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Memorandum Submitted by Arab Senior Government Officials to the High Commissioner
MEMORANDUM
SUBMITTED BY
ARAB SENIOR GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS
ON June 30, 1936.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY
THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR PALESTINE
ON THE PRESENT SITUATION
IN THE COUNTRY.
Jerusalem, 30th June, 1936.
We, the undersigned, Arab officers in the first division of the Service, feel it our urgent duty to bring the following matters to Your Excellency’s notice.
1. In addition to our general duties as civil servants, a particular duty lies on us as Arab officers, which is that of serving as a link between Government and the Arab population with whom we are naturally in closer contact, of interpreting to the public the acts of Government in their true light, and of explaining to Government the feelings and needs of the Arab population. We have always been given to understand that that aspect of our duties, especially in view of the non-existence of representative institutions, was an essential one; and we have always regarded it as such. It is in pursuance of that conception of our duties that we venture, with all respect, to submit the following : --
2. The underlying cause of the present discontent is that the Arab population of all classes, creeds and occupations is animated by a profound sense of injustice done to them. They feel that insufficient regard has been paid in the past to their legitimate grievances, even though those grievances had been inquired into by qualified and impartial official investigators, and to a large extent vindicated by those inquiries. As a result, the Arabs have been driven into a state verging on despair; and the present unrest is no more than an expression of that despair.
3. The fact must be faced that that feeling of despair is largely to be traced to loss of faith on the part of the Arabs in the value of official pledges and assurances for the future, and to the fact that they are genuinely alarmed at the extent to which His Majesty’s Government have from time to time given way to Zionist pressure. Their confidence was severely shaken as far back as 1931, when the Prime Minister’s letter to Dr. Weizmann was issued as an interpretation of the White Paper of 1930. But more recently, when the projects regarding the Legislative Council and the restriction of sales of land were hotly challenged in Parliament, their loss of confidence turned to despair.
We should be doing a disservice to Government and an injury to our consciences if we were to conceal our belief that the Arab complaint on this head is substantially justified.
4. We have endeavored since the outbreak of the present disturbances to use our influence, each of us within the scope of his functions, to bring about a return to normal conditions, and more particularly after the announcement was made that His Majesty’s Government had decided to send out a Royal Commission. We have been at pains to emphasise that a return to normal conditions was a condition of the appointment of a Royal Commission. But all our efforts have proved unavailing. We met everywhere with a sceptical disbelief in the sincerity of the Government’s offer, and our endeavors at peace-making have only earned us odium and suspicion. It has become impossible for us to continue to act usefully as a link between the Administration and the Arab population.
5. When we consider the depth and the spread of the feeling animating the Arab population to-day, we are driven to the conclusion that Government does not perhaps sufficiently appreciate all the underlying factors of the situation. Our warrant for this apparently presumptuous statement is that we are naturally in closer contact with the intimate thoughts of the Arab population than even Your Excellency’s closest advisers. In particular, we believe that one fundamental aspect of the unrest is being overlooked, namely that the present feeling is not one that can be crushed by force. The Government has enough resources at its disposal to be able in course of time to deal with the insurrection. But the feeling will remain, and remain a constant source of trouble and disturbance. It cannot be stamped out by force. The only way in which it can be removed is by removing the causes which have brought it about. We have so far seen no practical evidence that Government have grasped that aspect of the situation.
6. The Government have, it is true, announced that a Royal Commission would be appointed to inquire into the grievances and make recommendations. We are not, however, concerned now with ultimate policy, but with the immediate situation in which lives and property are being destroyed every day. The announcement of a Royal Commission has not allayed the discontent, precisely because of that loss of confidence to which we have referred. What is wanted, therefore, is some act which would go to restore to the Arabs the confidence they have lost and put an end to the present deadlock.
Speaking not as partisans, but as responsible public servants mindful of our obligations to Government and to the country as a whole, we feel that, in the circumstances, the initiative for ending the deadlock can only come from the Government, and that it must come from Government with the least possible delay.
7. The deadlock in its present phase turns exclusively on the issue of immigration. In other words, the choice between an immediate return to normal conditions and an indefinite continuation of the present disorders and bloodshed depends not on a matter of policy or principle, but solely on a matter of provisional regulation, namely that of whether or not immigration is to be stopped. Perhaps it is not superfluous to point out that foremost among the subjects which will fall sub judice during the proposed inquiry is that very subject of immigration. We would add that there are very good precedents for such a stoppage of immigration in the fact that before the inquiry into the disturbances of 1921, such immigration was stopped, and in the riots of 1929, immigration was not only stopped but the immigration certificates which had already been issued were withdrawn.
8. After a great deal of careful and conscientious consideration, we have no hesitation in recommending the stoppage of immigration as the only fair, humane and honourable solution of the present deadlock.
9. It will be argued, we know, that prestige is at stake and that Government cannot yield to violence without losing prestige. We would strongly have supported that argument had it not been for our belief that Government is itself in part to blame for the state of mind which has brought about the violence. We yield to no one in upholding order and authority as the foundation of all good government. But authority implies justice all round, and when justice is denied, or when confidence in its impartiality is shaken, then authority becomes undermined; and it shows a mistaken notion of prestige to suppose that it can be restored by the use of force.
In this case, the prestige and authority of Government would not only not lose, but would gain by a timely act of conciliation.
10. Your Excellency will, we trust, not misapprehend the motives which have prompted us to submit the present memorial. They are above all motives of conscience. During these painful weeks, when fellow- countrymen and maybe relatives of ours have been losing their lives every day, we have made every effort to remember our obligations as public servants and contribute, in our small way, to the restoration of peace. But alongside of our obligations as civil servants are the dictates of our consciences. We feel that we must conscientiously raise a protest against the present policy of repression when there exists a fair and honorable way of immediately ending the present unrest with its growing toll of death and suffering.
11. We are forwarding this memorial in quadruplicate so that it may be duly transmitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In view, however, of the seriousness of the situation and the difficult position in which we find ourselves, we would request Your Excellency to cable the substance of this memorandum to the Secretary of State and favour us with a reply at your earliest possible convenience.
We have the honour to be,
Your Excellency’s Obedient Servants,
SIGNATORIES:-
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
1. Mustafa Bey El Khalidi C. B. E. Puisne Judge, Supreme Court, Jerusalem.
2. Francis Khayat – Puisne Judge, Supreme Court, Jerusalem.
3. Majid Bey Abdul Hadi – Puisne Judge, Supreme Court, Jerusalem.
4. Abdel Aziz Shaker El Daoudi – Judge, District Court, Jaffa.
5. Izzat Nammar – Judge, District Court, Haifa.
6. Ali Hasna – Judge, District Court, Jerusalem.
7. Muhammad Yusuf El Khalidi – Judge, District Court, Nablus.
8. Muhammad Said Bey Tuqan – Judge, District Court, Nablus.
9. Muhammad Baradey – Senior Magistrate, Jerusalem.
10. Antone Atalla – Senior Magistrate, Jerusalem.
11. Rafiq Abu Ghazaleh – Senior Magistrate, Haifa.
12. Sheikh Omar Souan – Magistrate, Ramle.
13. Taher Afghani – Magistrate, Hebron and Beersheba.
14. Sheikh Ismail Kamal – Magistrate, Tulkarm.
15. Nasib Munib Bey Tuqan – Magistrate, Jenin.
16. Musa Nammar – Magistrate, Jaffa.
17. Sheikh Muhiddin El-Mallah – Magistrate, Nablus.
18. Amin Nasr – Magistrate, Bethlehem and Ramallah.
19. Jamil Habibi – Magistrate, Haifa.
20. Iskandar George Khoury – Magistrate, Jerusalem.
21. Jamal ed-Din Dabbagh – Magistrate, Majdal.
22. Khalil Shehadeh – Magistrate, Jaffa.
23. Zaki Tamimi – Magistrate, Haifa.
24. Ali Zein el-Abdin – Magistrate, Jerusalem.
25. Aziz Jarjura – Magistrate, Safad, Tiberias and Khalsa.
26. Saleh Abdel Ghani – Magistrate, Gaza.
27. Hanania Hanania – Magistrate, Jerusalem.
28. Sam’an Daoud – Magistrate, Acre.
29. Elias Khoury – Magistrate, Nazareth and Beisan.
CHIEF SECRETARY’S OFFICE.
30. Ruhi Bey Abdul Hadi O.B.E. – Assistant Secretary, Jerusalem.
31. I. F. Kaabani – Acting Chief Inerpreter (Arabic), Jerusalem.
LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
32. Musa El Alami O.B.E. – Acting Solicitor General, Jerusalem.
33. Fauzi Ghussein – Acting Government Advocate, Jerusalem.
34. Omar Wa’ari – Junior Government Advocate, Jerusalem.
PERSONAL STAFF.
35. Ihsan Hashem – Private Secretary, Jerusalem.
TREASURY.
36. M. F. Abcarius, O.B.E. – Senior Assistant Treasurer, Jerusalem.
37. J. Gress – Senior Assistant Treasurer, Jerusalem.
38. A. K. Saba – Assistant Treasurer, Jerusalem.
39. S. Jouzy – Assistant Treasurer, Jerusalem.
40. Rajai Husseini – Assistant Treasurer, Jerusalem.
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION.
41. Nasuhi Bey Beydun M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Jerusalem.
42. M. Nasir – Administrative Officer, Ramleh.
43. Rafiq Bey Beydun, M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Haifa.
44. Abdul Razzak Kleibo, M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Gaza.
45. A. J. Mantoura – Administrative Officer, Jerusalem.
46. N. Saba – Administrative Officer, Jerusalem.
47. D. Farradji – Administrative Officer, Ramallah.
48. A. Kardus, M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Hebron.
49. N. Bawarshi, M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Acre.
50. W. Isawi – Administrative Officer, Nazareth.
51. B. Nasir, M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Gaza.
52. Aref Al-Aref, M. B. E. – Administrative Officer, Beersheba.
53. H. Husseini, M.B.E. – Administrative Officer, Tulkarm.
54. H. Boulos – Administrative Officer, Tiberias.
55. T. Yazdi – Administrative Officer, Nablus.
56. J. A. R. Tukan – Administrative Officer, Ramle.
57. A. Nashashibi – Administrative Officer, Jaffa.
58. N. Khairy – Administrative Officer, Jerusalem.
59. I. Shawa – Administrative Officer, Jenin.
60. K. Khairy – Administrative Officer, Jerusalem.
61. F. Sa’ad – Administrative Officer, Nazareth.
62. A. Khayr – Administrative Officer, Beisan.
63. R. Shawa – Administrative Officer. Haifa.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
64. D. Boulos, M.B.E. – Assistant Senior Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
65. Z. Haddad, M.B.E. – Assistant Senior Medical Officer, Jaffa.
66. M.K. Mishalany – Medical Officer, Jaffa.
67. J. Tucktuck – Medical Officer, Nazareth.
68. F. K. Abla – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
69. A. Abdul Al, O.B.E. Medical Officer, Hebron.
70. K. Eid – Medical Officer, Nablus.
71. Farid Haddad – Inspector of Pharmacies, Jerusalem.
72. F. I. Haddad – Medical Officer, Haifa.
73. Y. Hajjar, M.B.E. – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
74. I. Hawrani – Medical Officer, Ramallah.
75. H. S. Khalidi – Medical Officer, Jaffa.
76. Taher El Khatib – Medical Officer, Jenin.
77. A. A. Shihadeh – Medical Officer, Acre.
78. F. Shubeitah – Medical Officer, Jaffa.
79. E. Sikkarieh – Medical Officer, Safad.
80. K. M. Abu Ghazaleh – Medical Officer, Gaza.
81. Naif A. Hamzeh – Medical Officer, Haifa.
82. M. A. Shukair – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
83. A. I. Haddad – Medical Officer, Ramle.
84. A. M. Shihadeh – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
85. I. Itayim – Medical Officer, Gaza.
86. S. Saleem, O.B.E. – Medical Officer, Beersheba.
87. W. Itayim – Assistant Analyst, Jerusalem.
88. S. Shihab – Medical Officer, Hebron.
89. M. S. Dabbagh – Assistant Bacteriologist, Jerusalem.
90. A.K. Khartabil – Medical Officer, Tulkarm.
91. A.A. Sururi – Medical Officer, Nablus.
92. S. Bishara – Medical Officer, Nablus.
93. S.N. Barnick – Medical Officer, Tiberias.
94. I. Ali Alamud Din – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
95. Rafat Amin Faris – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
96. A. Bishara – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
97. Said Dajani – Medical Officer, Haifa.
98. S. M. Katkhuda – Medical Officer, Jerusalem.
DEPARTMENT OF CUSTOMS, EXCISE & TRADE.
99. F. A. Mansour – Surveyor, Jerusalem.
100. R. Carmi – Surveyor, Haifa.
101. J. Ayoub – Surveyor, Haifa.
COMMISSIONER FOR LAND & SURVEYS.
A. LAND REGISTRATION.
102. Said ‘Ala ud Din – Land Officer, Jerusalem.
103. Y. J. Atallah – Land Officer, Jerusalem.
104. A. Nseibeh – Land Officer, Jerusalem.
B. LANDS & SURVEYS.
105. T. Khalidi – Assistant Settlement Officer, Field.
106. A. Salem – Assistant Settlement Officer, Tulkarm.
107. Ihsan Es-Said – Assistant Settlement Officer, Jaffa.
PALESTINE RAILWAYS.
108. N. G. Tibshirani – Assistant District Traffic Superintendent, Haifa.
OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
109. R. Khalidi – Inspector, Jerusalem.
DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES.
110. N. Makhouly – Inspector, Acre.
111. D.C. Baramki – Inspector, Jerusalem.
112. J. Baramki – Assistant Keeper, Jerusalem.
113. S.A.S. Husseini – Inspector, Jerusalem.
BROADCASTING STATION.
114. Ibrahim Tuqan – Sub-Director, Arabic Programme, Jerusalem.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FORESTS.
115. Ahmad Khairy – Veterinary Officer, Tiberias.
116. F. Taha – Agriculture Lecturer, Tulkarm.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
117. Ahmad Samih al Khalidi, M.B.E. – Principal, Government Arab College, Jerusalem.
118. Jibrail Katul, M.B.E. – Senoir Inspector (Arab Schools), Jerusalem.
119. Habib Khuri, M.B.E. – Vice Principal Government Arab College, Jerusalem.
120. Sheikh Husameddin Jarallah, M.B.E. Headquarters Inspector.
121. Sharif Sbuh – District Inspector, Jerusalem.
122. Jamil Zananiri – District Inspector, Haifa.
123. Manasseh M. Hannush – Headquarters Inspector, Jerusalem.
124. Mustafa Dabbagh – District Inspector, Haifa.
125. Ahmad Khalifa – District Inspector, Tulkarm.
126. Khalil Sakakini – Assistant Inspector, Jerusalem.
127. Wasfi Anabtawi – Lecturer, Government Arab College, Jerusalem.
128. Sharif Nashashibi – Headmaster, Acre.
129. George Khamis – Lecturer, Government Arab College, Jerusalem.
130. Salim Katul – Lecturer Government Arab College, Jerusalem.
131. Anis Sidawi – Headmaster, Haifa.
132. Muhamad Haj Mir – Headmaster, Jerusalem.
133. Ishaq Musa al-Husaini – Lecturer, Jerusalem.
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
134. A. Toukan – Assistant Engineer, Jerusalem.
DEPARTMENT OF MIGRATION.
135. N. Nashashibi – Inspector of Migration, Jerusalem.
OFFICE OF STATISTICS.
136. F.S. Khoury – Junior Statistician, Jerusalem.
137. S.W. Dajani – Junior Statistician, Jerusalem.
N. B. The following officials, who at time of signing were absent, have cabled their solidarity in confirming the contents of the Memorandum:-
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
1. Salim Shehadeh George – Senior Magistrate, Jaffa.
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION.
2. N. Anabtawi – District Officer, Jaffa.
LANDS AND SURVEYS.
3. Mitri Hanna – Land Officer, Jerusalem.
4. T. Nasr – Assistant Settlement Officer, Field.
5. J. K. Awad – Assistant Settlement Officer, Field.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
6. Afif ‘At’ut – District Inspector, Nablus.
7. Rafiq Tamimi – Headmaster, Jaffa.
8. Nureddin Abbasi – Assistant District Inspector, Nablus.
9. Alaeddin Halawa – Headmaster, Tulkarm.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTS.
10. Adel Fattah Sabassi – Veterinary Officer, Gaza.
11. Muhammad Sidky – Veterinary Officer, Nablus.
12. Jamal Hassan Hamad – Agriculture Officer, Jerusalem.
13. R. G. Khawam – Science Master, Tulkarm.
BROADCASTING STATION.
14. Yahia Lababidi – Sub-Director, Arabic Music, Jerusalem.