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'File 15/18 FOREIGN AND POLITICAL DEPARTMENT CIRCULARS RECEIVED FROM THE GOVT OF INDIA.' [10v] (24/370)
The record is made up of 1 file (185 folios). It was created in 19 Nov 1928-2 Nov 1944. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
I
2
ARMING OF JEWS.
Two aspects of this question have arisen and
will be dealt with separately.
(1) Proposal that Hebrew ex-soldiers and
other staunch persons should be armed.
On the 24th August the Officer Administering
the Government reported as follows :—
The Jewish organisations are bringing strong
pressure to bear on me to arm Hebrew ex-soldiers
and other staunch persons and they are charging
the Government with weakness for not having
done this hitherto. While the feeling of the
Jewish organisations is easily understood, my
advisers and I feel that where it is possible to
afford a measure of protection to menaced settle
ments, a step such as that proposed would so
inflame the whole Arab population of Palestine
and Trans-Jordan that the danger to the Jews
would be greatly increased and a general rising
might be caused. In this view the Officer Com
manding, R. A. F. concurs.
The prompt arrival of troops from Egypt will,
it may be hoped, give the Jews the necessary
defence without our having to incur the risk
which their arming would occasion.
In his reply the Secretary of State noted the
0. A. G.'s views on the general question of arm
ing Hebrew ex-soldiers and referred to repre
sentations made by Mr. Sacher of th© Zionist
Executive urging the need for arming Jewish
colonists in places where they would not be given
protection and suggesting their being placed
under discipline as special constables or other
wise. The Secretary of State left the final deci
sion to the Officer Administering the Govern
ment, with the instruction that the matter must
be viewed in the light of any advice given by the
Officer Commanding the Troops.
Rumours appear to have been current in
Moslem circles that the Government had armed
the Jews, but this is not the case, the Officer Ad
ministering the Government has given a formal
assurance to Moslems to that effect.
(2) Disarming of Jews.
While, as will be seen above, the Government
was accused in Moslem quarters of arming the
Jews, allegations were received on the other
hand that the Government was confiscating aims
in the possession of Jews and forbidding self-
defence under pain of arrest.
The ascertained facts are as follows :—
On the 23rd and 24th August the Government
put into force the emergency provisions of the
Police Ordinance under which, inter alia, any
person found in any public place in possession
of a weapon which might be used in a disturb
ance is liable to arrest without warrant and to
certain penalties. This provision is of course
applicable to all sections of the population.
At an early stage of the disturbances special
constables were enrolled, and armed by the police^
and of these a number were Jewish. On the
27th of August, following on representations
from a Moslem deputation to the effect that in this
respect the assurance of the Government that it
had not armed the Jews was inaccurate, the
Officer Administering the Goverrmenl gave
orders for the Jewish special constables to be
disarmed. This action was taken with the con
currence of his civil and military advisers.
The Officer Administering the Government re
ports that the decision was an unpalatable one
to take in view of its apparent harshness to the
individuals whom it affected, but there can be
no doubt that it was taken on an unassailable
principle and was in the best interests of the
Jews as a whole since it removed an important
irritant of the whole Arab population both in
Palestine and Trans-Jordan. While anxiety to
be armed by the Government of the Jews in
Palestine many of whom have been subjected
dm lug the last lew days to bloodthirsty and
ruthless attacks on their lives and property and
many of whom are also unarmed is natural, the
(Officer Administering the Government considers
that the Jewish leaders in taking a short as
against a long view seem to have failed to appre
ciate the greater danger to the Jewish popula
tion and the whole country which would have
arisen if their request had been granted.
LC597FD—250—11 -10-29—GIFS
About this item
- Content
The file contains Government of India circular letters, memoranda and notices issued mainly by the Foreign and Political Department. These were sent to the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire who forwarded them to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain and others. The circulars contain instructions, information and guidance on a wide range of topics. Most circulars are about the staffing and financing of departments and offices of the Government of India. Topics addressed include the following:
- The grant of an exemption to British consular and political officers stationed in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , from payment of rent for their accommodation, 1929;
- Revised regulations regarding the wearing of foreign orders, decorations and medals by both Government of India officers and British subjects, 1930;
- An instruction to review local expenditure and actively reduce costs as part of a drive for retrenchment of expenditure by all departments and offices of the Government of India, 1930;
- Notice of a new declaration to be made to Persian Customs by foreign travellers and pilgrims entering Persia, about the amount of foreign money in their possession, under a new Persian Foreign Exchange Law, 1931.
There are also several circulars in the file that communicate official British foreign policy in other parts of the world during periods of disturbance, so that British officials elsewhere would be able to counteract any inaccurate reports in circulation. Included are circulars about British occupied Palestine in 1928-1929, as follows:
- Printed circular memoranda from the Colonial Office, London, 1928, entitled ‘The Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem’, ‘Disturbances in Palestine’ and ‘Arming of Jews’;
- Circular telegram from the British High Commissioner, Jerusalem, 1929, about the reaction of the Arab population in Jerusalem to his instructions temporarily regulating religious observance at the wailing or western wall , pending a British Government enquiry into the existing rights of Muslims and Jews.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (185 folios)
- Arrangement
File papers are arranged chronologically. They are followed by file notes (folios 184-188), which include a chronological list of documents in the file dated 1938 onwards (folios 109-182), together with their unique document reference numbers to help identify them. The list also records the folio number and a simple reference number from 37 to 65 that has been written on many documents, usually the circulation slips, in red or blue crayon and encircled, to help locate them in the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation is written in pencil in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the second folio, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 189. Some of the parts of the file have been paginated, which means that there are a number of folio numbers missing from the sequence. Foliation omissions: f 7, f 11, f 13, f 15, ff 76-77, ff 166-169. Foliation errors: f 3 is followed by f 3A, f 123 is followed by ff 123A-C. Folio 94 is folded.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'File 15/18 FOREIGN AND POLITICAL DEPARTMENT CIRCULARS RECEIVED FROM THE GOVT OF INDIA.' [10v] (24/370), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1461, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023731157.0x000019> [accessed 11 March 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1461
- Title
- 'File 15/18 FOREIGN AND POLITICAL DEPARTMENT CIRCULARS RECEIVED FROM THE GOVT OF INDIA.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:3v, 3ar:3av, 4r:6v, 8r:10v, 12r:12v, 14r:14v, 16r:75v, 78r:118v, 120v:123v, 123ar:123cv, 124r:132v, 133v:165v, 170r:188v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence