The Jews all over the world may regard me as a second Balfour.” This statement is said to have been made by the Emir Abdullah in connection with the negotiations for the transfer of Trans-Jordan land to Jews. “Balfour promised the Jews a land which was not in his possession,” the Emir is alleged to have added, “while I am actually opening for the Jews a land which is fully in my possession.”
This report of the Emir’s remarks is only one of the many statements and counter-statements floating about in connection with the Trans-Jordan affair.
Palestine is a land in which rumor and report assume curious guises, and it is not easy to disentangle truth from fiction.
Thus, there is a new tale to which much attention has been given in the Arab press. The story is that a group of Arabs has approached the Emir with an offer to take up the land which is the subject of negotiations with the Jews. They are reported to have offered to lease the land on conditions more favorable than those in the proposed agreement with the Jews, according to details published in “El Arab”, the organ of the Independent Arab Party. The details given are: 1) The Arab company undertakes to pay to the Emir of Trans-Jordan a sum of£207, 500 for the land to be leased to them for a period of 99 years; 2) during the first ten years the Emir is to receive from the company a sum of £5,000 ,during the following ten years another £10,000, during the third ten years £20,000, while the balance is to be paid up during the remaining 69 years.
“El Arab” points out that this offer is the more attractive since the agreement with the Jews provides only for £2,000 a year, totalling only £198,000 for the 99 years.
In the meantime, reports from Trans-Jordan confirm that the subject of Jewish settlement is still the talk of that territory. The Emir is being openly pressed by many of his followers to bring the negotiations with the Jews #o a happy conclusion. One thing is certain, that he is being urged to turn a deaf ear to the intrigues of the Arabs of Western Palestine. The expressed sentiment is: “We can take care of ourselves; let the Palestine Arabs mind their own business.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
