The Ekalaka eagle., 1915-02-26
Holy Sepu|cher For Which Cru
saders Fought Has Been In
Turks Hands For Centuries.
Mos|em Soldiers Now Guard
Its Gates - Palestine Fears
British |nvasion-HiIls Around
Nazareth Fortified.

ASH va
which the crusades of the mid
die ages were undertaken, will
at last become the property of the
Christians Of the world in case the al
lies win in the European war. Today
the keys Of this the most venerated
sanctuary in Christendom are held by
the Turks. and Moslem sentinels stand
outside Of its doors night and day,
while the pavement in front Of its
main entrance is occupied at all hours
by beggars and street peddlers, who
assail visitors and passersby.
Military preparations have been made
In anticipation of a British invasion Of
are said to be fortified. and roads suit
able for the transport Of heavy guns
ore being constructed from Acre to
Mount Carmel.
America as Protector.
The London Chronicle editorially
suggests that America may eventually
be called upon to exercise sort Of
suzerainty over Palestine
''If victory crowns the banner Of the
allies" it says, "the doom Of the Otto
man empire will be sealed. What is
to become Of Palestine? 1t is one Of
the great crimes of history that the
cradle of Christianity should for CEN
turies have formed q part Of the do
minion Of non-Christian people. When
the Turk goes who and "'hat is to take
his place? Is there any chance of a
Zionist ideal materializing into an ac-
tuality? At the present time the Jews
form only very small minority of the
Inhabitants, but If, with the sympa-
thetic help Of great powers, the Jew.
1sh state We're created new Palestine
would doubtless be lodestar to Jews
the world over, and the ancient glories
Of Judea might be revived.
Gwen were the new Zion to become
an accomplished fact and the Jews
once more had a national hearth and
home provision would still have to be
the holy sepulcher and other sacred
places to which every year scores Of
thousands of Christians, chiefly from
Russia, make pilgrimage. We as
sumo that new Palestine, whether it
be predominately Hebrew or non-He-
brew, will at the outset. be a state with
limited self government rights under
the protecting wing Of some great
power. Who is that power to be?
France has traditional claims to the
protectorate of Christian races in Asia
Minor and has historic links with Syr-
ia. England is the protector of Egypt
and Palestine for ages has acknowled-
ed the suzerainty Of the Pharaohs.
America has for many years dis
played a wonderful enthusiasm for
missionary and educational work in
Asia Minor. That Palestine should be
placed under the guardianship of one
or the other of these powers seems
fairly obvious. The problem Of its fu-
ture will not be an easy one to solve"
Contained Within Walls Of Church..
The sepulcher is contained within thu
walls of a church, in which not only
the Catholics, but also the Greeks, the
Armenians and the Copts, have affairs
of worship. 1t is Il grotto or cavern,
consisting Of two rooms hewn out Of
living rock. The outer chamber, which
is sixteen feet long by ten feet wide, is
called the Chapel Of the Angels. The
inner room is the sepulcher itself and
contains the stone on which the body
Of Jesus reposed.
It was in the outer chamber, the Wis
1tor is told, that the angels announced
the resurrection to the holy women.
In the middle Of the floor, covered with
white marble, richly carved, is a por-
tion of the stone on which, as described
In the Scriptures, the angel sat on
Easter morning. Suspended from the
roof are fifteen lamps, representing as