No racial distinction is made in the treatment of prisoners in Palestine, Dr. Drummond Shiels, the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, said in the House of Commons this afternoon, in reply to Mr. P. Freeman (Labour) who had asked him whether he was aware that the daily grant for food to Jewish political prisoners in Palestine gaols was 45 milles, and for Arab political prisoners it was 11 milles per day. What was the reason, he wanted to know, for this discrimination; were there any other differences in the treatment accorded to prisoners of Jewish, Arab or European nationalities; would he state the amount of food allowance for European prisoners, and whether measures would be taken to ensure that in future there should be no race discrimination between prisoners confined in Palestinian gaols.
As regards the third part of the question, Dr. Shiels went on, the Palestine Government has adopted, so far as conditions and circumstances permit, the principle that special treatment should be accorded in prison to persons who are accustomed to a higher standard of living. As regards the fourth part of the question, the diet prescribed for persons receiving special treatment as laid down in August 1930 is as follows: 450 grains of bread, 200 grains of potatoes, 60 of rice, 60 of sugar, 50 of beans, 250 grains of meat without bone or excessive amount of fat, 400 grains of fish, 400 grains of vegetables without outside leaves, stalks, etc., 150 grains of milk, 20 of tea, 15 of soap, and .25 grains of pepper.
This scale of diet, Dr. Shiels proceeded, may be changed from time to time, as on the recommendation of the competent medical authorities. The fifth part of the question, he added, does not arise.
There is a difference dependent upon the former standard of life of the prisoner, Dr. Shiels said, replying to a supplementary question put by Mr. Freeman.
Is the diet of the Jews four times that of the Arabs, Colonel Howard-Bury put in.
Is a man who is half starved when put in prison to continue on that diet? Mr. MacShane. (Labour) added, no reply being returned to either question.
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