"ملف ٣٢/١١ اللجنة الملكية المعنية بفلسطين" [و‎‎١‎١] (٣٠٨/٢١)

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providing public security has not been discharged. Should disorders
break out again of such a nature as to require the intervention of
the Military, there should be no hesitation in enforcing martial law
throughout the country under undivided military control. In such
an event disarmament should be enforced and an effective frontier
organization established for stopping smuggling, illegal immigration
and gun running. In the absence of disarmament the supernumerary
police for the defence of Jewish Settlements should be continued as
disciplined force.
The collection of intelligence was unsatisfactory during the
^^^ike. The majority of Palestinian officers in the Criminal Investi-
*"^^tion Department are thoroughly devoted and loyal, but the
junior ranks, like the majority of the District police, though useful
in times of peace, are unreliable in time of trouble. It would be
highly dangerous to expose the Arab police of Palestine to another
strain of the same kind as that which they endured last summer.
In “ mixed ” areas British District Officers should be appointed.
Central and local police reserves are necessary. A large mobile
mounted force is also essential, whether in the form of a Gendarmerie
or by increasing the British Mounted Police.
After the 1929 disturbances, though 27 capital sentences were
confirmed, only three murderers suffered the extreme penalty. In
1936 there were 260 reported cases of murder, 67 convictions and
no death sentences. The prompt and adequate punishment of
crime is a vital factor in the maintenance of law and order.
Collective fines totalling over £60,000 were imposed during the
years 1929-36 : only £18,000 has been collected up to date. If
collective fines are to have a deterrent effect they should be limited
sum that can be realized, and a body of punitive police should
quartered on the town or village until the fine has been paid.
The penalties provided by the Press Ordinance and the action
taken under it are insufficient. An Ordinance should be adopted
providing for a cash deposit which can be confiscated and for
imprisonment as well as payment of a fine ; also, in case of a repeti
tion of the offence, for forfeiture of the press.
Police barracks and married quarters are urgently necessary in
certain towns.
The entire cost of the measures proposed could not be met from
the revenues of Palestine. Grants-in-aid from His Majesty’s
Government in the United Kingdom would be required on a generous
scale. The immediate effect of these measures would be to widen the
gulf that separates the Arab from the Jew, with repercussions
spreading far beyond the borders of Palestine.