Created the Jewish National Home

Palestinian Citizenship Certificates 

Extract from the Shaw Commission 1930:

'(III) Development of Jewish Industry.—Though factories in the sense in which that term is used in England are practically unknown in Palestine, Jewish enterprise has succeeded in establishing at Tel Aviv, Haifa, and elsewhere new industries on what, in the present circumstances of Palestine, must be regarded as a large scale. In many cases these infant industries have been assisted by the Palestine Government either through the imposition of a protective tariff or through the reduction or abolition of import duty on materials required for these industries. Partly as the result of these measures some of the industries are now establishing themselves firmly in the home market and may in time succeed in exporting their surplus produce at a price which will enable them to dispose of it in neighbouring countries.

(IV) Cultural Development.—The adoption of Hebrew as one ol the official languages of Palestine was designed to give a common tongue to, and in consequence to form a community from, persons who on their arrival in Palestine speak most languages in common usage in Europe to-day. Hebrew is now the language ot tuition in almost all Jewish schools in Palestine; in it the Jewish newspapers of the country are published, and it is in daily use in the Courts of Palestine and in other Government institutions. Its general use has no doubt given to the cultural development of the Jewish people in Palestine that impetus without which progress must have been retarded perhaps to a point at which it became negligible. In the result it has been found possible to proceed with the organization of the Jewish community on a cultural basis and, though this is not yet complete, regulations to that end were issued by the High Commissioner in 1928....' p23

Notes:

The Report of the Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August 1929 (Cmd.3530), commonly known as the Shaw Commission, was the outcome of a British commission of inquiry, led by Sir Walter Shaw, established to investigate the violent rioting in Palestine in late August 1929. The commission's report was issued in March 1930.

https://buconflict.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/shaw-commission.pdf

Mandate articles

'The Council of the League of Nations:

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed by them; and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country; and

Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country; and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine; and

Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in the following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for approval; and

Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the mandate in respect of Palestine and undertaken to exercise it on behalf of the League of Nations in conformity with the following provisions; and

Whereas by the afore-mentioned Article 22 (paragraph 8), it is provided that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League Of Nations;....'

'ART. 2.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion....'

'ART. 4.

An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration to assist and take part in the development of the country.

The Zionist organization, so long as its organization and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognised as such agency. It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty's Government to secure the co-operation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the establishment of the Jewish national home....'

'ART. 6.

The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.

ART. 7.

The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine....'

'ART. 11.

The Administration of Palestine shall take all necessary measures to safeguard the interests of the community in connection with the development of the country, and, subject to any international obligations accepted by the Mandatory, shall have full power to provide for public ownership or control of any of the natural resources of the country or of the public works, services and utilities established or to be established therein. It shall introduce a land system appropriate to the needs of the country, having regard, among other things, to the desirability of promoting the close settlement and intensive cultivation of the land.

The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency mentioned in Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair and equitable terms, any public works, services and utilities, and to develop any of the natural resources of the country, in so far as these matters are not directly undertaken by the Administration. Any such arrangements shall provide that no profits distributed by such agency, directly or indirectly, shall exceed a reasonable rate of interest on the capital, and any further profits shall be utilised by it for the benefit of the country in a manner approved by the Administration....'

'ART. 22.

English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of Palestine. Any statement or inscription in Arabic on stamps or money in Palestine shall be repeated in Hebrew and any statement or inscription in Hebrew shall be repeated in Arabic....'

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asp

 Martha's Story

“I just had to wait for my baby to be born to leave everything behind…First of all my husband was a Zionist…and secondly, there was no other possibility whatsoever. We didn’t have any connections in America or any other country, so it was Palestine.” Martha Price interview 2010.

Martha Dannhauser was born in southern Germany in 1912. She married a Jewish lawyer, Albert Kraemer, in 1933, the year the Nazis came to power in Germany. Her husband was denied work by anti-Semitic laws, and the couple realised they had to leave the country. Martha was expecting their first child, so they were not able to get to Palestine until 1934.

The family settled in Jerusalem, but unable to speak Hebrew, and with no knowledge of Ottoman law, Martha’s husband still could not find employment. Martha worked hard as a seamstress to earn some money. The exhausting effort of caring for a new baby in a strange country, and earning a living, left Martha little time to think or care about politics.

In 1947 Martha divorced her husband and left Palestine for England, with her daughter, Margot. There she married Roy Price, a military legal officer she had met in Palestine.

'Our possibility of immigrating had to do with the British. One owed one's life to the British; it's as simple as that.' Martha Price interview 2010.

How asylum policies deterred Jewish migration out of Nazi Germany: A quantitative assessment

Johannes Buggle, Thierry Mayer, Seyhun Orcan Sakalli, Mathias Thoenig 25 January 2021. VoxEU.org

'By October 1938, only 30% of Jewish people had left Germany. Besides imperfect information about the danger to them, historians attributed the relative low outmigration of Jewish people in the 1930s to the severe immigration restrictions in destination countries (Strauss 1980). Like today, most countries were extremely reluctant to admit refugees and imposed strict policies that limited immigration, including visa, quotas, and work restrictions. These policies were often backed by popular anti-immigrant sentiments, as Figure 2 illustrates for the US. In July 1938, 32 countries met at a conference in Evian, France, to discuss solutions to the Jewish refugee crisis without reaching an agreement.'

https://voxeu.org/article/how-asylum-policies-deterred-jewish-migration-out-nazi-germany