A Survey of Palestinian Industry: Capital Resource of Palestine Industry before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 510. Chapter XIII: Section 4

CHAPTER XIII.

The survey was not complete in the sense that a census of population is complete, but an attempt was made to spread the network of enumeration as widely as possible and to contact every known establishment employing skilled tradesmen. The total number of skilled persons enumerated amounted to 41,063 of whom 36,073 were males and 4,990 were females; the division by "race" showed that, of the skilled persons enumerated, 26 ,126 were Jews, 13,636 were Arabs and 1,301 were of other "race". The other "races" include mainly Armenians.

117. The tradesmen were classified in accordance with five grades of skill :-

(a) Highly skilled, being a tradesman of considerable experience, with ability to direct learners, including foreman;

(b) A fully competent tradesman who can do specialised work requiring no supervision;

(c) A competent tradesman requiring very little supervision; (d) A routine tradesman who does not require constant supervision;

(e) A learner.

According to these classifications, the workmen surveyed fall into the following categories :-

I Total

1) Jewish factories
and workshops 20,104 3,780 3,640 6,*66 4,162 2,633 423
2) Arab factories
and workshops 8,838 345 1,476 3,285 2,431 1,301 -
3) Electricity and mineral
oil establishments 1,435 215 298 528 286 113 -
4) Government workshops 2,022 203 476 682 309 343 9
5) Services workshops 8,664 489 1,228 2,917 3,242 761 27
~
Total 41,063 5,032 7,118 12,873 10,430 5,151 459 If the definition of skill is to be interpreted in not too diluted a fashion, it would be advisable to confine the conception of skilled tradesmen to categories (a) and (b). Thus of the 41,063 workmen surveyed, 5,032 are in category (a) (or 12% of the total) and 7,118 in category (b) (or 17% of the total).

D. Capital resources of Palestine industry.

118. The first to found a modern industry in Palestine and thus open the industrial era in this country was the late Baron Edmond de Rothschild who, realizing that to maintain a reasonable standard

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