The Greek Minister of Agriculture has decided to make a grant of land on the outskirts of Salonika, to M. Uziel, a young Jew of Salonika, whose father committed suicide last year. M. Uziel will settle on the land with his family, who will achieve the distinction of being the first Jewish family of Salonika to exchange town life for work on the land. Only a very small number of Jewish agricultural workers exist throughout Greece, most of them being in the small colony of Verria.
### are crowding out the Arabs of the country. The official figures reveal that in 1931, 4,075 Jews were admitted to the country; 9,553 in 1932, and 8,139 in the first three months of this year, many of whom came in on certificates issued against later schedules. The total Jewish population in Palestine today is less than 225,000, less than the increase in the Arab population in the last nine years.
NEW TRACTS OPENED
Palestine is an undeveloped country, a large part of which cannot sustain life. Immigration and an influx of capital have succeeded in opening large new tracts hitherto uncultivatable. A tremendous public and private works program is being carried out. When completed it will more than triple the country’s population capacity. The shortage of labor is hampering this program so badly that many projects have had to be delayed. In many cases, school children have been mobilized in an effort to complete important work. Building, in particular, has been obstructed by the lack of skilled labor resulting from the government’s immigration policy.
Arab leaders prominent in the demonstration movement obviously disregard the advantages to the country from the flow of capital and new life into the country. Arabs in closest association with the Jews, as those who are employed in the colonies, have taken no part in the demonstrations but have remained at work.
That the government was not entirely averse to the demonstrations was guardedly inferred by several Jewish newspapers after the October 13th demonstration. Haaretz, liberal Hebrew daily, pointed out that the government might have welcomed the demonstrations as a means of silencing Jewish demands for increased immigration facilities.
Whether the Arab Executive will regain the hold on the people it formerly had, as a result of the week’s activities will depend in large measure on the firmness with which the government meets the inciting tactics of members of the body.
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