THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, October 22, 1938. THE CITY OF CONTENTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23637, 22 October 1938, Page 12

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, October 22, 1938. THE CITY OF CONTENTION

The occupation of the old city of Jerusalem by British troops in strength indicates the institution of repressive measures on a considerable scale against the rebels who have been resisting authority and seeking to impose a reign of terror in Palestine. As one of their haunts and hiding places the old city has been invested and is being searched as closely as possible, for portion of the area is described as so honeycombed with subterranean passages as to defy exploration in the absence of expert archaeological guidance. The British casualties during these operations for the combing out of nests of rebel infection appear fortunately to have been trivial. Apart from its immediate significance this military occupation of Old Jerusalem—the city within the walls as distinct from the Greater Jerusalem of boulevards and modern buildings —the Holy City of the Bible to which pilgrimage is made, has its dramatic and picturesque appeal. The description of the Coldstream Guards and the Northumberland Fusiliers and other troops, with their steel helmets and fixed bayonets, marching through the Damascus Gate—not without opposition—the Jaffa Gate, the principal entrance to the city, and other means of access, conjures up’thoughts of happenings upon this historic ground which travel far back into the past. By virtue of tradition and association, legend and history, Jerusalem occupies a unique position among cities of the world. Sacred alike to Jews and Mohammedans, it is holy ground also to the Christian, and it is peculiarly a city of religious fervour. Old Jerusalem encloses some of the world’s most sacred sites, subjects of both reverence and disputation. The ramparts that stand today were built by Suleiman the Magnificent four hundred years ago, but are reared for the most part upon foundations of ancient fortifications, and their stones can often be identified as having been used in the walls of Herod and the Crusaders. Within their circuit every race, creed, and sect would appear to be represented. Three official languages are spoken—English, Arabic and Hebrew. The narrow, winding, crowded streets rise and fall in conformity with the hills upon which the city is. as the old hymn puts it, “compactly built together.” No city, perhaps, has occupied a larger place in literature, and no city seems to have cast its spell more upon writers, even down to our time. Many times the gates through which the British infantry passed this week have echoed to the tread of warriors’ feet. It is recorded of Jerusalem that in its lengthy annals, for it has been known to fame for over three thousand years, it has been thirty-four times captured by, or retaken from, an invader. Among those who entered it as conquerors after storm, siege, or surrender without fighting, were persons bearing names famous in religious and secular history, as David, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Antiochus the Great, Judas Maccabaeus, Pompey, -Herod, Titus, Omar, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Saladin. It was the goal of the Crusaders. Through the old Jaffa Gate on a memorable day nearly twenty-one years ago came General Allenby, on foot, albeit a conqueror and deliverer of the famous city, after four centuries of oppression and misrule, from the yoke of the Turk. This gate had fallen into disuse, but General Allenby had caused it to be reopened so that he might enter the city by the old route, and not by the breach in the walls that had been made specially for the exKaiser Wilhelm of Germany, when, forty years ago, he thought fit to descend upon Jerusalem, and to ride in “ like a popinjay King of the theatre upon a white horse, clad in a white mantle, with a crown of gold on his head.” The present occupation of the old city by British soldiers will certainly prompt the reflection that Jerusalem continues to live up to a reputation which has earned it the title of “ City of Contention.” But that these precautionary military operations are being conducted with meticulous respect for the sacred sites and places is sufficiently clear.