June 14, 1893 Islam Says No to Jewish Homeland and State of Israel

Foreign Office to Sir F. Clare-Ford Affront: Ottoman Prohibition of Jewish Land Purchases in Palestine

FO 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 Government. 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 Article 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