AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN TO PARTITION, WHICH HE CONDEMNED AS AN “EXTRAORDINARY PATCHWORK” FEATURING THE “MOST AWKWARD PROVISIONS” OF THE VERSAILLES TREATY APPLIED TO A COUNTRY THE SIZE OF WALES, WAS OFFERED DURING THE DEBATE BY VISCOUNT SAMUEL, FIRST HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR PALESTINE AND NEWLY RAISED TO THE PEERAGE.
VISCOUNT SAMUEL’S PLAN EMBRACES THE FOLLOWING GENERAL FEATURES:
1–LIMITATION OF JEWISH IMMIGRATION WITH THE POLITICAL PRINCIPLE REPLACING ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AS THE MEASURING ROD, THE JEWS AGREEING TO LIMIT THEMSELVES FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME TO FORTY PER CENT OF THE GENERAL POPULATION;
2–RECOGNITION BY THE JEWS OF THE “REALITY OF ARAB NATIONAL ASPIRATIONS;”
3–ARAB CONSENT TO OPENING OF TRANSJORDAN TO JEWISH IMMIGRATION.
VISCOUNT SAMUEL DECLARED THE PLAN HE OFFERED WAS NOT IMPROVISED, BUT HAD BEEN DEEPLY CONSIDERED IN CONSULTATION WITH “MANY PERSONS.” HE ADMITTED IT PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTED, BUT MAINTAINED THAT IT WAS AN IMPROVEMENT ON PARTITION.
EXPANDING ON HIS SCHEME, HE SAID:
“JEWS MUST BE READY TO MAKE A SACRIFICE AND MUST CONSENT TO LIMITATION OF IMMIGRATION OTHER THAN ON A PRINCIPLE OF ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY. THEY MUST ACCEPT THE ROYAL COMMISSION’S PROPOSAL THAT THE POLITICAL PRINCIPLE MUST BE BROUGHT IN. “JEWS MIGHT WELL BE ASKED TO CONSENT TO AN AGREEMENT COVERING A PERIOD OF YEARS, WHERE IN THE JEWS WOULD NOT EXCEED A GIVEN PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION; IT MIGHT BE FORTY PERCENT.”
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.
