News Brief

The full statement of the British government on its policy in Palestine follows:

Under the subheading “Constitutional Development” the statement gives a resumè of the history of the various forms of constitution offered to the Palestine Arabs since 1922. Saying that the British government has now carefully considered the question in the light of the present state of progress and development and with special regard to the obligations to place the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the development of self-governing institutions, the statement announces that the government has decided “to set up a legislative council along the lines of the Churchill White Paper of 1922 trusting on this occasion that it will secure the co-operation of all sections of the population of Palestine.”

Making it clear that it would deeply regret an attempt to prevent the materialization of the government’s plan, the statement declares that the government has decided to take all possible steps to circumvent any such attempt since it “considers it in the interest of the population of the country as a whole that the further steps now proposed should no longer be deferred.

ADVANTAGES OF COUNCIL

“Obvious advantages would be gained by all sections of the population from the establishment of such a council, the Arabs especially benefiting. Both sections of the community participating through representatives will improve the relations between Jews and Arabs. Twelve unofficial members of the council will normally be elected by a primary and secondary election, the government striving to avoid a repetition of the deadlock which occurred in 1923. Steps will be taken to ensure the appointment of unofficial members in the event that some members fail to be elected for any reasons. In differences arising regarding the fulfilment by the Palestine government of the terms of the Mandate a petition to the League of Nations is admissible.”

Under the heading of “Economic and Social Development,” the statement says it is “mainly concerned with the question of land, immigration and unemployment which are intimately interrelated with political and economic aspects. And upon their solution depend the advance towards settled conditions of peace and prosperity in Palestine.”

Referring to the scarcity of land available, as noted in Sir John Simpson’s report, the statement says, “The provision of a margin for settlement depends upon the progress made in increasing the productivity of the land already occupied. Out of 86,980 rural Arab families in the villages 29 percent