The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-15

tive immigrants to Palestine? He quotes the leaders of the Mohammedan- christian society as saying, During | the war the United States prohibited ! immigration, why can't we prohibit Jewish immigration?" The answer is
 plain Because the country, which for
 merly belonged to Turkey, is now to be under the supervision of the league or nations with an appointed manda-
 tory, which will most likely be Great Britain, to administer it. To do justice 10 Palestine in it's development there should be free and unrestricted imnii- grafton into this country. Furthermore the society whose leaders he quotes
 should recognize the fact that they rep
 resent minority of the potential pop
 ulation of Palestine. Millions of Jews
 in eastern Europe. considered aliens
 Tn the lands of their birth ana denied
 the privileges of citizenship claim Pal
 estine as their homeland. and are ready
 to go there and settle.
 . Your correspondent would give the
 Impression that all or more of the land
 in Palestine belongs to those who live
 in Palestine when. as a matter of truth,
 most of the land is at present owned by
 absentee Turkish and Arabian land
 lords. a considerable portion being
 Turkish crown land Zionist represen-
 tatives have no desire to buy the land
 belonging to the natives, but when the
 proper time comes their negotiations
 will be with the absentee landlords
 Your correspondent unconsciously pays a splendid tribute to the Jewish pioneers who established the 56 colonies in Pales-
 tine and made garden spots out of swamps. He calls attention to the colonies near Jaffa and Haifa, stating that they
 have broad streets, lined with we'll built houses surrounded by little gardens and characterized by an unmistakable att mosphere of western neatness. But he states. 1.-The success they have obtained is beside the point" What is the point? Apparently it is that few, houndred thousand natives who have never made any progress shall close the doors of a good-sized country in opposition to the wishes of nearly all of the allied powers. as expressed in the British declaration of November 2, 1917. and concurred in by France. Italy, Serbia and others, Presi- dent Wilson having expressed himself as follows: 'I am persuaded that the allied nations with the fullest concurrence of our own government and people are agreed that in Palestine shall be laid the foundations of Jewish commonwealth
 Those whom Clair Price interviewed ask. What have the Jews done to secure our country? Yet in a previous paragraph he deplores the fact that there are even now three Jewish regiments of the Brit ish army quartered in Palestine, wear ing the six-pointed star on the sleeves of their tunics.'' Who are they and whence came them? They are part of the Jew ish legion which fought with General Al. lenby when he swept the Turkish hordes before him in the glorious Palestinian in the fall of 1918, which com pletely broke Turkish resistance and led to Turkish equalization. Jews helped in the liberation of Palestine.
 Finally, as to the question, What is to become of us non-Jews in Palestine when the great Jewish immigration be- gins?" No one need be uneasy about that. The Jews know too well the curse or a minority. They have felt this injustice in nearly every part of the world for 19 centuries. They will never make the mistakes which have been the cause of their untold suffering for hum Ireds of years. Minority rights will al- ways be safeguarded and there is little likelihood of class legislation. Moslem, lew, Christian, free-thinker, all will have equal opportunity and the danger which your correspondent foresees will prove 70 be only trick of his imagination Yours truly, I. ABELSON.
 Birmingham, July 13, 1919.