A Palestine Council It is hard to find justification for
the opposition of Dr. Weiimann and the Zionist leaders to the proposal to establish a Legislative Council in Palestine—particularly when the opposition is said to be based on the spirit of the mandate, for the mandate itself stipulates not only on the one hand that a national home for the Jews shall be set up in Palestine, but on the other that" nothing may be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine." The most obvious safeguard of these rights is the existence of a Council in which the communities in question have ade- quate representation. It is a 'deplorable anomalY that while one territory originally placed under an A mandate, Iraq, has already achieved independence, another, Palestine, should still be under what is virtually Crown 'Colony government. When: a:Legislative Council was proposed in 1922 the project broke down because of the misguided decision of the Arabs to' boycott the elections. Now it is the Jews who are condemning the project. It is very much 'to be hoped that they will think better Of their opposition to a proposal which marks a natural stage.
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