THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, October 20, 1937. TERRORISM IN PALESTINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23327, 20 October 1937, Page 10

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, October 20, 1937. TERRORISM IN PALESTINE

" Widespread disorders and shooting continue in Palestine." The details of outrages by which this message from Jerusalem is amplified emphasise the seriousness of the immediate problem confronting the mandatory authority in the Holy Land—that of ensuring order and security. It "is no new problem, but at the moment it is presenting itself in an intensified form. A few weeks ago official hopes that terrorism had run its course in Palestine were cruelly falsified by the murder of Mr Andrews, Acting District Commissioner for Galilee, and other outrages. By way of explanation of this murder it has been said that Mr Andrews was understood to favour partition as the fairest method of removing the grievances of Jews and Arabs alike, and was therefore threatened and assassinated. The terrorism that has reared its head again in Palestine within the past month represents an obvious attempt to reopen the campaign of violence that swept over the country last year. The methods of conciliation which were adopted during that outbreak had no permanently good effect. In July last the Royal Commission! on Palestine reported: "Today it is evident that the elementary duty of providing public security has mot been discharged." Justification for that opinion is unfortunately manifested in the present situation. During the last few weeks the Palestine Government has been compelled to take more drastic action than heretofore, declaring illegal the Arab Higher Committee and all constituent bodies, and arresting and deporting prominent Arabs suspected of fomenting terrorism and the impulse to the committal of crimes. It deprived the Grand Mufti of office, a step which it could probably have taken with advantage at an earlier date in view of the subversive nature of his influence and dealings. That worthy seems, for the reports

of his doings are somewhat at variance, to have made his escape from the country, leaving behind him an exhortation to his co-religionists to continue to "fight against oppression." According to one source of information, he is planning to visit Italy, presumably to seek the support of Signor Mussolini, who some months ago sententiously proclaimed himself Protector of the Faithful. A fortnight ago the Italian press found what it considered a suitable opportunity for launching an attack upon what it called " British terrorism " in Palestine, and Signor Mussolini's own voice seems now to be discernible in a disreputable attempt on the part of his own journal to make capital at Great Britain's expense out of the situation in the Holy Land. The world at large will at least appreciate the irony of an appeal to humanity that originates from such a source. The necessity for a strong assertion of authority in Palestine for the suppression of lawlessness and murder was perhaps never more clearly demonstrated than at the present time. The most recently reported outrages have been of a particularly reckless and dastardly kind. The victims have been Arabs of moderate views, as well as British officials and Jews. Sabotage, as in the case of the wireless service at Lydda, has been an accompaniment of a kind that was to be expected. In what relation this fresh campaign of terrorism stands to the partition proposals it is difficult to judge. Arabs and Jews have alike opposed the Commission's plan, but it is plain that the Arab extremists are not in the least disposed to be more tolerant of the Jews on that account. Their attitude is based on an irreconcilable antagonism to any Jewish settlement in Palestine. Its venom is being displayed in the ugly nature of the outrages of most recent occurrence. These constitute a challenge with which there can be no compromise. Clearly this terrorism in Palestine is a symptom which must be stamped out conclusively before any progress can be made with plans for the future of the country and its inhabitants.