The local self governments to be established in Palestine as a preliminary to a Legislative Council, which were referred to in the report to the Mandates Commission of the Palestine High Commissioner, formed the subject of a heated debate in the House of Commons today.
“Is not the government asking for trouble in giving self government to Palestine when the people of Palestine do not want it?” demanded Colonel Josiah Wedgwood excitedly.
Colonel Wedgwood also asked Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, Minister of State for the Colonies, to give assurance that minority rights will be safeguarded when the local self-government ordinance is introduced.
The Jewish deputy, Barnett Janner, demanded that Parliament be given the fullest opportunity for discussion of the matter before definite steps are taken to create a Legislative Council.
The Colonial Minister refused to give the guarantees demanded by Mr. Janner. Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope’s statement before the Mandates Commission was perfectly clear, said Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, “and entirely on the lines of policy of the late government and its predecessors.”
The Colonial Minister at the same time stated that the fullest effort will be made to consult the interests concerned before a constitution of any Legislative Council is enacted. He stressed the statement made by Wauchope in Geneva to the effect that the one essential of anything that is done is that the terms of the Mandate for Palestine be completely maintained.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
