The Denver Jewish news., 1920-09-01
DR.. Max Nordau on the
Future of Palestine
ENGLAND'S ULTIMATE DECISION
WILL nEPEND UPON JEWISH
TACT AND SUPPORT IN HOLY
LAND.
q. e. B. Servlcr)


New York American" Dr. Max Nor,
dau, said in npart:
Il am convinced British diploma cy
has made use of calcnlatedly elastic
expressions in order TO be free to eX.
tend or narrow their meaning accord.
| ing to the willingness and capacity of
the Jews for carrying out the task
Great Britain expects us to accom-
plish.
1T is not difficult for us to under
stand what this task consists il. Tbs
history of the Balfour Declaration has
been overgrown with luxurious veg.
citation of legends invented, spread and
! entertained by people who had per-
sonal interest in making believe that
at given moment of The World War
they had sought and fOmnd means to
approach the leading statesmen of
England and France to lay before them
| the hopes and desires of the Jewish
people. and to plead with them mag
nificcntly. convincingly, for the rec.
Ognition of its claim to Palestine at
the conclusion of the war which they
with an almost supernatural flight of
prophecy, foresaw would end in the
triumph of the Allies and the break'
ing up of the Ottoman Empire This
is pure fiction. The facts are widely
different.
! when Turkey unnecessarily, fool.
I Int I, ,
war, the Allied seatesmen resolved to
put an end to her anachronic exist
cnce. at least in Europe and in all
| Asiatic provinces not populated with
genuine Turks. England won the
Arabs over to her side by entering
into treaty with them which per
Initted the Sheriff cf Mecca, Hussein
| to proclaim himself King of Hedjas
and held out to his son Fei>al. the
prospect of carving out of the Turkish
territory one more Arab state. syria
of which he in due time would become
the ruler.
aNer was tiri~ MI THE, Allied gov
crnments hnd some Knowledge OF the
Zionist movement | myself had or
December 5. 1913. Il conversation OF
more than an hour with NJ. PiclIon
then, as again aftcrward. during the
war, French Minister of Foreign AT
fairs, a1d Informed him minuteiy oi
the history of ZioniSm, of its program
of its moral and material reasons. its
Immediate aims and its more distant
hopes. He remembered my visit three
ycars afterward. in 1916 when the
Palestine campaign under General Al
lenby had begun.
."Thc French Commissioner with th'
Allied forces. NJ Pichon. was i:lstruct-
cd by his Foreign office to put him
self at once in communication with his
british colleague. Mr.. Sykes. and to
initiute together with him on action
which was to awaken in the Jews th'
hope that they might be rewhrdrd
with Palestine If they made an effort
TO aid the Allies in winning the war
The French government desired par
ticularly to impress the American ah'
Russian Jews. the two most important
sections of the Jewish people. so thai
with their Influence they should up
hold and defend the cause of the Al
lies in their countries.
.Rcmembcr that at that time th'
Uaitcd States were still neutral. tha'
psrtisaus and advcrSaries of the par
ticipation of America in the wal
tonight hard for their ideas. and thai
=, the Jews could throw into the balance
=, weight by no means negligible.
"In Russia. also. after the crushlns
defeat of Rennenkauf in the distric
of the Easvriaa Lakes and the Ger
man occupation of Poland. public opin
ion wavered and inclined toward :
separate peace. and that it was %
great importance that the four mil
lions of Russian Icws-without thos'
of Poland-should sand firm for TN
/. continuation of the war and loyalt!
: to the Allies.
: "It was n onc-sidrd bargain. Th'
Allies spontaneously held out hopes
the few Zionists received them thank
fully. and the Jews in all the Allie'
and neutral countries learned with on
thrsiasm that in a certaia manne
they had become allies OF England L"
her enterprise in Near Asia.
England makes no sacrifice D!
promising the Jews Palestine as Ma
tional Homeland. She will not anne'
and retain as new permanent pos
, session her Palcstinian conquest. a
the Allies have sOlennly declared tha
they did not wnC" war Tor ScliF
profit. But neither can she abandon
the country. which in this case woul'
(Continu,L on Page Two.l