Political report of the Executive of the Jewish Agency submitted to the ... Zionist Congress and the ... session of the Council of the Jewish Agency · 1937-08-01 · 8.1937 · p. Seite 24

24 this mediation and decided, in the words of its statement of September 7, 1936, that "more rapid and effective action must now be taken in order to bring the present state of disorder to an end with the least possible delay." With this end in view further substantial re-inforeements were sent to Palestine. The Arab leaders were thus faced with the choice of an unconditional surrender or of the disorders being suppressed by force. Even then the efforts to provide a face-saving device for the Arab Higher Committe were resumed, and as their result an appeal was addressed by the Arab Kings to the President of the Arab Higher Committee to call off the strike. On this occasion, too, the Jewish Agency drew the attention of the Government to the dangers inherent in this appeal, which had clearly been issued with the assent of the Govern ment; it was pointed out that it opened the way for a continued interference in the internal affairs of Palestine of foreign Governments which aligned themselves on the side of the enemies of fhe Mandate. 28. One of the points at issue between the Jewish Agency and the Government of Palestine was the form in which the disturbances and the political developments accompanying them were reported in the official communiques and statements. The very first intervention of the Executive with the Palestine Government in connection with the disturbances, made on the first day of the Jaffa outbreak, was intended to ensure a fair and accurate presentation of what had occurred. In doing so the Executive was actuated by the apprehension, lest this time again, as on notable occasions in the past, the true character of the event might be dissimulated and the one-sided attack of Arabs on Jews be misrepresented as the result of a commotion for which members of both communities were equally to blame. The steps taken by the Jewish Agency in this direction seemed at. first to have borne fruit. The first official communique issued on the disturbances presented the events which took place in Jaffa on April 19th, in their true light, ït announced that "disturbances occurred in Jaffa. . . . owing to false rumours that Arabs had been killed. .. in the course of which several attacks were made upon Jews." In giving the number of the Jewish and Arab casualties the communique specified that Arab deaths were caused by the police. It appeared however, that prior to the issue of that communique in Jerusalem informa-