Village Statistics 1945: A Classification of Land and Area Ownership in Palestine (ص 31)
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- عنوان
- Village Statistics 1945: A Classification of Land and Area Ownership in Palestine (ص 31)
- المحتوى
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State Domains
homeland. The conclusions arrived at by Sir John Hope Simpson, who visited
Palestine in 1930 to report on Jewish immigration, land settlement and devel-
opment, strengthens the Arab argument, if argument is needed, that the lands
of a village belong to its inhabitants and Government was duty-bound to
develop such lands as are not privately-held for the benefit of the village as
a whole. Sir Hope Simpson said: “It is clear, however, that of the land which
remains with the Government at the present time [1930] the area is exceed-
ingly small, with the exception of tracts which, until developed, are required
in their entirety for the maintenance of the Arabs already in occupation, It
cannot be argued that Arabs should be dispossessed in order that the land
should be made available for Jewish settlement. That would amount to a
distinct breach of the provisions of Article 6 of the Mandate.’’
The Simpson statement disposes of any doubt that the lands within the
boundaries of an Arab village or Jewish settlement, whether registered in the
names of individuals, the Mukhtar or Government, belong to the village as
a whole and no outside elements are entitled to acquire them. This fact was
accepted by the Palestine Government; for, in its reply to the Jewish Agency’s
demand for the allocation of State Domain to the Jews, the Government said:
“The question of the availability of State Domain has been
examined by Government in some detail and it has been shown that,
although there are large areas of State Domain, it cannot be assumed
that Government is in possession of extensive tracts of land which
are lying idle. In fact, in respect both of land to which Government
has a settled title and land claimed by Government as State Domain
but still subject to settlement of title, there is very little that is not
already put to some useful purpose. This fact is made clear by the
following analysis of State Domain made at the end of 1943:
Title Settled Tile not Settled
Dunums Dunums
(i) Lands used for public purposes, e.g., 219,695 619,858
forests, railways, roads, etc.
(ii) Lands occupied under tenures derived 105,340 76,351
from the Ottoman regime
(iii) Leased to Jews for long periods 75,273 99,815
(iv) Leased to Jews for terms of less 2,389 43
than 3 years
(v) Leased to Arabs for long periods 793 429
(vi) Leased to Arabs for terms of less 17,591 44,931
than 3 years
(2) Cmd. 3686 — The Hope Simpson Report of 20 October 1930, p. 59.
Article 6 of the Mandate quoted by Sir John states: “The Administration of Pales-
tine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population
are not prejudiced; shall facilitate ... close settlement by Jews on the land, including
State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.”
31 - تاريخ
- سبتمبر ١٩٧٠
- المنشئ
- Hadawi, Sami
- هداوي، سامي
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