The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1936 THE WAY TO PEACE IN PALESTINE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20503, 22 August 1936, Page 8

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1936 THE WAY TO PEACE IN PALESTINE.

Every day brings fresh proof of the increasing seriousness lof the Arab revolt in Palestine. “The beginning of the fifth week of the Arab strike, - ’ says the .Jerusalem I correspondent of 77m- Tinies. “brings no sign of relaxation. The Govern men l. the Arabs and the Jews seem equally unmoved from their irreconcilable positions.’’ Other reports suggest that the struggle, which some weeks ago appeared to have settled down to a protracted war of attrition, has been found to have its roots deep-down in the community, and it is now seen that the country is in a state of nerves, where an explosion of huge dimensions is possible. But what is behind this protracted conflict? The issues certainly go deeper than Arab opposition to the presence of Jews in Palestine. Not so many days ago. The Yorkshire Post demanded answers to the following questions: Where have the large bombs and land-mines come from that have been used to wreck roads and railways? Who paid for them? Who brought them in? Who stored them ready for use? It is realised, of course, that the tasjt of governing Palestine presents difficulties unparalleled elsewhere in the Empire, and yet evidence is not lacking of the subterranean intrigue being carried out by jealous and thrusting Powers, which are striving, regardless of cost, for supremacy in the Mediterranean: Palestine is a small country, with more political and social problems to the square mile than any like territory in the world. In the Near East, Britain has already had experience of the peculiar qualities of Arab nationalism. In India the Homeland has been faced with the classic example o£ the communal problem. In East Africa, Britain has learnt something Of the difficulties of reconciling the claims of an immigrant minority with the rights of the native population. All these complications are assembled in Palestine, and, as a condition of any solution, there has been the knowledge that Great Britain’s unique pledge to the Jewish people must not be betrayed.

Added to these baffling problems, are the known intrigue of certain Powers and the powerful appeals addressed to the Arabs, in daily wireless broadcasts—broadcasts cunningly suggesting revolt against British guidance and protection. There is the psychological effect of the failure of the League of Nations in Abyssinia. It is certain that the disorders in Palestine have been occasioned- by wlia t happened in Abyssinia. There is no doubt that the interpretation put on Italy’s victory in East Africa, served to persuade the Arabs that the end of the British Empire was in sight; and this impression was fanned by cunningly conceived foreign broadcasts. Italy, as the new found friend of the Moslems, was said to have struck a revolutionary blow at British prestige, and the deduction of the Arab leaders was that if Signor Mussolini could successfully intimidate Britain, why should not the great Arab people, who are being rapidly drawn into one united front by the activities of the Powers interested in Africa and bent on ascendancy in the Mediterranean. But a solution will not be found in that direction; indeed, it is abundantly clear, as the closest observers have repeatedly pointed out, that if Palestine is to be free and to prosper, there must be no racial domination, but an equal partnership of Jew and Arab—Palestinians all.