SIR,—In reply to Professor A. Berriedale Keith I should like
[To the Editor of Tim SPECTATOR.] to point out that reference to Article 2 of the Palestine Mandate shows that the provision regarding " the development of self-governing institutions " is coupled to that regarding " the establishment of the Jewish National Hotne " in such a manner as to imply that the former must be ancillary to the latter. " The development of self-governing institutions " is intended to subserve and safeguard the establishment of the Jewish National Home, and since a Legislative Council containing a majority opposed to the Mandate would be hostile to the Jewish National Home, it cannot be said to be an institution prescribed by the Mandate. The Mandate does riot specifically refer to a Legislative Council at all, but only to " self-governing institutions," and such there are already, namely, ]kcal and municipal councils, but these are still in a very primitive stage of development. It will surely be no infringement of the Mandate if these " self-governing insti- tutions " are further developed, with the co-operation of an increasing number of the population—since they are at present based on a very limited franchise—and if the Legislative Council is deferred until such time when it can be created with the collaboration of Arabs supporting the Mandate.
It is a mistake to suppose that the Council of 28 members is to include Only II Arabs : these Arabs will be Moslems, but there will also be three Arab Christians, making a total of 14 Arabs. If one of the two commercial representatives is also an Arab, the Arabs would hate .a clear majority. In any case, it would only be necessary for the 14 Arabs to have the support of a single official or commercial representative for the purpose of passing any anti-Jewish resolution. It is equally erroneous to suggest that the power 'of the Council will be so effectively limited that " it cannot in the slightest degree hamper the carrying out of the work of immigration." The determining of .the labour immigration schedule alone will rest in the hands of the High Commissioner, but the Council will have the power to pass resolutions on this branch of immi- gration as well as to pass bills relating to all other categories of immigration. It will also be free to restrict the sale of land to Jews.
The contrast with the case of Trans-Jordan to which Pro- fessor Keith calls attention, serves to bring home the fact that although that territory has a Legislative Council, its economic position, which should be the principal care of such a Council, is so very much inferior to that of Palestine that thousands of Arabs prefer to forsake it, despite its legislature, in order to seek a livelihood in the prosperous conditions in Palestine created by Jewish labour and capital. Mr. Churchill was fully juStified in stressing the service that Paltine should render to the persecuted Jews of Germany, since the Mandate itself recognises the historic connexion of the Jewish people with Palestine, and the Mandatory Government has repeatedly acknowledged that the country is not the concern only of those Jews who are now in Palestine but of the Jewish people as a whole.
Finally, it cannot be urged that the postponement of the Legislative Council entails a " wrong to the Arabs." first. because the Arabs in Palestine never possessed the right of self-government throughout the centuries of Turkish domina- tion ; secondly, because such a Council is intended for the benefit of the population as a whole and not merely for that of a section ; and thirdly, because the Arabs, without any legislature, are enjoying a far higher degree of comfort and prosperity than they did before the Jewish resettlement.— I am, &c., ISRAEL COHEN. 77 Great Russell Street, London,
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