Evening star., 1922-08-20
TRIPLE RELIGION
GRIPS PALESTINE
Three Sabbaths, Three Lam
guages and Rows Over
Holy Places Persist.
M0sLEMs GROW BITTER
Fear Jews and Christians Plan to
Seize Spots Sacred in Mo-
hammedan Legend.
BY JuNIuS II. WOOD.

BY JUNIUs b. WOOD.
Especial Correspondence of The star and
Chicago Daily News Foreign Service!
JERUSALEM, Palestine. June L.
In Palestine there are three official
languages, three Sabbaths every
week, three different times by which
to set ones watch. three styles of
cooking in the hotels. and SO on.
Great Britain having the mandate
makes English essential as an official
| language. Palestine being ma
! tional home for the Jews requires
! that Hebrew be an official language.
| and AS more than SS per cent OF the
population are Arabs, their language
! and customs. which have prevailed
| in the country for centuries. must
| be officially recognized.
| On Friday the shopper is liable to
| find his favorite shop closed because
its Mohammedan proprietor has gone
| to a mosque for prayer. On Satur-
day all the Jewish shops are closed,
and on Sunday. of course, the banks
! public Offices and stores with Chris
| tian proprietors are shut. All gov
| ernment notices. the postage stamps
| and telegraph blanks are printed in
! three languages, and. naturally.
clerk who deals with the public
should be trilingual. All holidays
are observed. each employe, accord
! ing to his religion That it increases
the expense and number of employees
! is obvious. but this is only one of
, the many difficulties Great Britain is
| facing in the troublesome mandate
Quarrel Over Holy Places.
Palestine is the holy land for three
! world religions-Hebrew. Christian
and Mohammedan. The world has
I2.205,000 Jews, 564,5I0.o90 Christians
and 221,S25.000 Mohammedans. max
ing 4s per cent of the worlds popu-
iaton whose religious history CEN
tiers in this small spot. More money
has come to Palestine from pilgrims
of the past and tourists of the pres
ent and from contributions to reh-
gious establishments centering around
these sacred spots than from any
other source. Holy places are the
country's schief-practically its only
source of income.
The holy places have already become
an international political issue. In
the past France. Italy, Russia, Ger
many and others have claimed ihc
honor of protecting them.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
At Jerusalem and the Church of the
Nativity at Bethlehem are the most
sacred spots for the Christian world.
They are sacred also. though in less
degree, 10 the Moslems In the past
the rivalry for control frequently pro-
woke such bloody outbreaks within
the sacred edifice that for many years
Mosiem guards alone have been per-
mitted within the structures to pre-
serve neutrality. The Church of the
Holy Sepulchre is divided between
the Greek Catholics. Roman Catho-
lies Armenian Catholics. copt Catho-
lies and Syrian Catholics.
Two Gardens of Gethseman
Mary's well anu the adjacent site
of the carpenter shop at Nazareth
the Via Dolorosa and other scenes
in the life of Christ are sacred TO
the Christians, but without the same
rivalry of sects for their possession.
Outside of Jerusalem's walls are two
Gardens Of Gethsemane. each claimed
by its adherents as the authentic
garden.
While the controversy over Chris
tion holy places is between sects-r
the Jews not being interested in Them
and the MosiemS deferring to ths
deeper veneration of the Christians
there is an intense feeling between
Jews and Moslems over the holy
places Of the Hebrew prophets TIL.
tomb of Abraham and Sarah in
Hebron and the tomb OF David ia
Mount Zion are in Mohammedan pos
session. and no Jew is permitted to
enter. A few Christians. including
the former kaiser. have been allowed
within. The Mosiems preserve the
tomb of Moses at Ncbi Musa anc
but the Jews. following biblical his
tory. do not recognize this ami il is
one spot without controversy.
Hebron. Tiberias. Safed and Jeru.
Testament history. Elisha's cave, on
the side OF Mount Carmel at Haif:4.
ia within the purIieus of the extern
sive properties of the Franciscan
monks. Rachel's tomb is at Bethl--
hem. When the Jews proposed to
repair it the Moslems objected. anu
the work is awaiting a decision Of
the council of the league of nations
The wailing wall in Jerusalem. whicI
contains somr of the original stones
distance underground. will be in
ciuGed in the same decision.
Cause Of Moslem Bitterness.
Under the center of the Mosque of
Omar with its acre of heavy rugs and
priceless inlay of gold, silver and pre-
cious stones is the great bare rock
where Mohammed's body is believed
ascended to and descended from
heaven. After the house which Abra-
ham built in Mecca. where Moham-
\ med announced the Kaaba, contain
! ing the famous black stone kissed by
| thousands of Moslem pilgrims. and the
place of his death at Medina in SIS
AID. the Sakra. or rock. is the most
sacred spot in the Moslem world.
| The bitterness of the Moslems against
| the Jews has been increased by "a
| well circulated and often denied re-
port that the Zionists propose to raze
! the Haram. remove the Sakra, and
| rebuild Solomon's temple on the site
as soon as they get political control
| of Palestine.
The league of nations faces this re-
| ligious controversy of many sects and
! three religions. Under the mandate
| a commission is to be appointed to
protect the rival interests in the
holy places. France and Italy. each
claiming the right Of protector Of
I the church as symboIized by the
Vatican. want to name the chairman
| of the commission. Great Brita in.
| which shoulders the responsibility for
the mandate, realizes the political
| possibilities for trouble in such
| commission. especially in a little
| country Of $4,000 square miles. where
religion and holy places are the chief
/ cause for existence.