THE ARMY IN PALESTINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23706, 13 January 1939, Page 6

THE ARMY IN PALESTINE

The statement which the War Office has issued respecting the nature of the task confronting the British military forces in Palestine serves a double purpose. It furnishes an answer to calumnies which, because of their persistent circulation, have called for official notice, and it affords the British public and the world in general a survey of the actual situation in Palestine which is definitely informative, and is calculated, no doubt, to remove a good many misapprehensions. The character of the British soldier, as it is initially observed in the statement, is too well-known to require vindication. But in face of the dissemination in foreign countries of categorical accusations against him, such, for example, as certain messages from Arab sources which the German press has apparently been glad to seize upon and give prominence to, couched in terms suggesting the practice of revolting cruelties, an attitude of silence on the British Government’s part might be erroneously interpreted. The War Office has provided the best possible answer in an authentic description of what is happening in Palestine to-day. There has been evidence enough that the task of the British troops in the mandated territory has been one of peculiar difficulty, for terrorism, with all its manifestations in treachery, outrage, ambush, and assassination, has been the weapon used against them and the peoples looking to them for protection. But the War Office document makes plain just how difficult the problem is of exercising effectively that military control which is absolutely necessary in the circumstances existing. An organised rebel army against which the British troops could concentrate does not confront them, but active rebels in large numbers are inextricably mingled with the peaceful population throughout the country. As far as possible the rebels avoid being brought into action by the troops, and, except where a gang is surprised under arms, there is no organised fighting. Practically every village, in the country, the War Office observes, has at one time or another harboured and supported the rebels and assisted in concealing ‘ their identity from Government forces, and, while in many cases this was done from sympathy, in the remainder the same result has been achieved by terrorism. Arabs suspected of favouring the Government or of giving information against, the rebels have been subjected for months past to a relentless campaign of assassination. “ The terrorist grip on the Arab population ” maintained by such a leader as Aref Abdul Razik, who is pointed to as attaining his position by a career of utter ruthlessness and implicit obedience to the orders of the Mufti, and as the principal agent of the rebel leaders outside Palestine whose purpose it is to keep the rebellion alive, is obviously one of the most serious obstacles with which the Government has to contend. An aspect of the situation which is brought out in this War Office document is the extent to which Arab is antagonised against Arab within the territory, and the atmosphere of suspicion and revengefulness created. The atrocities perpetrated have been part of the terrorism, and inevitably have led to a retaliation which is expected to manifest itself in a greater degree as the grip of the rebels upon the country is lessened. It is in such circumstances that the British soldier is being called upon to show the courage, the steadiness, and the fair play of which he has inherited the finest tradition. The strain of warfare of the kind in which he is involved must be apparent, and the attempt to depict him as a ruthless monster is merely an endeavour on the part of his enemies to further by propaganda what they are unable to accomplish by other methods. The manner of the occupation by the troops in October of the old city of Jerusalem for the purposes of search, and the meticulous respect shown for the sacred sites and places, was but one illustration of the gulf between discipline and the lurking terror and outrage calling for suppression.