A thousand Jews, heads of families, have so far applied for registration under the amnesty granted by the Government last July, by which persons who came into the country illegally are given the right of becoming legal residents.
With their families they represent half the total number of illegal entrants, who have to regularise their position, says a communique issued to-day by the Vaad Leumi, which points out that only ten more days are left for registration under the amnesty.
It was estimated at the time that the amnesty was announced that there were about 10,000 Jews in Palestine who had entered the country illegally, and who would benefit from the amnesty. By registering under the amnesty, and obtaining the right of legal residence, they will be enabled to participate in the forthcoming Palestine census.
There are even greater numbers of Arabs in Palestine who entered the country illegally, as Sir John Chancellor explained to the Arab Executive when it complained to him when he was High Commissioner that the amnesty would only benefit the Jews.
The question of Arab labourers entering Palestine illegally from Egypt, Sudan, and Transjordan, as well as Bedouin tribes from Syria into Palestine, has been the subject of many questions in the House of Commons on several occasions.
The Palestine Arab Executive some time ago issued an appeal in connection with the census, calling on all Arabs, including Bedouins, to participate in the census, “in order to reveal the true numbers of the Arab population in Palestine and the facts of their economic position”.
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.
