—The most distressing feature of the situation in Palestine this week has been that the Jewish reprisals against the Arabs have suddenly begun to increase. That the Jews should hit back in the same lawless, brutal and indiscriminate fashion in which they have been hit by the Arabs for weeks past, is natural and indeed almost inevitable, failing success in the Government’s efforts to suppress the Arab political banditry by the arm of the law. Now that the Jews have retaliated in earnest, we cannot criticise them alone for the breakdown of their self-restraint. Both sides have taken the law into their own hands, and it becomes harder than ever to arrive at a moderate settlement that will be more or less tolerable to both parties. There is much significance in the figures, published last week, of the casualty list from April 19th to August 15th. The total casualties (excluding accidental ones) are 1,201—205 killed, 353 (seriously) wounded in-patients, and 643 (more lightly) wounded out-patients. Of the deaths, only 17 have been incurred by the armed forces of the Crown (11 of the dead being English soldiers and policemen; six of them Arab policemen; and none of them Jewish policemen). The toll of wounded in the armed forces is, however, relatively higher, for it includes 64 of the serious cases and 95 of the slighter cases. The Jewish civilian population of Palestine has lost, during the same period, 58 killed, 98 seriously wounded and 121 slightly wounded. But the surprising and significant figures are those for the Arabs—Muslims and Christians taken together, as they should be, in consideration of the solidarity of their political feeling against the Jews. The Arab casualties known to the authorities amount to no less than 130 deaths, 190 serious wounds, and 427 slight wounds—very nearly three-fifths of the casualty list. These figures fall considerably below reality; for the Arab snipers on the hills take pains to remove their dead and wounded, and often succeed. Happily, it was reported on Thursday that the Higher Arab Committee had met in Jerusalem—one of its members was released from a detention camp for the purpose—and had decided to telegraph the Iraqi Foreign Minister, who had already once offered his services to mediate between Arabs and the Government, to return to Palestine. This offers hope that the Arabs may call off their violent tactics to enable the Royal Commission to begin its inquiries.

Original Source

August 29, 1936 | The Economist

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