Jews and Arabs in Palestine Protest Against Increased Taxation

Jews and Arabs alike today voiced vigorous protests against the new taxation policy of the Palestine Government declaring that the increased taxation planned will drive the country to bankruptcy and will create an artificial economic crisis even before the war is over.

The Jews complained that about eighty percent of the entire income tax in Palestine falls on Jewish tax-payers. They pointed to the fact that the all-Arab city of Nablus, one of the largest in Palestine, last year paid only about 150 dollars in taxes. The Arabs, on their part, complained that the old as well as the new taxes are a burden to them at the present time when they are gradually losing their trade, have virtually no industry and have turned over much of their land for military air fields and roads.

The official attitude of the Jewish community on the new taxation policy will be formulated at the annual session of the Assefath Hanivcharim, the Jewish Assembly, which opens on March 10 in Jerusalem. Jewish leaders are inclined to believe that the new policy of imposing heavy taxes, which will have to be borne chiefly by the Jewish population, is part and parcel of a general scheme designed to undermine the Jewish position in the country in accordance with the policy of the White Paper which provides that after March, 1944 the immigration of Jews into Palestine must be halted. It is believed by Jewish circles that part of the new scheme will also be the establishment of a Legislative Council against the will of the Jews and that preparations towards this end are now being made by the Palestine administration.

The Arab protest against the new taxation system was voiced today in the Adifaa, a leading Arab newspaper, which declares that Arab economic life in Palestine is threatened with a “wartime collapse” if no measures are taken by the government to improve the economic status of the Arab population.