The charge that the High Commissioner of Palestine is giving undue prominence to Arabs in Jerusalem, a city of a Jewish majority, was made tonight in the House of Commons by Col. Josiah Wedgwood, an Independent.
This charge provoked a lively exchange of remarks in the House of Commons between Wedgwood and Cunliffe-Lister, the Colonial Minister. The minister objected to Wedgwood’s close questioning with regard to the Palestine government.
“The entire matter is left fully to the discretion of the High Commissioner in Palestine, and I propose to rely completely upon the discretion of the High Commissioner,” was the reply given by Cunliffe-Lister to the charges voiced by Wedgwood.
The Colonial Minister then announced that no further appointments would be made to the Municipal Council of Jerusalem. This announcement was made in reply to Wedgwood’s request that the one additional member of the Municipal Council still to be appointed should be an Englishman.
“The High Commissioner of Palestine recommends that no further appointment be made until it is established how the new municipalities in Haifa and Jerusalem are functioning,” the Colonial Minister explained.
With regard to the division of functions between the Arab mayor and the Jewish vice-mayor of Jerusalem, Cunliffe-Lister informed the House of Commons that Daniel Auster, the Jewish vice-mayor, will take the place of the mayor whenever the latter is absent.
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