British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 257

CHAPTER VIII.

way intended. At land settlement, rivers, wadis and drainage channels have been registered in this category as lands controlled by Government on behalf of the community.

80. A considerable area of land is purchased or acquired (under the expropriation laws) by Government. This of course becomes the "private property" of the Government, although some, such as roads and irrigation channels, is devoted to the use of the community.

81. The account given above describes the various divisions of legal tenure in which public lands are controlled by the State; Land which, in the operation of the Land (Settlement of Titles) Ordinance, is found to belong to the State is registered, in the phraseology used in the Order-in-Council, in the name of "the High Commissioner for the time being, in trust for the Government of Palestine". With the exception of the land referred to under paragraph 79 above as matruka, practically all such public lands are registered in the miri category; a few are registered as mulk.

82. The Royal Commission in In37 found that a really final an<], reliable statement of the Government domains and waste lands would not be possible until the operations of the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance are concluded over the whole country *. Some 12,577 square kilometres lie in the deserts of Beersheba. It is possible that there may be private claims to over 2000 square kilometres which are cultivated from time to time. The remainder may be considered to be either mewaf. or empty miri -. None of it has come under the operation of the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance. Excluding Beersheba, the remaining land area of Palestine is 13, 7 43 square kilometres. Some 3000 of this is represented by the tract of mountainous wilderness east of Hebron, Jerusalem and Nablus. When this comes under settlement of title, a large part of it will doubtless be found to. be empty State land. In the remaining 10,743 square kilometre" the ownership of nearly 4,500 square kilometres has been settled. and, of this, over 660 square kilometres has been found to be. public land, the larger proportion unoccupied rocky or sandy land, wadis, etc. and areas reserved for forests or for village: uses. The fiscal tax records show that out of the 10.743 square kilometres more than 7 ,000 are cultivated and may be assumed to contain a preponderance of private property; some will no' doubt be found. to be part of the village land. In addition to the area of 660 square kilometres "settled" as State Domain in; Palestine, there is an area of 900 square kilometres in respect of
______________
* Royal Commission's report, chapter IX, para 23.

Page 257