Palestine Question Raised in Parliament; Government Refuses to Make Statement

The Palestine question was raised in both Commons and Lords today as Parliament reconvened following a month’s adjournment for the Christmas holidays.

In Commons, Colonial Minister Arthur Creech-Jones refused to make any comment on Palestine because of the imminent resumption of the parley with the Arabs, which has been postponed until next Monday. He made no reply when Sir Waldron Smithers, Conservative, asked: “Is the House to understand that the Prime Minister and the government are so weak that they have no policy when British officers and men are being flogged, and the name of Britain is being dragged in the mud?”

In response to a similar question in the upper house, Viscount Hall, First Lord of the Admiralty and former Colonial Minister, appealed for closer cooperation between the Jewish community in Palestine and the British. Declaring that he regretted that Palestine was “still bedevilled by crimes and violetoe committed by extremists and terrorist groups,” Hall pointed out that representative Jewish leaders in Palestine had denounced terrorism in the strongest terms, He added that he hoped that the realization of the damage done the Jewish cause by terrorism will lead to closer and more frequent cooperation with the authorities.

Hall also refused to make any statement on the government’s long-term policy, asserting that he hoped a final solution would come from the Anglo-Arab conference. He added that High Commissioner Sir Alan Cunningham’s recent visit to London was the occasion for a discussion of all outstanding political and administrative problems facing the mandate. He concluded that he regretted the World Zionist Congress decision barring Jewish participation in the London talks.