Jews Have Not Driven Arab Peasants from Land, Palestine Figures Show

Interesting data about Jewish immigration to Palestine within the last decade and the results it has brought to the country as a whole are contained in the memorandum recently submitted to the Palestine Commission of Inquiry by the General Federation of Palestine Jewish Labor. Excerpts from the memorandum are published in a recent issue of the English supplement of “Davar,”

The total Jewish investment since the War in Palestine is authoritatively estimated at 14 million pounds, in addition to which there are private remittances for the same period amounting to nearly 30 million pounds. The area planted with oranges and bananas has trebled. The aggregate net output of local industry, mostly of recent origin, was estimated for 1921 at 3,885,000 pounds. There have been notable decreases of import in cement, cigarettes and confectionery accompanied by an increase in the export of local products. The revenue rose from 1,809,831 pounds in 1922 to 2,584,317 pounds in 1928, while in Transjordania it has remained almost stationary. The rise in revenue has meant extending the education and health services for the Arab population, bettering communications and raising the cultural level. The improved security is illustrated by the decline in the cases of highway robbery: in 1922 there were 180 cases tried by the courts, in 1923—177, in 1924—93, in 1925—71.

The argument that Jews are evicting Arab peasants from the land is shown to hold no water when tested by migration figures. Arabs emigrate from Palestine at a much lower rate at present than they did before the war, or than their Syrian neighbors do now, while such emigration as exists is more than counterbalanced by immigration. In the years 1922-28, 10,254 non-Jews left the country. At the same time 5,010 recorded non-Jewish immigrants entered, while according to government estimates about 25,000 immigrants crossed the Transjordan, Syria and Sinai frontiers during the same period being attracted by the higher standard of living in Palestine.