THE PERMANENT MANDATES COMMISSION OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE PALESTINE MANDATE IS UNWORKABLE AND FAVORS IN PRINCIPLE THE PARTITION OF THE HOLY LAND IN A PRELIMINARY OPINION MADE PUBLIC TODAY.
THE MANDATES COMMISSION DECLARES THAT THE MANDATE BECAME UNWORKABLE AS SOON AS IT WAS RECOGNIZED AS SUCH BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND ITS ROYAL COMMISSION, ACCORDING TO AN OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE LEAGUE SECRETARIAT.
WHILE FAVORING IN PRINCIPLE BRITISH PROPOSALS TO DIVIDE PALESTINE INTO JEWISH AND ARAB STATES AND A BRITISH-MANDATED CORRIDOR, THE COMMISSION FINDS IT FIRST NECESSARY TO LENGTHEN THE PERIOD OF POLITICAL “APPRENTICESHIP” OF THE TWO STATES EITHER UNDER A SYSTEM OF CANTONS OR SEPARATE MANDATES UNTIL EACH STATE IS FIT TO GOVERN ITSELF.
THE REPORT ALSO FAVORS PUTTING PALESTINE’S HOLY PLACES UNDER A SEPARATE MANDATE.
THE OFFICIAL SUMMARY SAYS THE MANDATES COMMISSION’S REPORT CONTAINS FIRSTLY, THE PRELIMINARY OPINION ON THE PALESTINE PROBLEM, SECONDLY, GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE 1936 DISORDERS IN THE HOLY LAND, AND, THIRDLY OBSERVATIONS ON THE PALESTINE ADMINISTRATION.
THE “APPRENTICESHIP,” THE REPORT SAYS, WOULD BE POSSIBLE UNDER EITHER OF TWO FORMS:
1–PROVISIONAL CANONIZATION, AFTER THE SWISS SYSTEM, BY WHICH THE TWO NEW STATES WOULD ENJOY, TO A LARGE EXTENT, DOMESTIC AUTONOMY AND FULL LIBERTY TO REGULATE IMMIGRATION, BUT WOULD BOW TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE MANDATORY POWER ON MATTERS CONCERNING DEFENSE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TARIFF POLICY.
2–A SEPARATE MANDATE FOR EACH OF THE STATES, ARAB AND JEWISH, UNTIL THE TIME EACH HAS GIVEN SUFFICIENT PROOF OF CAPACITY TO GOVERN ITSELF.
THE COMMISSION PREDICTED THAT WHATEVER THE WISDOM AND JUSTICE IN THE EVENTUAL DEMARCATION OF FRONTIERS BETWEEN THE TWO STATES, THIS DEMARCATION WILL CAUSE THE SAME INDIVIDUAL SUFFERINGS AND THE SAME CONTRADICTORY ASPIRATIONS AS THOSE WHICH BROUGHT ABOUT THE FAILURE OF THE ORIGINAL BRITISH MANDATE.
IN CONCLUSION, THE REPORT PAID TRIBUTE TO BRITAIN’S WORK IN PALESTINE AND, ADDRESSING ITSELF TO THE ARABS, DECLARED THAT, ALTHOUGH THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE PARTITION PLAN IS UNDERSTANDABLE, THEY SHOULD REMEMBER, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO FREE ARAB STATES IN THE 20TH CENTURY WITHOUT THE BRITISH EFFORTS.
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.
