Commission's Report
35.
asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is yet in a position to state when the Report of the Com- mission to inquire into the outbreak in Palestine will be published; and whether its publication will be followed by any statement by His Majesty's Government in Great Britain, as the mandatory Power, regarding the causes of the outbreak and the means to be taken to avoid them in future?
The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The Report has not yet been presented. When it is in their hands His Majesty's Government will consider what procedure can most appropriately be adopted in regard to it.
Having regard to the fact that nothing that the Report can say or will not say will affect the ultimate responsibility of His Majesty's Government for the cause of the outbreak, why is the hon. Member not in a position to say when the statement will be made?
I think the Noble Lord is a little unreasonable. We do not know what the Report will say or suggest. It may say that nothing is necessary to be done. It is obvious that we must wait until the Report is in our hands before we can make a statement on it.
How can the hon. Member say that no statement will be necessary, when all the Powers represented at Geneva and also this House are anxious to know what are the views of His Majesty's Government?
I did not say that no statement would be necessary. I said that we must await the receipt of the Report before we know whether or not it is necessary to issue a statement.
Is it necessary for the Government to wait for the Report in connection with the late disturbances? Is it not desirable that the Government should at once consider the appointment of a much larger Commission to go into the whole question of the government of the country?
That does not arise out of the question.
Jewish Immigrants
42.
asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the numbers of British and American Jews that emigrated to Palestine since 1920; and the corresponding figures for emigration from Russia, Poland. Rumania, Germany, Hungary, and Austria to Palestine?
With the hon. and gallant Member's permission, I will circulate a statement giving the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Following are the figures:
I am unable to give the figures in the precise form asked for in the question, but the following table shows the proportion in which the various countries of origin contributed towards the total number of 14,922 immigrants (14,683 of them being Jews) who entered Palestine during the period 1st September, 1920 to 31st December, 1921.
Percentage of total immigrants. | |
per cent. | |
Poland | 33 |
Russia | 15 |
Rumania | 5 |
Smaller East European States | 11 |
Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Dominions | 3½ |
Central Asia | 10 |
Other Countries | 22½ |
As regards the period subsequent to 1921, the figures in respect of the years 1922–1929, so far as they are available, are as follows:
Country of origin. | Number of Jewish immigrants. |
Great Britain and Dominions | 974 |
United States of America | 2,217 |
Russia | 16,796 |
Poland | 38,850 |
Rumania | 5,555 |
Germany | 2,324 |
Hungary | 276 |
Austria | 1,095 |