WORLD'S "WILD MAN."

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 212, 6 September 1924, Page 17

WORLD'S "WILD MAN."

THE ARAB MENACE. JMPXACABLE AND UNTAMABLE (By J. LIDDELL KELLY.} To most people, the mention of the • world's wild mail will 'bring thoughts of the mythical '■missing link," or '"the ■ wild man of Borneo," or some primitive aboriginal tribe or race. The real wild man, however, is of an ancient civilisation and culture; there are some fifteen millions of him vow, living in a state of semi-barbarism, and his renaissance from that condition seems destined to cause much trouble. The wild man is the Arab, who has lived in the desert, more or less, for throe thousand years, and, after being -without a King for centuries, has now three Kings —those of Iraq (Mesopotamia), Hcjaz and Transjordania. A cable message announced the other day that the King of the Hejaz had refused to sigu the draft treaty with Britain, because he objected to the inclusion in it of a declaration regarding Palestine. This is one of the latest signs of the coming trouble iv Asia Minor. The Arabs claim, and are generally admitted to be. descendants uf Ishniaei, the eldest son of Abraham by tlie Egyptian woman, Hagar. It was said of Ishmael before he was born: "He will be a wild man," or "a. wild, ass among men" ; he -was driven into the desert when young; and biter adopted a desert life, whilst his descendants have followed and hare acted up to the prophecy concerning Ishmael — "Tfia hand will be against eyery man's, and every man's land against him." Yet again the record states that the Lord promised both Abraham and Hagar, "I will make iiiim a great nation," and it is significant to. noto that Ishmael had twelve sons, who were described as "princes." Undoubtedly the Arabs were at one time a great nation, when good Haroun-al-Raschid and others reigned at Bagdad; and Europe owes much to them for their discoveries and inventions, more than is generally recognised. But the Arabs again lapsed into the condition of wild men; and the past history of the French in Algiers and the present experiences of Spain in Morocco prove how implacable and irreclaimable tae Arabs can be, and how hard they are to conquer. In Arabia, the same "wild men" have long excluded Europeans, and, mixea with the (descendants of Esau and of Abraham's wife, Keturan, have spread over Mesopotamia and Palestine. Being an Abrahamie people, they have great tenacity' of life., and they flourish despite adverse conditions; the same heredity -has given them a genius for forming a new religion, and they now, by virtue of Mohammedan law, virtually rule one-eighth of the human race. This latter fact is one that wakes the "wild' man" a. serious factor in the world's affairs. It is in Palestine and adjacent territories that the Arab seems likely to come into sharp conflict with European, interests and designs. Despite, the nigh hopes and. far-reaching plans of the Zionists", arid ■(he British Government's pledge to give the Jews a. "national homo" in the land of their' fathers, it cannot be denied ■ffiat the Arabs actually possess and occupy. Palestine. It i≤ said that in the Holy Land there are now 30,000 AraT> landlords, and 600,000 Arab fellaheen, mostly Moslems of the. Sunni faith; and between them and the Jews there is inreterato hatred. As stated hy • the Arab-Americau Anti-Zionist Organisation—"lf tlie Jews arc fleeing to Palestine from persecution and antisemitism, they will find that persecution will meet them in intensified and bitter form in .Palestine." The Arab claim, is bold and uncompromising.. It was stated by King Feisal of Iraq, as long ago as 1919: "From the point of view of' the Arab, Palestine is a province, not a country, and our intention is to build up an Arab Empire, which must consist, as a ■mi-nhninn, of Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine. From that we cannot recede." Later, King Feisal has somewhat modified his attitude, and certain of his subjects have had their views toned dowi by means of bombs from British aeroplanes. But other Arabs remain obdurate. Moliammed Ali said at a 'public meeting in London that, by the dying injunction of the Prophet himself, all Arabia, including Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia, must remain under Moslem control. \ independent of mandates or otherwise. Some Jews, ou the other band, encouraged by the British mandate and pledge, are assuming an equally determined attitude. They are circulating a card, showing a map of Arabia crossed with the names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, with the words underneath— '•Thy land, 0 Immanuel (Tsaiah viii, B).'"' Others recall the promise to Abraham of all the land from the river of .Egypt to the Euphrates; and ..ethers /not Jews) quote tlie words of Paul —'"Cast out the handmaid and her son, for .the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the free woman/ Thus we find the sons of Isaac and the sons of Ishmael in deadly opposition to each other. What will be the end? All present indications point to trouble for the Jews, and probable war for European nations. The Arab—the wild man in possession—maintains a stubborn resisllance to British projects in Palestine. •.. Proposals for a Legislative Council, and Advisory Council, and an Arab agency have been made in turn by England, and rejected by the Arabs. Tie Arabs are not pure Semites, for Ishmael was half Egyptian, and the mother of his sons was also of Egypt; but they have sufficient Semitic blood to make them pertinacious and non-pro-gressive. As Ishmael of old mocked Isaac, so do his descendants the sons of Isaac to-day, till the latter are- fain to cry '-"Woe *is mc that I sojourn in lleshech (Moscow), that I dwell among the tents of Kedar (the Arabs in Palestine), I am for peace, but when I speak they are for war." Writing in the "Nineteenth Century," May. 1023, Sir George Buchanan, from his" long experience in Mesopotamia, declared :—'""Any delusion we have ever had as to the possibility of making the Arab a useful citizen within a period of seventy to a hundred years, has long ago been dispelled. He only desires selfgovernment as an opportunity to escape 'from all law and order." If this be so, there is a. long and troublous period ahead of the world hefore "the wild man" is subdued. But if there be trutH in prophecy, the sons of the free woman must conquer in the end. and "a?.l the glory of Kedar shall fail." If there is to be trouble for Jacob, "verily is shall be delivered out of iV*