Permanent Mandates Commission > Mandates system

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nistration, to assist and take part in the development of the country.
At first and in accordance with the terms of the Mandate, this role was
entrusted to the Zionist Organisation; later, however, from 1929
onwards,^that organisation was replaced by the “Jewish Agency for
Palestine ”, which includes representatives not only of the Zionist
Organisation but also of other Jewish bodies in various countries. In
consultation with the Mandatory, this agency takes steps to secure the
co-operation of all Jews willing to assist in the establishment of the
Jewish national home. While ensuring that the rights and position
of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, the Administra¬
tion, for its part, must facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable
conditions and, m co-operation with the Jewish agency, encourage
close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste
lands not required for public purposes. A nationality law is to be
enacted containing provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition
of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent resi¬
dence in Palestine.
The Administration is to take all necessary measures to safeguard
the interests of the community in connection with the development of
the country, and, subject to any international obligations of the Manda¬
tory, to provide for public ownership or control of any of the natural
resources of the country, or of public works, services and utilities. The
land system must be appropriate to the needs of the country, having
regard to the desirability of promoting the close settlement and intensive
cultivation of the land. The Administration may arrange with the
Jewish agency, provided for by the Mandate, to construct or operate,
upon fair and equitable terms, any public works, services and utilities,
and to develop any of the natural resources of the country, in so far as
these matters are not directly undertaken by the Administration. No
profits, however, distributed by the Jewish agency are to exceed a
reasonable rate of interest on the capital, and any further profits are to
be utilised by it for the benefit of the country m a manner approved by
the Administration.
English, Arabic and Hebrew are the official languages of Palestine.
Any statement or inscription in Arabic on stamps or money is to be
repeated in Hebrew and vice versa. Holy days of the respective com¬
munities are legal days of rest for the members of such communities.
All responsibility in connection with the Holy Places and religious
buildings or sites in Palestine, including that of preserving existing
rights and of securing free access to the Holy Places, religious buildings
and sites and the free exercise of worship, while ensuring the require¬
ments of public order and decorum, is assumed by the Mandatory.
The latter has no authority to interfere with the fabric or management
of purely Moslem sacred shrines, the immunities of which are gua¬
ranteed. The Mandate also provides for the appointment by the Man¬
datory of a special commission to study, define and determine the rights
and claims in connection with the Holy Places and those relating to the