The New York Times · New York, New York · 13 December 1936

CP-1936-020

PALESTINE’S LAWS ON LAND ASSAILED

Lawyer Says Jewish Owners Are Now at the Mercy of Arab Trespassers.

By JOSEPH M. LEVY

Shown from the top. The whole column — 3.6 times taller than it is wide — is in the enlargement.

Scan 342 × 1220 pixels

Transcribed from the clipping

JERUSALEM, Dec.

12.—The fact that, under the Palestine land laws, a title deed to property is not sufficient guarantee of ownership and that trespassers can remain in occupation while holders of the legal title are obliged to take costly proceedings against them, was revealed by Solomon Horowitz, a prominent Palestine lawyer, before the British Royal Commission of Inquiry yesterday.

The members of the commission were also surprised to hear that the chief secretary of the Palestine Government several years ago, ordered police not to evict such trespassers unless the eviction was first ordered by a court.

Since then this anti-Jewish discrimination in land disputes was said to have become a general practice. although the chief secretary’s order was never officially published. He said false claims were often manufactured against Jewish estates with the object of extorting money from the owners who. in many cases, paid large sums to avoid protracted litigation. Mr.

Horowitz referred to Article 11 of the Palestine mandate. which states that the administration shall introduce a land system appropriate to the needs of the country. In his view this implied something new. but the administration had not introduced a new system.

The present land system is based on the Ottoman code of 1858 as amended by Land Disputes Ordinance, the Protection of Cultivators Ordinance and the Land Settlement Ordinances. Under the present system, Mr. Horowitz said, titles were very insecure. Fees of 3 per cent of the gross value of land were paid for registration, and yet the security given was very slight.

“The title is not deemed to be guaranteed” is the foot-note to every kuhan (title deed). Mr. Horowitz suggested that police be empowered to evict known trespassers. He further criticized various ordinances governing property rights, showing how they inflicted hardship on the owners.

How this transcription was made

Read from the scan by a machine looking at the image of the page, not by optical character recognition and not by a person. The clipping carries no masthead or date line, so its date and newspaper rest on the record it arrived with, not on anything visible in the scan.

Context added by this archive

Date check: No masthead or page date line on the clipping. The credit line under the byline reads “Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES,” corroborating `pub`. The dateline reads “JERUSALEM, Dec. 12.”, consistent with `date` 1936-12-13, but the printed date is not visible.

Cite this clipping

More from The New York Times

• The Maine Colony in PalestineThe New York Times · 12 November 1866
• Jewish Colonization in PalestineThe New York Times · 9 December 1883
• Jewish State in Palestine OpposedThe New York Times · 9 July 1897
• ZIONIST CONGRESS IN BASELThe New York Times · 31 August 1897
• ROME FEARS THE ZIONISTSThe New York Times · 12 September 1897
• PROGRESS OF ZIONISMThe New York Times · 16 December 1901
• 852 more from this paper in the full text →

More from the 1930s

• INCREASED BUILDING IN PALESTINE URGEDThe New York Times · 27 January 1936
• BRITAIN ANSWERS DEMANDS BY ARABSThe New York Times · 30 January 1936
• PALESTINE ARABS STRIKE.The New York Times · 5 February 1936
• “Shirt” Movements Growing in PalestineWisconsin Jewish Chronicle · 20 March 1936
• SUES ON PALESTINE NAMEThe New York Times · 11 April 1936
• Tension Is High in JerusalemThe New York Times · 21 April 1936
• All 218 clippings from the 1930s →