Ernest Bevin

“ So long as government is imposed from without, neither community has the incentive to develop that sense of responsibility without which the two peoples in Palestine cannot live together in harmony. Forms of government must therefore be established which have their roots in the people of the country and which offer a prospect of full independence within a reasonably short period. ”

“ Throughout the period of mandatory rule in Palestine, it has been the object of His Majesty's Government to lay the foundations for an indepen­dent Palestinian State in which Arabs and Jews would enjoy equal rights. The state of tension between the two peoples which has existed hitherto has continually thwarted the attempts of the mandatory Power to progress towards this end. His Majesty's Government are not prepared to continue indefinitely to govern Palestine themselves merely because Arabs and Jews cannot agree upon the means of sharing its government between them. ”

“ The British Delegation cannot accept the contention of the repre­sentatives of the Jewish Agency that the rate of Jewish immigration into Palestine as a whole should be determined by the Jews alone. Nor can they accept the demand of the Arab Delegations that all Jewish immigra­tion into Palestine should cease forthwith. They do not contemplate either a settlement which would bring to an end the development of the Jewish National Home, or the admission of Jewish immigrants without reference to the effect of their entry on the rights and position of the population of the country. ”