All death sentences in Palestine meted out to the score or more of Arabs who have been found guilty in the Palestine courts of having participated in the murder of Jews during the Palestine riots of last Summer were today commuted to life imprisonment. The only exceptions are two Arabs from Hebron and one in Safed.
Joseph Mizrachi Urphali, the only Jew still under the death sentence, has not been reprieved because his counsel has appealed the sentence to the Privy Council, the highest legal tribunal in the British Empire.
The question of the death sentences had been a major issue in the program of the Arab Executive while the Privy Council some weeks ago rejected appeals against the death sentences for a number of Arabs. The Arab delegation in London had made the commutation of the death sentences one of its demands on the British government.
The Jewish community was divided on the matter of the death sentences. A number of leading Jews had privately circulated petitions to the High Commissioner appealing for commutation. A similar attitude was taken by many Zionists, particularly those in Germany. Another group of the Zionists on the other hand were of the opinion that a recurrence of riots would follow if the death sentences were not carried out.
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