§ Lieut.-Commander Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to a forecast of the Palestine Report published in the "New York Times" of 4th July; and whether he will inquire into the matter with a view to determining if the contents of this forecast indicate that a leakage of confidential information had taken place?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreMy attention has been called to the article in question, which would seem to show that a leakage did take place. It is not easy for His Majesty's Government to institute inquiries as to how or where an American newspaper obtained its information.
§ Sir N. Grattan-Doyleasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps have been taken to make the Report of the Royal Commission on Palestine available to the Arabs and the Jews in their own respective languages; and 1998W whether any statements of Government policy on the Report have been broadcast to these communities?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreArabic and Hebrew translations of a summary of the Report were prepared before the date of publication and have been widely distributed throughout Palestine. On the evening of publication the programme of the Palestine Broadcasting Station contained a reading of a full summary of the report and a speech by the High Commissioner in the three official languages. The recent speech delivered by the Chairman of the Commission in the British broadcasting programme was repeated from the Palestine Broadcasting Station.
§ Colonel Nathanasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has taken any and what steps to invite a formal expression of the views of Arabs and Jews, respectively, on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Palestine and His Majesty's Government's statement as to policy; and, if so, with what result?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The second part of the question does not therefore arise.
§ Colonel Nathanasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Imperial General Staff has been consulted as to the defensibility of the suggested frontiers between the projected Arab state and Jewish state in Palestine; and, if so, what is the purport of their advice thereon; and whether it will be communicated to the Permanent Mandates Commission when considering His Majesty's Government's statement of policy as to Palestine?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The other parts of the question do not therefore arise.