British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 307

CHAPTER VIII.

dunums respectively of land in the Beisan sub-district within zone A for 3,700 dunums at Ma'lul. Apart from the question of the relative land values upon which the Fund had computed these areas and to which Government would not have agreed, the has is of exchange whereby a larger area to be acquired by the Fund in zone A than was to be surrendered at Ma'lul (where only half the area is zone A and half zone B) was not acceptable to Government as it was contrary to the spirit of the policy underlying the Land Transfers Regulations. The third alternative was for 2,646 dunurns at Ashrafiya and 354 dunums at Tel esh Shok (a total of 3.000 dunums in Beisan sub-district within zone A and all good irrigible land) for the 3,700 dunums at Ma'lul (of which 1,700 dunums was unirrigated arable land in the plain and 2,000 dunums hill country). The Jewish National Fund assessed the value of the 3,700 dunums at Ma'Iul at the same figure as that of the 3,000 dunums in Beisan. but the Director of Land Settlement (who is the official valuer of Government) placed the former area at £P.59,400 in comparison with £P.73,938 for the latter. The land at Ashrafiya was originally purchased by Government for the settlement of landless Arabs. It was leased on short term to Arabs and was in their occupation until taken over by the military authorities in 1942 for the production of fodder required by the Forces. The Arabs expect to be allowed to go back on to the land when it is no longer required by the Army and, in July, 1945, following rumours that the land was about to be transferred to Jews, a number of enquiries were made by Arabs as to Government's intentions and there was also some agitation in the Arab press on this subject; a reply was given on behalf of Government to the enquiries that no change in the holding of this land was contemplated at. that time. The land is still required by the military authorities for the production of fodder and it is not known when it can be released from such use. Moreover, the transfer of the Ashrafiya lands to the Jewish National Fund would not have effected the consolidation of Jewish lands in the Reisan area which was a subsidiary objective of Government's proposals for exchange. In all these circumstances Government was unable to accept an offer of exchange which involved the Ashrafiya lands.

173. On 24th November, 1945, the Jewish National Fund obtained a Court order of possession of the lands at Ma'lul and on 5th December, on their application, the Execution Officers went on to the land to take possession on the Fund's behalf. The

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