British statement of policy, the Executive of the Jewish Agency learned the contents of the report and the statement from advance proofs furnished it this morning by the Palestine Daily Bulletin.

KISCH TO SEE CHANCELLOR

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency understands that Col. Frederick Kisch, chairman of the Palestine Executive of the Jewish Agency, will see High Commissioner Chancellor at noon today, probably to express his dissatisfaction in words similar to those used last night by Dr. Chaim Weizmann in London and also to protest against the fact that the full text of the report and statement, the import of which is still unknown, was not shown to the Executive.

The postponement of the session of the political commission of the World Zionist Organization until November 3 will give the Palestine members an opportunity to get to London for the meeting. In the meantime Pinchas Rutenberg, chairman of the Jewish National Council, and other Council leaders, have been in constant consultation with the Jewish Agency.

ARABS UNSATISFIED

Meanwhile it is learned that the Arabs, too, are not satisfied with the government’s statement or the Simpson report. M. Moghanem, an official of the Arab Executive and one of the members of the Arab delegation to London, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that while the Arab Executive had read the government’s statement as published in the Palestine Daily Bulletin no action would be taken until the full text of the statement was available. While the Simpson report has been officially communicated to the Arab Executive, Moghanem said that at first blush the government’s statement was a deep disappointment to the Arabs since the Mandate and the Balfour Declaration remain and the constitutional changes proposed are utterly unsatisfactory.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learns from another reliable Arab source that the Arab leaders had previously understood that the Simpson report recommended a complete stoppage of immigration for a decade and also the immediate prohibition of all land sales. The alleged Arab disappointment, accordingly, is probably due to the incomplete fulfillment of the above predictions.