Statement of Policy Should Emphasize Responsibility of Government to Fulfill Obligations of Palestin

or should appoint experts to make on their own behalf a careful survey of industrial as well as agricultural prospects for the next five or ten years. In light of the facts ascertained by a scientific inquiry of the character indicated above both the immigration and the land policy could be regulated for a period of years.

“On the land problem, in addition to the inquiry suggested in the report into the prospects of introducing improved methods of cultivation in Palestine, the local government should undertake a survey of the whole country on the lines indicated in my remarks on the land problem. If there are still Arabs who are landless through the failure of the Palestine government to apply adminstratively the provisions of the land laws in force, steps should be taken by the government to settle them on the land at public expense.

“On the incitement of the press, the Palestine government, in order to stop or keep under control incitement in the press which might lead to disorder should consider the desirability of making illegal the appointment of dummy ‘responsible editors’ who suffer, if need be, for the indiscretions of the chief editors who are really responsible for the conduct of the papers.

PRESERVATION OF ORDER SHOULD FALL TO LOCALLY RECRUITED POLICE

“On public security I believe that the Palestine government should aim at insuring that the main responsibility for the preservation or order in time of peace will ultimately fall to the lot of the police locally recruited. The government should investigate the possibility of improving the pay and prospects of the Palestinian police force so as to attract men of the best type from among both Arabs and Jews. I am convinced, that given better conditions of service the local police in Palestine could be trained to be loyal and reliable servants of the government even under conditions that demand the use of force against their co-religionists. A national police force as envisaged might well be instrumental in bringing about an improvement in racial relationship.

“On a definition of policy, I entirely agree that the government should consider the desirability of issuing with the least possible delay a clear statement of the policy which they intend should be pursued in Palestine and should make clear that it is their intention to give full effect to that policy with all the resources at their command. I venture to suggest that the statement should lay particular emphasis upon the international responsibility of the government for the fulfillment of the obligations which in the Palestine Mandate they have undertaken. Moreover, it is of the utmost importance that the intentions of the government, when these have been decided, should be brought to the consciousness of every adult citizen in Palestine by such means as the distribution in each village of leaflets and the use of placards, setting out in Hebrew and in Arabic, the essential points in the statement of policy. Announcements dealing with the government policy might well be made at intervals and should receive equal publicity. Following the practice of the government in India, annual reports on Palestine in addition to dealing with the events of the period in which they relate, might contain such information concerning the immediate outlook as would encourage cooperation between the two races and would popularize the government policy. Palestine became politically self-conscious with the result that its awakened mental energy and enthusiasm flow into controversy which is unrestrained by responsibility.

SAYS SITUATION NEITHER DESPERATE NOR INCURABLE

“I am convinced that although there is impatience and a tendency to believe that political demands cannot be secured by the use of force or disorder the situation is neither desperate nor incurable. Relations are undoubtedly strained, but Palestine is a land where the political atmosphere changes quickly and if the situation is handled with care the cooperation of the two races in the task of upbuilding a prosperous Palestinian nation could be secured.

“The greatest danger at the present time is that Arab resentment may become permanent. Every effort should, therefore, be made by the leaders of Jewish public opinion to remove the misapprehensions of the Arabs. For example, the Jewish authorities should declare publically and with emphasis that they do not desire to create a landless Arab proletariat, that in economic and social matters they desire to work by methods of conciliation with the Arabs, on a footing of equality, and that capital which is introduced into Palestine through Jewish enterprise will be of benefit to the whole community. By thus explaining publicly their proposals for development and by taking the Arab population into their confidence, the Jewish leaders might make a valuable contribution towards racial cooperation.

“The most essential need in this direction is that the Arabs should be convinced that there is no intention, either on the part of the Jews or the government, to make them landless or to subordinate their interests as a people. They must be assured that their civil and religious rights will not be prejudiced but will be equal to those of any other section of the population. The Jews, on the other hand, are entitled to know that the government intends to carry out its obligations under the Mandate with full regard to the welfare of both races.

“The main principles of the settlement of the racial dispute on these lines are that the whole population should be made to realize that the Mandatory Power has been charged by the League of Nations with solemn obligations which it intends to fulfill, and that the Jewish-Arab nation is a fact which must be accepted and each race is to contribute towards the development of a bi-racial Palestinian nation.

PEACEFUL DEVELOPMENT DEPENDENT ON ARAB-JEWISH GOOD WILL

“The peaceful economic and political development of Palestine will be dependent upon the corresponding growth of good will between the two people, which should be fostered by equal educational opportunities for Jewish and Arab children and a wide expansion of adult training in possibilities of racial cooperation. It is advisable there that steps be taken to spread a knowledge of the history and culture of the two nations and their respective contributions to civilization. The in-influence and discipline of sport, care being taken to avoid racial rivalry, should be used and social life of every kind should be encouraged.

“British residents in Palestine might be willing to help in work along these lines, and it is above all advisable that Jews and Arabs alike should be made acquainted through night schools, literary societies and lectures with the history and traditions of the Mandatory Power. The aim of activities of this character should be to make good Palestinian citizens of members of both races. As a first step towards racial cooperation it would seem that a few men from both races, carefully selected and of unquestioned character and influence, should meet together and explore the possibilities for a common effort for agreed ends.

“Such a meeting might prepare the way for a larger bi-racial conference of representative character which could be charged with the duty of securing an agreement on specific proposals affecting the welfare of the nation as a whole.

MOVEMENT FOR RACIAL COOPERATION MIGHT BE EXTENDED

“With such a beginning, the movement towards racial cooperation might be extended from the leaders to the ordinary citizens of both races wherever they live side by side, on the principle that the organized life of a community should rest on the broadest possible basis. Neither meeting nor conference nor any committees established in villages or towns should attempt the task of solving the racial problem. These bodies should limit themselves to practical steps towards securing social improvements, interracial justice and good will. Their influence would spread throughout the land, practical benefits would insure the allaying of suspicions, and out of their efforts would grow a reserve of understanding and good will to compose racial difficulties and to unite Arab and Jew in the task of upbuild