Letter from David Ben-Gurion regarding the necessary connection with the Arab newspaper system in all matters concerning neighborly relations. Stencil printed, with Ben-Gurion's handwritten signature. December 2, 1929.
In his letter, Ben-Gurion lists the names of members from around the country who were appointed to maintain ongoing contact with the Secretariat of the Executive Committee and the editors of the Arab newspaper on all matters concerning neighborly relations, "These colleagues will gather people in their surroundings who know the Arab reality, in order to collect information for the newspaper and for economic and political action". Stencil printed with Ben-Gurion's handwritten signature.
The letter was written a few months after the 1929 Palestine riots. The riots led to a shift in Ben-Gurion's perspective regarding the Arabs in Palestine. While in 1924 he declared there was no Arab national movement, in October 1929 he recognized it as a political movement whose morality was questionable. In those days Ben-Gurion conceived a new plan for Jewish-Arab relations in Palestine – the country would be divided into autonomous Jewish and Arab cantons; two legislative houses, one with equal numbers of Arab and Jewish representatives; the cantons would be united under a Jewish-Arab federal government overseen by a commissioner from the League of Nations. His decisive task now was the immediate creation of a Jewish majority, as only then would the Arabs begin to live in peace with the Jews. As evident from this letter, he started taking steps to connect with them.
[1] leaf. Official letterhead of the General Federation of Hebrew Workers in Eretz Israel – The Executive Committee. Filing holes. Good condition.
