tine police, regarded collectively, were not to be relied upon after fire had been opened or for purposes of fighting at close quarters. The Transjordanian frontier force behaved with ex-emplatory loyalty but the intelligence service in Palestine proved inadequate.”
Summarizing its findings as to the cause of last August’s outbreak, the Commission declares that the fundamental cause “without which, in our opinion, the disturbances would either not have occurred or would have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity and hostility towards the Jews, consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future.
SUMMARIZES CAUSES OF OUTBREAK
“The feeling as it exists today is based on the two-fold fear of the Arabs that by Jewish immigration and land purchase they may be deprived of their livelihood and in time pass under the political domination of the Jews. In our opinion the immediate causes of the outbreak were first, a long series of incidents connected with the Wailing Wall which began on the Day of Atonement in September 1928 and ended with the Moslem demonstration of August 16, 1929.
“These must be regarded as a whole, but the incident among them which in our view contributed most to the outbreak was the Jewish demonstration at the Wailing Wall on August 15th. next in importance we put the activities of the Society for the Protection of the Moslem Holy Places and in a lesser degree of the Pro-Wailing Wall Committee; secondly the exciting and intemperate articles which appeared in some Arabic papers, in one Hebrew daily paper, and in the Jewish weekly published in English; thirdly the propaganda among the less educated Arab people, of a character calculated to incite them; fourthly the enlargement of the Jewish Agency; fifthly on the inadequacy of the military forces and reliable police available; sixthly the belief, due largely to a feeling of uncertainty as to the policy, that the decisions of the Palestine government could be influenced by political considerations.”
GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONSIDER ISSUING CLEAR STATEMENT OF POLICY
The Commission’s report devotes considerable space to recommendations for the future. In this regard it says, “We attach the highest importance to our first recommendation that His Majesty’s Government should consider the advisability of issuing a clear statement of policy, the value of which would be greatly enhanced if it dealt with the points which we set out in the second stipulation of the following clause:
“Our recommendations regarding immigration and land questions are largely based on the assumption that in their definition of a policy the government will clearly state that the rights and position of non-Jewish communities in Palestine are to be fully safeguarded.”
In defining this policy the report says, “It is our view that the issuance of a clear statement of the policy which the government intends to pursue in Palestine is essential to good government. We therefore recommend that the government consider the advisability of issuing such a statement with the least possible delay.
MUST DEFINE TERMS OF MANDATE PROTECTING RIGHTS OF NON-JEWS
“It is important that the government make clear that they intend to give full effect to that policy with all the resources at their command. Whatever form the statement of policy may take its value would be greatly enhanced if it contained a definition in clear and positive terms of the meaning which the government attaches to passages in the Mandate providing for the safe-guarding of the rights of non-Jewish communities in the country, and if it laid down for the guidance of the Palestine government directions more explicit than any yet given as to the conduct of the policy of such vital issues of land and immigration.”
The Commission’s recommendation on immigration declares that “any uncertainty as to the line of policy to be pursued in the vital matter of immigration is bound to be reflected in the conduct of the Palestine governments, in the attitude and temper of the Arab people and those representing Jewish interests. We recommend, therefore, that the government issue at an early date a clear and denite declaration of the policy which they intend to be pursued regarding the regulation and control of future Jewish immigration to Palestine, and in framing that declaration they should have regard to our conclusions on the subject of immigration.
NON-JEWISH INTERESTS MUST HAVE SAY IN IMMIGRATION REGULATION
“The administrative machinery for the regulation of immigration should be reviewed with the object of preventing a repetition of the excessive immigration of 1925 and 1926. Consideration should be given to the possibility of some more suitable method of regulating the disposal of immigration certificates under the labor schedule. Until such time as some form of representative government is established in Palestine, machinery should be, if possible, devised whereby non-Jewish interests in Palestine could be consulted upon matters which, had there been a legislative council, would have been referred to a special immigration committee, of which mention is made in a statement of policy contained in the White Paper of 1922.”
Discussing the land problem, the report recommends that “a scientific inquiry should be undertaken by experts into the prospects of introducing improved methods of cultivation in Palestine. The land policy could then be regulated in the light of the facts ascertained by these scientific investigations. It is of vital importance that in any scheme of land development adopted as a result of the expert inquiry, regard should be had to the certain and natural increase in the present rural population.
EVICTION OF PEASANT CULTIVATORS MUST BE CHECKED
“It is of vital importance that pending the result of this survey, the present tendency towards the eviction of peasant cultivators from the land should be checked by the adoption of one of the alternative methods mentioned elsewhere. The Palestine Government should consider the possibility of reviving the agricultural bank or providing by other means for the needs of the poorer cultivators who require credit facilities to enable them to improve their present methods of farming.”
On constitutional developments, the commission declared: “We don’t wish to make any formal recommendation on this question. We would, however, urge that when the question of the constitutional development of Palestine again comes under review, regard be had to our conclusion in another chapter of this report that the absence of any measure of self-government is greatly aggravating the difficulties of local administration.”
Discussing the Wailing Wall, the Commission declared: “In December last, while we were still in Palestine, we communicated to you a recommendation that the government take steps to secure the early appointment under Article 14 of the Mandate of a commission to determine the rights and claims in connection with the Wailing Wall. The early determination of the rights and claims connected with the Wailing Wall is a measure essential to the peace and good government of Palestine. We consider, therefore, that the constitution of a commission and its departure for that country should be expedited by every possible means.”
Referring to the activities of religious societies, the report says: “Since the disturbances in Palestine, legislation dealing with offenses against the state, including sedition, has been repealed and replaced by an ordinance based on English criminal law. In the cricumstances, we feel that it is unnecessary for us to make any recommindation under this head.”
URGES PROSECUTION OF PAPERS CARRYING INFLAMMATORY ARTICLES
On the matter of the incitement of the press, the report recommends that “steps should be taken to insure that the attention of the senior officers of the Palestine government in the future is called to any article appearing in the Palestine press which is of an inflammatory character and likely to excite the feeling of the people. The Pales
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.
