I Believe England Will Remain True to Her Pledge and Help Jewish People to Upbuild Their Country Say

I believe England will remain true to her pledge, and help the Jewish people to upbuild their country. At the same time, England will see to it that the rights of the Arabs to which they are entitled will not be compromised in any way, Sir John Hope Simpson, the author of the Simpson Report, on which the Passfield White Paper was based, and who is now in Shanghai as head of the Chinese National Flood Relief Commission, said in an interview here with Mr. N. E. B. Ezra, the editor of “Israel’s Messenger”.

There is no truth whatsover in the report that England will ultimately repudiate the Balfour Declaration and leave Palestine to its fate, Sir John declared.

I have no desire to discuss the merit or demerit of the White Paper, he went on. It was not submitted to me for approval, and I had nothing whatever to do with its preparation. There are points in the white Paper which might, in my opinion, have been more in consonance with the report submitted by me.

I stand by my report, he continued, and reiterate my views no matter how harshly they are criticised. I still believe that it was a mistake to oust the Arab labourers from being employed in Jewish colonies, although I fully understand the Jewish viewpoint and appreciate it. To my mind, this discrimination adds to the difficulty of the whole situation and aggravates the Arab-Jewish position, for it gives a chance for unnecessary agitation. I repeat again that I am not unmindful of the Jewish attitude in the matter which is anxious not to lay itself open to the charge that it is exploiting Arab labour for the upbuilding of the country, instead of Jewish workers on whom the burden of reviving the country should fall. Views may differ on this point, but I adhere to mine and think the Zionist policy is a mistaken one.

I do not wish to suggest that if this point is waived, and Arab labourers are given employment, there will be no more friction between the Jews and the Arabs, Sir John added, but I do say it gives a weapon to the Arabs to dislike the Zionist policy and keep their agitation open.

It is true, he said further, that no Arabs employ Jews. The Arab population is very backward. They are poverty-stricken people, and besides, it is cheaper to engage Arabs than Jews, since the standard of living of the latter is higher.

The Rothschild colonies which engage Arab labourers have done remarkably well, and thereby killed the spirit of dissension in a country which needs peace and harmony.

I SEE NO REASON TO REVISE MY VIEWS IN LIGHT OF JEWISH AGENCY REPLY EXCEPT IN ONE POINT IN REGARD TO COST OF COLONISATION.

I see no reason to revise my views in the light of Mr. Leonard Stein’s reply to my conclusions published by the Jewish Agency, Sir John said, except in one point in regard to the cost of colonisation. This was quite unintentional, and corrected in an errata slip printed in the book of maps which was published as a supplement to the report.

Questioned about Mr. Kaplansky’s pamphlet claiming that Palestine is capable of maintaining an agricultural population of over two million people, Sir John admitted the possibility of Palestine feeding a much larger population in future, provided development of the country is undertaken on a greater scale. He, however, felt that the tendency of the Jews is towards urban population which is growing rapidly.

Discussing the genesis of the Balfour Declaration, Sir John said that it was issued at a time when the world believed that Palestine was a country without a people, but today they hold just the opposite view. The Arabs were becoming landless owing to Jewish land purchases, and in this way they are feeling the acute position and the possibility of being driven away from the country. He felt that a serious situation was developing which required careful handling. The Arabs will not tolerate Jewish conquest of the soil, he said, and the tendency to resist it is bound to stiffen.

Sir John was inclined to concede the rights of the Jews to colonise Palestine and live there in accordance with their rights conceded to them, but he felt that progress must be slow and should not be accomplished at the risk of incurring the displeasure of those who were seeking to intensify points of disagreement rather than points of agreement.

SIR JOHN SAYS THOUGH HE DID NOT PAISE IT IN HIS REPORT HE IS IN FAVOUR OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN PALESTINE ALTHOUGH COUNTRY HIGHT NOT BE RIPE FOR IT AT THE MOMENT: JEWISH INTELLECT SHOULD CONQUER EVEN A MAJORITY.

The question of the Legislative Council was also discussed, and Sir John said that although he did not raise it in his report, he was in favour of a Constitution, although the country might not be ripe for it at the moment ! There was such a thing as Jewish intellect, he remarked, which may conquer even a majority, and there should be no ground for opposition and apprehension.

It is not a remote possibility to bring about an Arab-Jewish reconciliation, Sir John suggested. I foresee no conflict ahead, and one hopes that differences may be ironed out and the country settle down to peace and progress. Such depends upon both sides being able to give and take and settle their differences in a becoming manner.

Sir John expressed admiration of the progress made by the Jewish Colonies in turning marshes into flourishing gardens and in cultivating land which had been lying idle for centuries. That was something of which the Zionist movement may well be proud. He characterised Tel Aviv as a “de luxe” colony, “a jewel on the neck of Palestine”, expressing the hope that within the next decade or so, there would be great progress made which will make the Holy Land a great centre of art, culture and civilisation, provided the Jewish people did not relax in their support of the cause for which their movement stands. Sir John also hoped that his proposal regarding the development of Palestine with a view to providing more land for colonisation would be supported by all those who were interested in the upbuilding of the Jewish National Home.

I wish to make it perfectly clear, Sir John concluded, that I am not hostile to Jewish national aspirations, whose viewpoint I understand well, having discussed the matter with Dr. Ruppin and Dr. Arlossoroff in Palestine. Both are remarkable men and creditable to the Jewish people whom they represent. I wish the venture in Palestine well, both in the interests of the Jews and Arabs alike.

MOST IMPORTANT STATE LANDS WEERE DISTRIBUTED TO ARABS BY SIR HERBERT SAMUEL AND HE WAS A JEW SIR JOHN SIMPSON .

In confirming the Draft interview after having read it, Sir John wrote to Mr. Ezra:

As to State land, what I said was that I had examined the position of every single State property in Palestine, and had found that there was really very little State land still available for settlement. The Beisan lands, which were the most important of the State lands in Palestine, had been distributed to the Arabs by Sir Herbert Samuel when he was High Commissioner, and it must be remembered that he, himself, was a Jews.

There is a survey and settlement in progress, he added, and it may well be that when the whole of Palestine is actually measured a considerable area will emerge on which the State only will have a claim. If that should be so, there will of course be further properties to distribute, and the Government will doubtless observe the terms of the Mandate in respect of them. No one knows the area of Palestine accurately; there have been guesses varying in size. When I was in Palestine I had a test aerial survey made which showed a considerable reduction of land in the hills. The results of that were attacked, but I still hold that they are the most reliable estimate that is possible at present.