§ Mr. LOVAT-FRASERasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the special needs and disabilities of women, especially of Arab women, in Palestine, and the importance of paying attention to those needs in considering all questions bearing on the future administration of the country, he will include in the proposed Royal Commission women qualified to ensure fulfilment of this purpose?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI have given careful consideration, in consultation with the High Commissioner for Palestine, to the question whether His Majesty should be advised to appoint one or more women as members of the Royal Commission. I have reached the conclusion that, although there has been a considerable intellectual and social development, since the British occupation, among the Arab women of Palestine, both Moslem and Christian, the appointment of a woman would be so incompatible with Arab ideas that it might greatly impede the commission in the prosecution of its inquiries; in fact, I am advised that devout Moslems and possibly some Jews of strict orthodoxy might be deterred by their religious susceptibilities from appearing before a commission which included a woman.