The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1938 BRITAIN’S PROBLEM IN PALESTINE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21190, 10 November 1938, Page 6

The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1938 BRITAIN’S PROBLEM IN PALESTINE.

Herr Hitler’s provocative criticism of British policy in Palestine and his sneering references to the efforts the Imperial authorities are making to settle one of the most bewildering problems of the century, ought not to go unnoticed by official circles at Whitehall. It is realised, of course, that the Nazi regime would have pursued a different course! The plight of all who have even whispered against dictatorships suggests that the “solution” Herr Hitler would implement in Palestine would follow closely on the lines of the subjugation of Austria and the merciless treatment inflicted on the Jews and other foreigners in the territory over which Nazi flags fly. It is not difficult, of course, to explain the Fuhrer’s reason for making special reference to Palestine. The Nazi hatred of the Jew would, of course, prompt a settlement of the Palestine riddle that would impose fresh hardships on the Jewish race. Hence Herr Hitler’s sneering references to the efforts of Great Britain to settle the age long rivalry in an ancient country. The German leaders, on their part, ought to realise that the Great War bequeathed this generation many tough problems, and not the least of them is Palestine. Writing in The Argus the other day, A. L. Brient indulged in these interesting observations: “If It were not for the unrest with which it has been seething for the last year or two Palestine would be the most interesting and fascinating country in the world to write about—the Holy Land, the land of the Bible, the cradle of the Jewish and Christian faiths, and the scene of the conquests in their turn of the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Arabs, and the Ottoman Turks. When the Children of Israel first entered Palestine it was “a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olives and honey, whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayst dig brass.” So said the writers of Deuteronomy. But for centuries to follow the country lay waste and desolate. The glory had departed from “the glens of Samaria.” Now its glory is returning with the present renaissance by the Children of Israel, who are going back in their thousands to their "national home.” Palestine’s glories, however, have been somewhat dimmed by years of strife. When it is realised that two races are claiming the country, that a third race has been trying to keep order between them and give something of an impartial pronouncement in conflicting circumstances, and that a fourth country and perhaps a fifth country, which might not be altogether unconnected with the totalitarian disturbers of the peace of other countries, has been stirring up strife, something of the position of Palestine to day is given in a nutshell. The difficulties are almost insurmountable. Account must be taken of the difficulties of three languages, three races and three different forms and standards of civilisation, to say nothing of the known attempts of the totalitarian countries to make their sinister presence felt in any differences that arise in countries under the care of democracies. The situation has not altogether grown out of the war, but lias resulted from the intense rivalry that exists between the Arab and the Jew. The Jews on their part have been promised the country as a national home. To harassed and homeless Jews throughout the world, Palestine has become the sole refuge. The Arabs insist that they have rightful claims that have yet to be liquidated. In some countries the return of the Jew to Palestine is regarded as inevitable—the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy, and the Jews have behind them some 17,000,000 co-religionists possessing much wealth and exercising much influence in many countries. The Arabs, since the War, have been undergoing a revival, and the Palestine Arabs have made it plain that they will not be content with less than their kinsmen in other countries, where Arab races have won their freedom. And behind the Arabs is the whole Moslem world. It will therefore be seen that without the interference of Nazis or Fascists, Palestine is a knotty problem, and it is hoped that the report of the Palestine Commission that is to be presented to the House of Commons within a few days will enunciate a deflnite policy—and to be acceptable it must be in the nature of a compromise—that will give Arabs and Jews a fresh chance to work out their own salvation to the mutual advantage of both races.