Jewish Press Closes Ranks in Assault on Palestine Immigration Restrictions

The new immigration barriers which have resulted in a wave of indignation and protest from all classes of Jews, reconciling in a measure opposing political parties here, are being denounced by the Jewish press.

One newspaper, Davar, Hebrew Laborite daily, which is particularly aroused, terms the recent action of High Commissioner Wauchope in making concessions to Arab demands for curtailment of Jewish immigration, as “the second edition of the White Paper.”

Arabs, incited by leaders whose purposes are not fully understood, have been insisting that the healthy stream of Jewish immigration is fast displacing them from land “rightfully theirs.” Jews counter with the statement that whatever property they possess is theirs by right of purchase.

CONTRADICTION NOTED

Deploring the fact that the Arab immigration from the eastern frontier of the Holy Land goes on unchecked, Davar says that the Arabs have not been informed of the British government’s “international obligation to assist Jewish colonization work in Palestine.” The Hebrew Laborite daily views the High Commissioner’s statement to the Arabs promising to run down illegal immigrants into Palestine, as “an irreconcilable contradiction with the instructions given to the Palestine Administration in the Prime Minister’s letter.” The letter by Premier MacDonald reaffirmed the pledges of the Balfour Declaration.

Doar Hayom recently carried a story by Moses Smilansky, an editor and militant farm leader, in which he declares that the Arabs who complained most bitterly against Jewish acquisition of land were the ones who reaped the greatest profits from sale of the land among Jews. The writer makes the assertion that Mayor Rhagheb Bey Nashashibi of Jerusalem, Mayor Assam Bey Said of Jaffa and Mayor Mustapha Khairy of Ramleh “violated their honor by selling or offering to sell their land holdings” and withholding their sympathy from the Jewish demands for increased immigration. Mr. Smilansky makes the point that since the Mayor of Jerusalem was elected by the citizenry of the Holy Land by a popular majority, he had no right to represent the Moslems and become the mouthpiece for their demands at the recent conference between Mr. Wauchope and the Arab mayors.

LABOR PARTY FOR COALITION

The Palestine Labor party issued a plea for a coalition of political units in Palestine whose object it will be to pledge support to a concerted demand for repeal of the barriers against Jewish immigration, and to put a finish to the hunt for tourists who have overstayed their visas.

The statement which received a prompt reply from Dr. Zvi Eliahu Cohen, one of the Revisionist leaders in Palestine, saying that “there is no right or left so far as Aliyah is concerned,” read in part as follows:

“The danger of tearing up the foundations of our growth in Palestine demands a coalition of all the forces within the Yishub (community) to protect their rights and to develop our creative values in the country. The Palestine Labor Party calls all elements within the Yishub to rally round the authoritative institutions of Palestine Jewry and the Zionist movement and to augment their efforts in the political battle and communal relations.”

Extremist members of the Arab executive are dissatisfied with the regulations which have been established. They demand the complete curtailment of Jewish immigration.