Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-21
THE HOLY LAND
THRICE HOLY PALEST TINE
Bv Frederic j. HaSkin

the fulfllment for all of the words Of
Simeon of Jerusalem:
Lord now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, according to thy word;
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the
face of all people; a light to tighten
the Gentlles, and the glory of thy
people Israel"
Within the year since last Christmas
the light of freedom has broken upon
this distressed holy land, and for the
first time in all the centuries its peo-
pie have known the spirit of the faith
erhood of God and the brotherhood of
man. For eighteen centuries 1t has
been death for a Jew to enter the court
yard of the church of the Holy Sepul-
chre. For twelve hundred years no
jew has stood upon the site of the
Temple of Solomon. Bloodthirsty
Christians, forgetting the words of the
Master upon the cross. have murdered
Jews who so much as dared to ap-
proach the grave of Jesus. Cruel be-
levers upon Mohammed have cut the
throats of pious Jews who sought to
lift up their voices i'm prayer upon the
hill where Melchesidek and Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. David and Solomon,
Hezekiah and the Maccabees. invoked
the sucCor OF Jehovah. Treacherous
and vindictive Jews, suffering under
the prosecutions of centuries. have
dealt death to their enemies Of other
creeds. Ever since Jesus died on the
cross of Calvary has Jerusalem and all
this holy land been drenched with
blood shed by murderers who slew
their victims in the name of religion.
Then came this year 1909 of the
Christian era, 1868 Of the Jewish era,
and 1927 of the Mohammedan era, and
the light of liberty for The first time
broke through the clouds of religious
intolerance and illumined the churches,
and synagogues, and mosques of the
city of Jerusalem. 1t was the Young
Turks revolution.
The despotic Sultan Abdul Hamid
was oVerthrown, and the constitution
became a reality in benighted Turkey.
of which Palestine is a part. What
a great celebration it was in Jerusa-
lem! Young men of every creed united
in the demonstration of joy. Chris
tians arm i'm arm with Jews and Mo-
hammedans went boldly into the ho-
lest of all holy Christian churches, the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and
gave thanks for their new-found lib
erty. Mohammedans took with them
Jews and Christians to the platform
of the temple surrounding the mosque
of omar, and gave vent TO their joy
Gus feeling. Jews took Christians and
Turkish political allies into the sacred
precincts of their synagogues. Every
difference of faith was forgotten in the
common joy. OF course, this religious
union lasted only for a day, and now
| the old lines are drawn again, but
they are not as taut as they used TO
be, and never again will they mean
death to the trespasser. Turkey is
Ftsal IafW T.rs .I,1t wa1
from the curse of despotism.
Not free in the sense that we Amer
leans know freedom. for the habits of
centuries may not be oVerthrown en-
tirely in a moment, but free in the
sense that for the first time the spirit
of liberty and of universal brotherhood
is permitted to influence the minds of
the people. The railroad. the tele-
graph, the newspaper and the schools
now have their opportunity to remake
and remold the holy land in the light
of true holiness.
At this Christmas season every
American Christian Protestant and
Catholic, and every American Jew
should rejoice that it was the Amer
lean influence, more than all else be-
sides, that made possible these good
tidings of great JOY" The American
Missionary college of Syria furnished
the basis OF education which made the
/ Young Turk movement possible. The
American Catholics in Jerusalem did
their part in bringing to the people the
knowledge of free institutions. And,
more indirectly, but none the less ef-
fectively, it was the American influence
in opening the empire of Japan to
western civilization that gave the
Asiatic peoples a new sense of power.
and which impelled the Turks in the
near east to emulate the example of
the victorious Japanese in the far east.
Not since the wise men of the east
saw the Star of Bethlehem, not since
the angelic host charmed the shep-
herds with their heavenly chorus, not
since Jesus was laid in the manger,
has there been such a happy Christ
mas in Palestine as will be celebrated
this month. All Christendom will join
with the Christians of the holy land
in the repetition of the good tidings,
GLORY to God in the highest and on
earth peace, good will toward men,
TomOrrow-The Holy Land:
1.-THE Jerusalem of Today.