Zionist Executive Expresses Recret That There Has Been “no Material Change in Attitude of Palestine

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Regret that there has been “no material change in the attitude of the Palestine government toward the questions raised by the Zionist Executive with regard to allotting state and waste land for Jewish colonization in Palestine and allotting state funds for the Hebrew school system in Palestine,” was expressed by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization. in his letter accompanying the third memorandum of the Organization on the development of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, submitted to the Permanent Mandates Commission which opens its session here tomorrow.

DR. WEIZMANN TAKES THE INITIATIVE IN LAND QUESTION

In his letter, which was addressed to Lord Plumer, High Commissioner of Palestine, with the request that it be submitted to the Secretary Secretary General of the League of Nations for the information of the Permanent Mandates Commission, Dr. Weizmann “takes the initiative,” as was recently suggested by the British government, in the land question, repeats the demand that greater allottments be made for the Hebrew educational system, voices the complaint of the Jewish population of Jerusalem against the events on the last day of Atonement at the Kothel Ma’aravi (The Wailing Wall), and raises the question whether, according to the provisions of the Mandate, the Palestine government is to play an entirely passive role in the upbuilding of the Jewish National Home in Palestine.

Dr. Weizmann’s letter also deals with the question of the establishment in Palestine of an Arab military unit from which Jews were originally to be excluded. The letter of Dr. Weizmann reads:

“On behalf of the Executive of the Zionist Organization, which is recognized as the Jewish Agency for Palestine in Article 4 of the Palestine Mandate, I have the honor to request that the accompanying memorandum on the development of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, 1925-1926, may be transmitted through the proper channels to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations for the information of the Permanent Mandates Commission.

“2. The Secretary-General of the League of Nations has been good enough to forward to the Executive a copy of the Minutes of the Seventh Session of the Permanent Mandates Commission, to which is annexed the Report of the Commission in the form in which it was approved by the Council of the League on December 9, 1925. It is noticed that the reference is made in the Report to certain questions which have been raised with regard to the allotment of State and waste lands for Jewish colonization, as contemplated in Article 6 of the Palestine Mandate. In their letter of September 1, 1925, which was submitted to the Commission through the medium of the Mandatory Power, the Executive felt obliged to draw attention to the fact that this provision of the Mandate has remained substantially inoperative. It is a matter for regret that there has since been no material change.

POINTS TO CONCRETE PROPOSALS MADE BY ZIONIST EXECUTIVE

“3. In this connection the Executive beg leave to refer to the letter addressed by His Majesty’s Government to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations under date October 19. 1925, and printed in the Minutes of the Seventh Session of the Permanent Mandates Commission as Annexe 9a. It is observed that His Majesty’s Government while not suggesting that Article 6 of the Mandate conceives of the Palestine Government as playing an entirely passive role, are nevertheless of opinion that “this is a matter in which the Government might reasonably expect the Zionist Organization to take the initiative.” The Zionist Organization is at some disadvantage in doing so, since its information as to the actual limits of the State lands, and the degree to which they are available is necessarily less complete than that which is in the possession of the Government. The Executive cannot but think that the Government’s cooperation might, in these circumstances, take a somewhat more positive form than would appear to be contemplated. The Zionist Organization has, however, submitted at least two concrete proposals. Of these, the first relates to the State lands in Southern Palestine and is referred to by His Majesty’s Government in paragraph 7 of their letter as being at that time under consideration. This application has not, up to the present, had any definite result.

“4. More recently the Zionist Organization has submitted a second proposal in a similar sense. It has been encouraged to do so, both by the suggestion that it should take the initiative, and also by certain statements which appear from the Minutes of the Seventh Session to have been made to the Permanent Mandates Commission by the Accredited British Representative. The Accredited Representative, referring to the allocation of the djiftlik land in the Beisan area, is stated at page 113 of the Minutes to have informed the Commission that “some it it” the Beisan djiftlik) “might remain unoccupied, in which case it might be given to the Jews.” In a further statement on the same point, the Accredited Representative agreed that there was propably some truth in the reports that the djiftlik lands granted to Arab cultivators in the Beisan area were being offered by them for sale to the Jews. It is common knowledge in Palestine that these reports are, in fact, well founded, from which it follows that the allotments under Beisan Land Agreement of 1921 are to this extent demonstrably surplus to the actual requirements of the cultivators concerned.

ZIONIST EXECUTIVE FORMALLY ASKS FOR STATE LAND FOR JEWISH COLONIZATION

“5. In these circumstances, the Zionist Organization has now addressed a two-fold application to the Mandatory Power. On the one hand, its application relates to such djiftlik lands in the Beisan area as the Government may have left at its disposal after the full execution of the 1921 Agreement. In so far as such lands are or may be available, the Zionist Organization has asked for an opportunity of acquiring them for colonization on equitable terms. On the other hand, the Zionist Organization has also requested that it may have reasonable facilities for taking over the rights and obligations of those beneficiaries of the 1921 Agreement who, having been allotted land in excess of their requirements, are voluntarily offering it for sale. The Agreement of 1921 was in tended to enable bona fide culdvators of State lands in the Beisan area to become freeholders in consideration of a moderate purchase-price payable to the Government by fifteen annual instalments. It is not and has never been suggested by the Zionist Organization that there should be any interference with cultivators who desire to take advantage of this Agreement for the purposes for which it was originally designed. What the Zionist Organization has represented to the Mandatory Power is that it would be neither consonant with the spirit of the Mandate nor desirable in itself that the cultivators should be authorized to give a good title to the first comer, provided only that he pays the Government the balance of the purchase-price in cash. The result must inevitably be to encourage speculation in land, to the disadvantage both of the Zionist Organization and, in the long run, of the country as a whole. The Zionist Organization has, therefore, suggested that in sanctioning the voluntary transfer of State lands on which instalments of the purchase-price remain payable, the Government should give preferential treatment to public utility bodies which can be relied upon to use these lands for development and colonization, and that among such bodies the Zionist Organization should enjoy the priority which in this regard it is reasonably entitled to expect in the light of Article 6 of the Mandate. The preferential treatment which is asked for does not relate to the price which is to be paid to the cultivator, but to the manner in which the balance of the purchase-price is to be paid to the Government. All that is proposed is that where the land is being acquired by such a body as the Zionist Organization, not for resale, but for productive use in the spirit of the Mandate, the Government should agree to accept payment, at least in part, by a limited number of annual instalments. As regards the present occupiers, the Zionist Organization would arrange equitable terms with them for the transfer of their rights and obligations, subject to any safeguards for their interests which the Government might think proper to specify.

HOPES FOR EARLY ACTION BY GOVERNMENT ON MANDATE ARTICLE 6

“6. The Zionist Organization desires to make it clear that the lands to which these proposals relate are, as already stated, exclusively lands which are or may be voluntarily offered for sale. It goes without saying that there is no question of any pressure being brought to bear on any cultivator to part with his land; indeed, the Zionist Organization would go further, and would agree that no transfer ought to be sanctioned which would leave the seller with less Land than he needs for his own requirements. It appears from the recent Report of the Permanent Mandates Commission that the Mandatory Power is desirous of furthering the settlement of Jews on the land, and has expressed its willingness “to give its very special consideration to any requests which may be made by or on behalf of such settlers for the acquisition of any State or waste lands which may be made available without prejudice to the rights of those belonging to other sections of the population.” The Executive feel sure that, in these circumstances, their proposals will receive early and favorable consideration as a first step towards conying Article 6 of the Mandate into practical effect.

“7. The Executive are reluctantly obliged to advert to paragraph 5 of their letter of September 1, 1925, in which they drew attention to the inadequacy of the Government contribution to the cost of the Jewish schools. They represented that the grant-in-aid was only a fraction of what the Jews were reasonably entitled to expect on the basis of their numbers and of their contribution as taxpayers to the public revenues. The Executive regret to have to point out that this anomaly has not yet been rectified.

THE QUESTION OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS FOR HEBREW EDUCATION

“8. In dealing with this subject in their letter of October 19, 1925, His Majesty’s Government began by laying down a principle which the Executive respectfully beg leave to question. That principle, if it has been rightly understood, is that where two races speaking different languages live side by side in the same country, there is no necessary connection between their relative numbers and the support to be given to their schools from public funds to which both contribute on an identical footing. In the light of what the Executive believes to be the almost universal practice elsewhere, they venture to represent that the principle stated by His Majesty’s Government in paragraph 3 of their letter, while it may be applicable in other fields, can hardly be applicable to the maintenance of schools in a bilingual country. The Executive welcome the educational facilities which have been provided for the Arab population and trust that they may be continued and extended. At the same time, they feel sure that His Majesty’s Government cannot themselves be content with a situation in which a community now constituting nearly 17 per cent of the inhabitants of Palestine receive for their schools only about 3 per cent of the sum appropriated to education from public funds. It is observed with satiscation that the Government, in its reply to the representations of the Second Jewish National Assembly, has recently intimated in general terms its intention of doing something to redress this inequality. The Executive welcome this mark of goodwill and trust that the necessary practical measures may shortly follow.

“9. There is one other question which the Executive feel it their duty to raise, though they are fully conscious of its delicacy. It relates to an incident which recently occurred in Jerusalem on the Jewish Day of Atonement, when the police were sent by the district authorities to remove seats and benches placed at the Kothel Maaravi (the so-called Wailing Wall) for the use of the aged and infirm worshippers during the continuous services held there, in accordance with immemorial custom, throughout the East. No complaint is made of the conduct of the police, who carried out their instructions as considerately as possible, nor is it denied that those instructions may have been justified by the strict letter of the existing law. At the same time, the Execuive feel bound to place on record the painful impression caused by this deplorable incident throughout the Jewish world. They earnestly hope that through the good offices of the Mandatory Power and the League of Nations means may be found of putting an end, by common consent, to a state of affairs which it is impossible to regard without serious concern.

“10. Anxiety has been expressed by the Jewish population as to the possible effects of the far-reaching changes now in progress in the arrangements for the defense and security of Palestine. These changes involve (inter alia) the disbandment of the Palestine Gendarmerie and its replacement by a Frontier Defence Force. It is understood that a number of Jewish gendarmes are to be given facilities to transfer to the police, but the Executive feel sure that the Mandaory Power will at the same time appreciate the legitimate desire of the Jewish population which was substantially represented in the gendarmerie, to take a corresponding share in the defence of Palestine under the new conditions, and to play its part in the only locally recruited armed force which is to be maintained in the mandate territory.

THE JEWS AND ARABS IN THE MATTER OF HEALTH

“II. It appears from the Minutes of the Seventh Session of the Permanent Mandates Commission (page 120) that attention was drawn to the statement in the Report of the Mandatory Power for 1924 (page 32) that “typhoid, typhus and dysentery affected only the Jewish population, but with low incidence.” On this point the Executive have consulted their Medical Advisory Committee in Palestine, the Va’ad Habriuth, who offer the following observations:

“1. In the case of the Arab population, more especially in the villages, the notification of the infectious diseases is not complete. This is a well-known fact, which is mentioned by the Government Department of Health in its Report for 1923.

“2. On the other hand, cases of infectious disease among the Jews are almost invariably dealt with and duly notified either by the Hadassah Medical Organization or by the Kupath-Cholim. Nearly the whole of the Jewish population comes within the purview of one or other of these bodies, whose activities are more fully described in the accompanying memorandum.

“3. The Chairman of the Permanent Mandates Commission suggested that “the Arabs have been accustomed for centuries to drink bad water and have therefore become immune.” Though it is probable that the Arabs do for this reason enjoy some degree of immunity, this is not in itself sufficient to account for the official figures, and the explanation is to be sought, at least in part, in the facts referred to above.

“4. It is highly questionable whether there is any ground for the suggestion that these diseases have been introduced by carriers among the immigrants. As regards typhus and typhoid, these diseases were known to be endemic in Palestine before and during the War. As regards dysentery, it is amoebic dysentery which is mainly prevalent in Palestine, whereas it is well-known that in the countries from which the immigrants are drawn dysentery occurs mainly in the bacillary form.

“12. On behalf of the Executive I have the honor to request that this letter may be transmitted to the Secretary. General of the League of Nations for the information of the Permanent Mandates Commission at its next session, together with the accompanying memorandum, of which I beg to enclose fifty copies, in English, French and Hebrew.

“13. The Zionist Organization approaches the Permanent Mandates Commission, not as a local body speaking for a section of the inhabitants of Palestine, but as the Jewish Agency constituted under Article 4 of the Mandate. It is, however, observed that His Majesty’s Government state in their letter of October 19, 1925, that they prefer as a matter of convenience that such memoranda as that which forms the enclosure to this letter should be submitted through the Government of Palestine, and this procedure has accordingly been followed.”

Ground breaking ceremonies for the New Bronx Hospital building were held Sunday afternoon.

I. Teitelbaum, chairman of the arrangements committee, presided, and the speakers included Dr. A. A. Berg, president of the medical board of the hospital: Dr. Alexander Goldman, former president, and Alexander Selkin, president of the hospital; Sam Minskoff. chairman of the building committee; Arthur J. Hilly, Assistant Corporation Counsel, representing Mayor Walker: M. Baldwin Fertig. Assistant Corporation Counsel, and Mrs. Fannie S. Blumstein.