PALESTINE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 73, Issue 6284, 18 September 1946, Page 5

PALESTINE

PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS DURING RECENT YEARS PRESENT UNREST REVIEWED In order to understand the present unrest- in the Holy Land, it is necessary to view it against the background of history. Dr. George Stephens, in “London Calling,” overseas journal of_ the 8.8. C., reminds us .of the principal developments during recent years, and indicates the essential to a settlement of the dispute. Palestine is a small country, the importance of which in history has been out of all proportion to its size. But the importance of Palestine at the present time is the problem which it is presenting- to the British Government. Before 1918, Palestine was under the Turks and was populated almost entirely by Arabs- After the war of 1914-18, the League of Nations placed Palestine under a mandate to be administered by Grea| Britain. This mandate included an important declaration, made in 1917 by the British statesman, Lord Balfour, who had promised ‘the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.’ The Arabs strongly protested. They said that during the war the Arabs had been promised, as ,a reward for their assisting the Allies, that they should be allowed to set up independent Arab states, and that Palestine waS to be included in these states. It is certain that some such promise jhiad been given; but it is equally certain that parts of Palestine were definitely excluded from the territory under discussion. Impetus to Jewish Immigration

After the first world war, Jewish immigration into Palestine was permitted! on a limited scale. During the following years hostility between the Jews and the Arabs increased, culminating in the Arab revolt of 1929. In the following year the British Government' made yet a further attempt to reconcile the claims of Arabs and Jews, but the' task was made more difficult by the subsequent appearance of Hitler in Germany. The persecution/ of the Jews in Germany gave a great impetus to Jewish immigration into Palestine. For instance, in 1929, only 5000 Jews had entered Palestine; but in 1934—with the Nazification of Germany—it jumped to 42,000, and in 1935 it reached 02,000- These figures do not include the Jews who entered secretly. This situation presented' Great Britain, as the mandatory power, with an urgent problem. Palestine is only a small country; it already had an Arab population of 1,000,000, and Jews from all over Europe, faced with fhe growing terrors of Nazi Germany were seeking a. refuge frem the mercilgss measures of Hitler’s regime. The British Government tried (again to reach an agreement satisfactory to the Arabs and Jews alike. But neither party accepted the proposals. In 1939, the British Government published its famous White Paper. It took full account of the claims and of the needs .of both peoples, arising from the vastly changed circum-

stances of the time. It acknowledged the plight of the Jews, as well as the consolidated position of the Arab states, and it made an important declaration: ‘His Majesty’s Government now declare unequivocally that it is not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State.’ The White Paper went on to set cut the British, proposals. These provided for the setting up of an independent Palestine State within ten years, in which the particular interests of the Jews and Arabs would be safeguarded. Now why within a period of ten years? Because Palestine in 1939 was in a state of great unrest, and everybody’s attention was fixed upon the coming struggle in Europe. The British Government hoped that within that period the Jews and Arabs would learn to live together.

Further, the White Paper laid it down that law and order must be restored; sabotage, terrorism, and murder are not conditions favourable to the setting up of a political experiment. The White Paper allowed for the entry of 75,000 Jewish immigrants in the course of the next five years; the general policy being to maintain the existing proportion of Arabs and Jews. To-day that proportion is roughly 500,000 Jews, and 1,000,000 Arabs. Then came the war, and both Jews, and Arabs co-operated with Great Britain in her struggle—at times,. her single-handed struggle—against the Axis. The war changed many things, but not the hostility of Jews and Arabs to one another in Palestine. To-day, Palestine is a vast dump of illegal arms and munitions. So much so that the British Government has been forced, because of the evidence in its hands, to arrest a number of the leading Jews in Palestine.

But there -are aspects of the matter which the Jews find it difficult to appreciate- The Jcavs as well as the Arabs continue to assert that the promises which were made to them in the first world war must be carried out although the circumstances have radically changed. No one seeks to disguise the fact that Great Britain has her own interests in Palestine, The British plan to evacuate her troops from . Egypt means that the Suez Canal must be guarded from some other base. Further, the important pipe-line from the oil (fields of Iraq ends at the Palestinian port of Haifa. But Great Britain has also another interest in Palestine, one she would be very glad to be rid of, if she could, and that is the prevention of a war between the Arabs and the Jews. To prevent what would be a desperate struggle, Britain must stay until some plan has been accepted by both sides whereby Jews and Arabs can live together. The political enmity of the Jews and Arabs is complicated* by religious factors. Both regard Jerusalem as being of immense religious significance. The significance of Jerusalem to Christians need not be emphasised here. Meanwhile, the situation’ in Palestine deteriorates with every shipload of Jewish refugees that arrives. What is to be done? Neither the Jews nor the Arabs w;ll ever leave Palestine- And if they will not leave, then obviously they must find some means cf living together in what is a very small country; and if neither party shows any sign of being able to co-operate with the other, then somebody must maintain order. That order has so far

been maintained at tfce cost of the British taxpayer, and by the lives of British soldiers. A second thing- that is also plain—although some of the more fanatical of the Jewish movements will not face it—is the fact that if British troops were to leave Palestine, the Jews, out-numbered by the Arabs by two to one, would have to make terms with the Arabs; for behind the Arabs in Palestine are the powerful Arab states of the Middle East. Both sides have been collecting arms and weapons.

Evidence has recently come into the possession of the British Government that certain high-ranking Jewish leaders and their organisations are implicated in this* illegal arms tiaffic. The British Government has been forced to take strong measures. A very wide search has been carried cut to find these illegal stores of weapons, and the quantities of weapons which have been found indicate how explosive the whole situation is.

Recently, Great Britain invited the United States to take an interest in this problem. (There are strong reasons why the Americans should do so). The Americans have many Jewish citizens in their own country, many of whom have been exerting pressure of late on President Truman. Also, the Americans are very interested in oil. The oil wells are in Arab territory, and it would not be to America’s advantage to have the whole Middle East alive with a racial war. America, therefore, has a political as well as a humanitarian interest in the Jews in Palestine. Meanwhile, the British soldier shoulders the burden, not liking the job, but doing it with characteristic English cheerfulness. He is shot at and stoned; trains are blown up; officers ’ are kidnapped; and murder waits at the street corners. The American President has recently stated in response to strong Jewish pressure in America that he is prepared to take the responsibility of sponsoring another 100,000 Jewish immigrants. The Jews, who' now number 500,000, state that they will not be satisfied until there aye 2,000,000 Jews in Palestine. Now it is not clear whether President Truman’s proposal to sponsor another 100,000 immigrants is an ‘instalment or a final figure, and, what is equally important, the President does not say

whether he is going to send American soldiers to protect the immigrants, or whether he proposes to leave- this task to the British, No Decisions Until Terrorism Ceases It would seem reasonable, if America is in favour of increased Jewish immigration into Palestine, that she should be prepared to risk American Eves in the policing of Palestine, and not leave the whole of this unthankful task to the British soldier. One thing, however, is plain. Mr Attlee, the British Prime Minister, speaking in the House of Commions not long ago, said that the future of Palestine cannot be discussed so long as gangs of terrorists, with illegal supplies of arms, continue tlieir violent activities. The British Govern merit will not be terrorised into, mak-. ing decisions favouring eno race or the other. 'lf the Jews and the Arabs will take note of the Prime Minister’s declaration, the''future of Palestine can be settled—but not until order has been restored and terrorism has ceased. No settlement worth the name can be achieved by throwing bombs in the dark. The situation calls , for reason, not passion, and reason is the one thing most difficult to find in Palestine,