Press Here and Abroad Discusses Transjordan Land Lease to Jews

The Jewish press in Warsaw, Paris and Berlin prominently features the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports concerning Emir Abdullah’s alleged lease of 70,000 dunams of his personal domain in Transjordan to a Jewish company.

The Warsaw Jewish press refrains from commenting on the transaction editorially beyond noting that they await the conclusion of the negotiations and confirmation of the reported lease from Jewish quarters.

A similar view is expressed by the Revisionist organ in Paris, “Rassviet” and by the “Rundschau” of Berlin, organ of the Federation of German Zionists.

“The Manchester Guardian” commenting on the reported transaction refers to the protests of the Arabs. The paper says that economic conditions in Transjordan are so bad that the Emir, who is practically minded, must give thought now to the finances of his country.

The Jewish press here expresses the view that the lease of Transjordan land to Jews opens up the possibility of extending Palestine land settlement.

“The Day” of New York writes of the reported transactions: “This means that the Arabs have at last realized that if Palestine on both sides of the Jordan is destined to be saved, it will be saved only through the Jews and that all the talk of the Jews’ harming the country is the invention of notorious politicians.

“It is good tidings for the Zionist world that there is at last an opportunity to settle Jews on the eastern side of the Jordan. Jewish colonization in Transjordan is an urgent question, not one for shouting or tumult, but a problem to be solved with real means.”

“The Jewish Morning Journal” comments: “There are still in the Agency or close to it a sufficient number of rich Jews who can provide or guarantee the small sum of £2,000 a year which the Emir asks as rent and also the means necessary for colonization.

“Provided the project is secure, it means a spreading out of the Jews over Palestine and the first opening in Transjordan, the greater part of Palestine Such a reinforcement outweighs many of the difficulties with which Jews have hitherto been confronted in the settlement of Palestine.”

“The Philadelphia Jewish World” says: “It must be described as one of the most important occurrences in connection with the upbuilding of Palestine, particularly if it is not done by some individual or group with a view to speculation . . . Transjordan’s proximity to Western Palestine may become a factor in the economic development of Palestine.

“The Ica’s recent announcement concerning concentration on colonization in Palestine may have new avenues opened up to it by the possibility of leasing vast stretches of land in Transjordan for colonization.”

The Canadian “Jewish Eagle” declares: “This creates new great possibilities for the Jewish Homeland. For Zionism in general there now open up broader perspectives and it is to be hoped that the Jewish leaders will not miss the opportunity of profiting by this newly produced situation.”

“The New York Times” recalls the historic association of Transjordan with the history of the Jewish people “In the farewell address of Moses ‘beyond Jordan’ in the land of Moab, as in the recital by Joshua of allotments to the several tribes, special mention is made of the land beyond Jordan ‘toward the sun rising’ as a “good land’,” the Times writes. “It was from the top of the Transjordanian mountain Pisgah, that the great lawgiver lifted up his eyes westward and northward, southward and eastward and beheld not only the promised land which he was fated not to enter but the rich valleys that lay among the mountains of Moab and Gilead. Two tribes were permitted to remain there; and now, according to our own dispatches, Jewish settlers are to return to that region.

“Transjordania, though nominally autonomous is virtually under a British mandate. The area now opened up to settlement . . . . . must make a special appeal to the descendants of those who halted there so long before they entered into the land of their hopes.”