The suffering and hardships of the Jews throughout the world is not a consideration that can affect the immigration policy of the government of Palestine, declared High Commissioner Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope in answer to a Jewish deputation that visited him yesterday to submit a memorandum, protesting the curtailment of Jewish immigration.
The Jewish deputation was composed of five members of the Vaad Leumi, the Jewish National Council, six representatives of Palestinian Jewry, including the ultra-orthodox Agudath Israel.
Isaac Ben Zvi, Palestinian labor leader and member of the executive of the Vaad Leumi, pointed out there was a shortage of labor in Palestine, and said that the immigration schedule does not suffice to fill the shortage. He declared that deportation of immigrants who overstayed their visas was a severe punishment and asked instead, that the position of these immigrants in Palestine be regularized. He also dwelt on the illegal immigration into Palestine of Arabs from countries other than Transjordania.
I. Rokach, deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, emphasized the great demand for labor in Tel Aviv where a million pounds worth of building is pending because of the shortage. He stated that he saw no evidence of the congestion that the Arab deputation had pointed out to the High Commissioner. Mr. Rokach suggested that a Jewish committee be appointed to report on the extent of the economic absorption of the illegal immigrants.
Rabbi Blau, representative of the Agudath Israel, declared that the life of the country would be dislocated through a wholesale deportation of tourists who had remained in Palestine and will also completely ruin the deportees.
S. Zhukhowitzky, leader of the Jewish farmers, instanced the Jewish development of the plain of Sharon, which had enriched the Arabs who were neighbors of the Jews.
M. G. Levin, chairman of the committee of the Haifa Jewish community, said that he came to Palestine as a tourist forty years ago and remained there ever since.
The High Commissioner once more declared that the immigration policy of the Palestine government was based on the absorptive capacity of the country. He stated that he was aware of the sufferings of the Jews all over the world. Sir Arthur also said that the Palestine government was deporting all Arabs, from countries other than Transjordania, who had entered the country illegally. He expressed the hope that the deputation and the Jewish Agency would cooperate in preventing illegal immigration into Palestine in the future.
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