Omaha daily bee., 1917-12-26
Unfurling of Union Jack Over Holy City
Signalizes End of Kaiser's Long Cherished
Dream of ''Berlin- -to-Bagdad" Railroad
Taking of Jerusalem Ends Gen.
turtles of disagreement; Ex-
plotting of Inhabitants of
Palestine by Tyrants.

transfer of authority from Moslem
| Turk TO Christian.
1t ends the mlsgovernment OF CEN
turies and the exploiting OF the un-
fortunate inhabitants of Palestine
through tyranny and graft, and
gives lite to the hopes Of Jews who
seek return of~thc race to the home
of their fathers.
This class is called collectively
"Zionists,' a name that has been
mentioned often of late, and its men,
bers are quite firm in their belief in
an actual restoration of the Jewish
state with its capital, at Jerusalem
and its temple and religious rites very
much as they existed when the CITY
was captured by the Romans under
Titus and the temple destroyed in
20 A. d.
Kaiser Laid Plans.
There is another cult among the
Jews, however, who do not believe so
literally in the restoration and have
little sympathy with the ideas of the
more extreme Zionists.
1t is reported that the British gov
eminent made public announcement
that it will aid the foundation of a
Jewish state in Palestine and this has
so encouraged the Zionists that their
leaders have taken active steps lately
20 prepare for the great "homecom-
ing"
There is another thing connected
with the changes i'll the Holy City,
however, and that is that the plans Of
the kaiser for German-c controlled
Palestine as link in the chain he
sought to lay across Europe and Asia
Minor in connection with his Bagdad
railway are spoiled. Palestine in Ger
man hands would be a constant
menace to British interests in Egypt,
the Suez canal, and India. Thai
menace disappears with British con-
troll of the Holy Land,
- sonae tfaae~ agos sthe'tierman govern
nent made an attempt to colonize in
Palestine very much as it has done
in South America and in other parts
Of the world, but met with little sue
cess, though there are many Jews in
Germany who might find advantage
in emigration eastward.
Great Propaganda.
The way was prepared by a news
paper campaign which began with the
publication of scientific articles, by
experts, on the Near East, discuss
ing at great length, and with much
detail, the accomplishments of Jew
ish colonists and the vast possibi1i-
ties of Palestine from an economic
standpoint. A remarkable array of
such articles, studying Palestine from
every conceivable angle, has been
published in over 100 periodicals in
Germany and Austria.
A Munich newspaper contained
the statement that "Zionism has be-
come d question of the first magni-
tude, and Germany and Turkey have
no choice but to give it serious con-
sideration. For many years the OBJ
ject which our kaiser tried to ac-
complish by arduous political effort
has been the making of strong
Turkey. A method not to be dispised
would be the establishment of a
sttong Jewish state, under Turkish
suzerainty. AS the Jewish people
favor republics, let them, therefore,
establish a republic, which must,
however, be under the protection of
the Ottoman empire. The
idea of establishing a Jewish state is
good for that power which effects it,
Rohrbach Has Hopes.
The vice president of the Austrian
Parliament, Prof. Paul Rohrbach, is
quoted thus:
THE national aspirations of the
Jews will be listened to with more
sympathy by the allies of middle
Europe than by the entente, even
though certain papers and politicians
on that side have lately been promis-
ing great things to the Jews"
One newspaper called upon the
German government to act promptly
for the establishment of Jewish
state to "ofset the American Zion
lst proposals., and to counteract the
Wilson intrigue and to prevent Eng
land from making Use of these Ameri-
can Zionist proposals as backdoor
which will enable it to pass freely
from Egypt to India. This is the op-
portune moment for the Zionist move
ment to attain its ideal"
Another newspaper urged: That
German policy in regard to the Near
East shall be so shaped as to win the
good will Of Jewry--the great inter-
organization. For this pur-
pose, Germany's statesmen must
recognize the Jewish nationality and
their national cultural ambitions"
General Allenby has beaten Ger
many by capturing Jerusalem. The
unturfing of the Union Jack over the
hills OF the Holy City signalizes the
end of the "Berlin-t -to-Bagdad" dream.