THE NEGEB AND THE JEWS
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
Sta,—In his interesting letter on the Negeb Mr. George Eden Kirk writes :
" One of the most unpleasing features of the recent colonisation of Palestine has been the indifference of official Zionism to the future of the small cultivators they have displaced."
Mr. Kirk does not offer the slightest evidence in support of this allegation. The question of the displacement of Arab cultivators in Palestine has been investigated by more than one official commission, with results showing that his criticism is quite untenable. Both the Shaw Commission and Sir John Hope Simpson made it clear that, whatever displacements have occurred, no blame is attached to the Jewish purchasers of the land. The Shaw Report, referring to the sales of land that took place between 1921 and 1929, stated (p. 162): " In some cases the Arabs who were dispossessed received cash com- pensation, and no criticism can be levied against the Jewish land companies in respect of these transactions." Sir John Hope Simpson, referring to the Jewish purchasers in the Vale of Jezreel, where the bulk of the supposed displacements had taken place, wrote :
" The Jewish authorities have nothing with which to reproach themselves in the matter of the Sursock lands. They paid high prices for the land, and in addition they paid to certain of the occupants of those lands a considerable amount of money which they were not legally bound to pay."
The Royal Commission have some very instructive pages on the matter, in the course of which they state :
" We are also of opinion that up till now the Arab cultivator has benefited on the whole from the work of British administration and from the presence of Jews in the country. Wages have gone up ; the standard of living has improved."
By way of illustration, it may be mentioned that the Jewish company that has acquired 57,0oo dunams in the Huleh
Valley at a very considerable price has undertaken, in the interests of the local Arab fellaheen, to set aside 15,000 dunams for them gratuitously, and to have this land drained for them at its own expense.
It should also be pointed out that as a result of a very thorough official investigation, the Government ascertained that over a period of ten years only 664 Arab families had been displaced. The Government then provided a sum of L250,000 for the settlement of the displaced Arabs on fresh holdings, but according to the latest report only one-third of that amount was required for the resettlement of more than
half the number, as the remainder had become absorbed again in agriculture, or found other employment, and declined the Government's offer.
As for Mr. Kirk's suggestion that the Zionists should study the Negeb in greater detail, he may rest assured that they will be glad to co-operate in a thorough investigation of the terri-
tory. They naturally regard this as part and parcel of the mandated area in which they have the right to establish their National Home, and whatever colonisation they may eventu- ally undertake in it they will certainly observe the same procedure that they have hitherto followed in other parts of Palestine, and which has evoked friendly appreciation of all impartial inquirers. In any case, they can be relied upon to see to it that the position of the present Arab cultivators of the district will be better than it is now.—Yours faithfully,
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