Talk:Black letter

'Black Letter' should be a disambiguation, as there is at one valid use besides that covered in the current wiki document on the subject. There should be a new entry made with the title of 'Black Letter of 1931 (Israel-Palestine)' or somesuch, with a link pointing to it from the disambiguated 'Black Letter' landing page. However, I don't have the knowledge of Wiki formatting to do this. For justification, see below:

'The Black Letter' was the name used by Arabs to refer to the letter sent from Prime Minister MacDonald to Weizmann. In it, the PM qualified the White Letter of 1930 which had enflamed Israeli opinion. However, these modifications and conditions enraged arab states.

It came in the form of a letter from Prime Minister MacDonald to Weizmann. Perhaps to give it publicity, the letter was read in the House of Commons, printed in Hansard, the record of House of Commons proceedings, and published in The Times on February 13,1931. It stated that the 1930 White Paper did not imply any change in the government's immigration policy, nor did it place any restrictions on Jewish purchase of land. In addition, the letter stated that the government recognized the right of the Jewish Agency to formulate "Jewish labour only" policies. As to Zionist irritation with Arab claims to state land, the letter assured Weizmann that only Arabs who could provide evidence that they were displaced as a result of Jewish purchases of land, and could not find alternative land, would be given first priority.

The letter, which the Arabs referred to as the "Black Letter," was obviously a British attempt to ease Zionist concern over the White Paper, which itself was a way of assuaging Arab resentment of British immigration and land policies. And just as the White Paper had caused Zionist alarm, the MacDonald letter stirred the Arabs. According to one official source, the letter had the effect of increasing "Arab antagonism to the principle of the Mandate."3 Also, the belief that Zionist Jews "always had their way" with the British found greater credibility among the Arabs.

Source: http://www.jstor.org/view/0377919x/di009584/00p0495c/0

Dogbreath2200 00:31, 22 April 2007 (UTC)Dogbreat2200