Summary
A member of the Palestine Bar who gave evidence on behalf of the Jewish Agency to the Peel Commission, in the Report’s account of the State and waste lands grievances in Chapter IX (Report of the Palestine Royal Commission, PDF p.254-255 / printed p.243-244).
Details
- Joseph referred the Commission to the Government’s Annual Report for 1920-21, in which figures of 942,000 dunums of State land and two to three million dunums of waste land “much of which is capable of improvement and productivity” are given (PDF p.254-255 / printed p.243-244).
- He declared the shrinkage in the total area of State and waste lands was due to inadequate steps taken by Government to preserve its property, especially in earlier years, and described the Ottoman-law ten-year cultivation title practice and the Mukhtar-certificate procedure as he alleged it operated (PDF p.255 / printed p.244).
- The Commission’s inquiries did not sustain the allegation: it records the Land Registry’s critical scrutiny procedure and holds that not more than approximately 165,000 dunums of unregistered State land had been affected by such claims (PDF p.256 / printed p.245).