The Palestine government informed the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that it does not intend to issue any statement regarding the reports of Transjordan land leases to Jews.
The Palestine government spokesman explained that this matter is not within its jurisdiction as Transjordan is under a different government.
The Arab press have placed on the Palestine government the responsibility for the refusal of Emir Abdullah to consummate the agreement to lease his land to a Jewish company. The pressure of British officials, according to the Arab press, caused Emir Abdullah to issue his two communiques, the first on January 26th and the most recent yesterday, denying that he intended to lease his personal domain to foreigners. The British officials referred to are the Palestine High Commissioner and the British Military Commander of the Transjordan Frontier Force, Peake Pasha, who conferred with Emir Abdullah last Sunday.
The Arab press are dissatisfied with yesterday’s communique from the Emir’s palace which declares that the land will remain uncultivated if he is unable to supply his own private capital for its development. The papers demand that the land be leased to Arabs.
Despite the communique, the feeling here is that the matter is not entirely ended as far as leasing land to a Jewish company is concerned. The view is expressed here that the matter will be closed to Jews only if the Arabs succeed in obtaining the capital for the development of the territory available.
The Arab press ask the Mufti to state why his paper has remained silent
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