24 DECEMBER 1921, Page 3

The Palestine Arab delegation put their case against the Zionists

very clearly in Monday's Times. They quoted the promise of Sir Henry MacMahon to the Sherif of Mecca (the present King of the Hedjaz) in 1915 that Great Britain would " support the independence of the Arabs within the territories included in the limits and boundaries proposed by the Sherif." These territories included Palestine. They quoted also Lord Allenby's proclamation of October, 1918, assuring the people of Palestine that they would bo consulted in regard to the future status of their country. The delegates contrasted these pro- , mises with the Zionist claim to a Jewish predominance—though this claim is an arbitrary extension of the pledge given by the British Government in regard to " a Jewish national home." Finally, the Arab delegates asked that a national government should be set up, responsible to a Parliament elected by the inhabitants—whether Moslems, Christians or Jews—who lived in Palestine before the War, and that this government should control immigration.