The Portland daily press., 1901-01-23
JEWS AND HOHAMMEDANs.
The siaguIsr ToIeratIen shown ths
Race ofIsrssI In most siosIsm coua-
tries.
lFrom the sp.oLator. london


latter in some places rersecute them thor
ribIy, az, for instance, in Morocco, where
the life OF jew, unless ne Is prote,ted
by a European consul, is hardly of NOR e
value than that Of an animal, they are,
We imagine held to be nearer TO the rul-
ing ca ts In Mussulman countries, more
like kinsfolk, than they are In any Chris
tian country, except perhaps England,
where the distinction OF creed and race is
very often forgotten. This is due, we
imagine, first of all. TO the fact that the
mussllnan races which have borne rule
have always been Asiatics, and have rae
ognized in Jews that comfy OF Asia
which is st least as strong as the bond
which, when men OF other oolors assail
them, binds the white peoples to1ether
for defense. A Jew aud an Armenia n
are safe in many Asiatio bazars where a
European, II recognized as such, would
owe his LIE to SONS personal or polit ioal
protec ion 1t was this comfy perhaps,
rather than traditional history, who b
induced the Persian monarohs through 50
many ages to recognize the descendant
OF David as Prinoes of Captivity, and
leave to them a delegated authority as of
Princes over their own people.
There Is something more. however, in
the relation OF jews to Mohsmmedans,
who, though regarding them as infidels,
and sometimes as specially offensive in
fide's, ssill ind 1t easier to form relations
with them than with Europeans MohDm-
med himself, we fancy, never quite knsw
t.oe ha Nhnt. .wbf f.f bar
people or as people specially mimi al TO
himself, and therefore to Gcd. he GER
tainly hoped at ons time for their sup
rort, and was even inclined to make OF
Jerusalem the keblah, or sacred point,
TO which his followers should turn In
prayer. he mixed Jewish legends with
his own revelations, aud to this hour
the only history OF this world in which
Mohsmm 5dans place any faith is n
variant upon the history In the Old les
lament, The khRlifs ocoa slonally raissd
Jews TO posts OF great oonhdsnoe, ard
In Spain under the Arab or Moorish dy-
rastIes they were allowed to claim posi-
tion almost OF equality. They were
sometimes noblss, so far as there can be
mobiles under q Muss 1lmon dynasty; ttey
f1Iied the professions, and II Is stll
doubtfu whsther most OF the high civil
ization Of Granada and Seville might not
be fairly assrIbed to Jewish Intelligence
and freedom from soruple In investiga
tim. Even now, though the Turk VIII
tolerate no equal near him. and though
the Jew, who is essentially Arab, IS as
far divided In blood from the TURK, who
IL essentially Mongol, as tbs European
Is, the jew sometimes obtains In Turkey
n very remarkable DC sition. He IL said
ID rule in Salcnlca, for instance, in
way which would net be tolerated In the
case of any Christian sect, and TO uss mis-
curious, undetlDed influence with the
officials-wnich does not wholly depend
ON brihery-greatly to his own CONNER
ciHl advantage.
Ire Mussulman feeling, in fact, towerd
the jew appsars to re Ssmble clcssly that
of European man toward kinsman
who is regarded as mauvats suJet to be
avoided and kept down, or, II unec's
sary, to be given up 10 the suthori,1ss,
but, neverth sless, to be rslutt4ntly ac-
hnowledged to be kinsman. The tsel-
ing toward him may be as bitter as In
any continental country, but 1t is differ
entia5ed by the facs that the contempt Is
NOT complete. A curious intBnoe o. this
ras Just come to our knowledge Inc
present writsr ought TO have heard OF 1t
long ago, but there are strange lAcuras
i'm fhe knoWle dge of all men, even up.n n
su jscts which intenselg interest them.
IL is a pre- cl lamatioD Issued by AbdurrAh-
man khsn, the prsst mt ameer OF Afghan
isssn, in 1851, addressed TO his entire |
people an1, We te i9ve, posted up In |
Herat. In this singulir paper the ameer |
treats the identity OF the Afghan tribes |
ana tte children of Israel as fact known |
ana admitted, nsrrates to the history OF |
the latter I'D to the Captivity with fair |
accuracy, and then with one superb jump |
accounts for their pgesenc, In Afgt anis-
tan by an emigration from Aratla to
"Ghour,'' where by the mercy OF Allah |
they were converted TO the true faith In /,
It the ameer speaks of 1.-THE covenant OF |
Col made with your Ancest fs, ana |
holds his PEOPLE because OF that covenant |
aud their common ancestry bound to ABB
t,in from their ice ssant, AMI to him, |
most annoying, internal quarrels. lt Is
simply impossible that such proclama-
tlon could have tesn issued TO any psoI lie
who desIised the lineage attributed TO
them, and we may. we think, assume 1t
to he o fast that Afghans. whether or no
they fully believe in their legendary de-
,csrt from the cIil iren of Israel are
proud rather than otherwise, OF the
le It nd
There is nothing, therefore, Inherently
anti-Dathetic between tina Jews AMI the |
Mussulmans, and we are driven to reflect |
as we have often been driven before, |
whether the author of Daniel neronda"
may nat nave been better inspired than
some OF her ori los, whether, that 10 the |
Jew may not some day turn out 10 be |
the neeas sary link between the West ana
the East. 1t Is rather an lmportaEt ques-
ton, for West and East are being driven
ozether as by supernatural machinery,
and begin to feel their inability to un-
derstand each other as an immediate
political and Focial impeiirent The
Jews as "a racs understand both, and
though they probably dislike both, having
lhs grayest OF all reasons, still there IS
sympathy of dislike as well as OF love and
is often given keen insight After all,
the Book OF job is probably the one poem
in the world the inner meaning and
beauty of which is as patent to Asia'ics
as to Europeans Ne oan personally tes-
tify that As'atfos Understand eveTy word
Of BunJan' "HoIy War;" and Bunyan
was penetrated through and through
with thoughts which he derived from He
brews
We rather wonder. all the more bec1uss,
of course we shall never know, how
much there Is in the Afghan legend OF
their descent from the PabriArohs 1t
seems probable tnat they simply imagined