§ Mr. TILLETTasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if, in the instructions issued to the Director of Development in Palestine in the matter of the resettlement of Arab cultivators whose land has been disposed of to Jewish interests, it is proposed to differentiate in treatment between those Arabs who have been actually displaced by the sale of land by absentee landlords and those Arabs who have themselves sold their holdings to Jewish interests; and if it is proposed further to encourage the attempts of various organisations to promote collective action in the purchase and cultivation of land?
§ Dr. SHIELSThe instructions to the Director of Development may be taken to be conveyed in the despatch which has been laid before the House. The differentiation in treatment suggested by my hon. Friend is not contemplated in that despatch, or in the relevant passage of the Prime Minister's letter to Dr. Weizmann of 13th February. As regards the second part of the question, the matter will be one for consideration by the director, in connection with the report which he has to submit.
§ Mr. TILLETTasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what authority will regulate the future transfer of land in Palestine?
§ Dr. SHIELSAs stated in paragraph 12 of the Prime Minister's letter to Dr. Weizmann, the centralised control of transactions relating to the transfer and acquisition of land, as there described, will take effect from such date only as the authority charged with the duty of carrying out the policy of land development shall begin to operate. As my hon. Friend is no doubt aware, a director of development has recently been appointed, and he will in the near future proceed to Palestine to take up his duties in accordance with the despatch, of which a copy has been laid before the House. It is contemplated that the necessary powers in regard to land transactions will be vested in the High Commissioner.