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June 14, 1893 Arabs Say No to Jewish Homeland – State of Israel Foreign Office to Sir F. Clare-Ford Affront Ottoman Prohibition of Jewish Land Purchases in Palestine

jews_purchasing_arab_title_deed_in_palestine-tifFO 78/4476 – No. 146 Draft                                                           F.O. 14 June 1893

Sir,  Y. Excl’s Despatch No 199 of the 17th ult. enclosed copies of petitions addressed to the Consul at Jerusalem by certain British subjects of the Jewish faith, in which they complain of the regulations Prohibiting Jews from buying & selling real Estate in Palestine, and appeal to HM. G. to protect their interests.

The issue by the Porte of these regulations, if directed against Jews, on account of their religion is inconsistent with the spontaneous declaration in favor of the maintenance of the principle of religious equality made by the Porte on various occasions, especially by the Turkish P.P. at the Berlin Congress as embodied in Art 62 of the Treaty of Berlin. That Article states that in no part of the Ottoman Empire shall difference of religion be alleged against any person as a ground of exclusion or incapacity, as regards the discharge of civil and political rights, admissions to the public employments & the exercise of the various professions & industries.

Source: British Foreign Office FO 78/4476 –No146 Draft

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