HC Deb 19 July 1939 vol 350 cc385-6
66. Mr. Maxton

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has now received a reply from the High Commissioner in Palestine to his letter about the atrocities alleged in the document issued recently by the Arab Centre in London?

Mr. M. MacDonald

Yes, Sir. I have received a reply from the High Commissioner which entirely supports my description of this document as a piece of propaganda containing a mass of falsehoods.

Mr. Maxton

Will the right hon. Gentleman give me something better than that general statement that this is a mass of falsehoods? Cannot he say quite definitely and categorically that these obscene charges that were made are individually untrue, did not happen, and could not possibly have happened?

Mr. MacDonald

Yes, Sir, I can say that quite categorically. It seemed to me that the document containing those charges was so fantastic that it condemned itself as untrue, but if anything further is wanted from me, I can give the hon. Member a categorical, affirmative answer.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Does that answer also apply to the document sent to the Permanent Mandates Commission at Geneva by the leaders of the recent Arab delegation to the London Conference?

Mr. MacDonald

If I remember correctly, it was the same document, and the same answer applies to it.