JERUSALEM, DECEMBER 2.

Evidence was continued to-day at the open session of the Royal Commission by Jewish witnesses, and at the outset the chairman, Lord Peel, asked Mr. M. Shertok, head of the political department of the Jewish Agency, to submit at a later stage a concise summary of Jewish grievances.

Dr. W. Senator, a member of the executive of the Jewish Agency, complained that youth certificates were now included in the labour immigration schedule instead of their being special grants, as was the practice before. Brothers and sisters under the age of 18 were no longer included in the category of dependants of immigrants, and the result was that large sums of money were being exported from Palestine for the support of dependants abroad.

Replying to Sir Horace Rumbold, Mr. Shertok said the Jewish Agency did its utmost to prevent Communists from entering Palestine. The number of Communists already in Palestine was very small.

Mr. E. Epstein, who on behalf of the political department of the Jewish Agency has made an extensive tour in the neighbouring Arab countries, gave evidence that immigration of Arabs from neighbouring countries into Palestine was neither temporary nor seasonal. It was not only, he said, because Palestine had a particular attraction for them, but also because of the distressing conditions prevailing in the countries of their origin. — Palcor Agency.

Original Source

December 3, 1936 | © The Guardian (The Manchester Guardian)

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