M. P. Sees Second Bible Written in Palestine, Raps British Policy

A second Bible is being written in Palestine, declared Major Proctor, M. P., upon his return here from the Holy Land, where he conducted an exhaustive private inquiry.

Scoring British bans on Jewish entry and the belief that Jews own a great deal of land are displacing Arabs, Major Proctor said:

“The policy of restricting immigration into Palestine is retarding the progress of the land. Palestine and Transjordania are capable of substaining a population of 18,000,000. Only one thing can excuse this policy of restriction — the lurking fear that if progress is too rapid, the Arabs will rise up and there may be disorders,” declared Major Proctor, affirming his belief the Holy Land should be the haven for the oppressed and suffering Jews of Germany and other countries.

Palestine, Major Proctor holds, is a land in which a people animated with hope and religious idealism have driven out three great fears—poverty, unemployment and persecution. To assure these people security, the English government must decide if it will carry out the Mandate in the spirit in which it was made. The fear that the Arabs will gain control is contradicted by the fact that the effendis feel they are losing their power and cannot get workers to remain upon their land in Palestine.

That the Jews own a great deal of land and that the Arabs are being unfairly displaced are denied by Major Proctor, who says the Jews own only five per cent of the land, for which they have to pay about 100 pounds an acre. The Arab landlords, often absentee, are still selling their land secretly, but at fabulous prices.

Major Proctor points out that the strategic importance of Haifa to Great Britain has been little realized. Haifa, the member of Parliament thinks, will be the second gateway to India, and with British influence in Egypt on the wane, this new overland route to India will make England independent of the Suez Canal.