ABSTRACT
In 1947 the Mandatory Government submitted a report on the economic, social and political condition of the country to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. Had the Arab leaders accepted the basic Zionist thesis that Palestine was the homeland of the Arabs who lived in it and of the Jews who were returning to it, the Arabs would have achieved long-term social and economic success. The Arab educational network that was supported mainly by the Mandatory Government and partly by the municipalities and the Missions increased fourfold between the years 1925 and 1945. In 1947, the country awaited the fateful political decision; the economy of the Arab community was in full swing of development in agriculture, industry and commerce, and other branches of endeavour. In 1947, 30,000 Arabs worked as hired laborers in agriculture, primarily in the citrus groves. About one-quarter of them were employed by Jews.
