State Lands and Rural Development in Mandatory Palestine, 1920-1948

"The league of Nations' Mandate for Palestine imposed two duties on Britain with regard to land: to closely settle Jews on state and waste lands, and to promote closer settlement, intensive cultivation and rural development in the interests of all the people of Palestine. Britain's failure to live up to Jewish expectations provoked and sustained Zionist complaint throughout the entire period of the Mandate. This books examines British pledges and performance; Jewish hopes, disappointments and achievements; and Arab opposition and loss. It also discusses the problems that needed to be addressed in order to revitalize the rural sector and assesses the impact of British initiatives and Jewish land acquisition, settlement and example on Arab Palestine."--Jacket.