Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-07-10
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

WASHINGTON, July lone
British flag floats over Jerusaietn
and the Jews slowly return TO n
Holy City, but the Dome OF the rsoSm 1
the heart OF Jerusalem. is still
guarded fiercely by devoted Moham-
medans. The hill where Solomons
TEMPLE stood, and where perhaps
The Ark of the Covenant lies bur-
led a Mohammedan mos
que. and all the gold in the World
would not induce the Moslems TO
give up voluntarily this editice which
is to them only a little less sacred
than the one at Mecca.
Archeologists who hoped mat BTU
ish control in Palestine might mean
an opportunity to study the myster-
ions and alluring temple area d
that no prospect of excavation ehele
can be even dimly seen.
Strictly speaking, Great Brleaih
commands the temple enclosure IN
Jerusalem no ness thar 1t commahos
other sections of the city. But the
British nave no desire to interiors
with existing religious arrangements
and 40 the Mohammedans were leIt
ms The logical worshippers in the
Dome of the Rock. Even if the pow
ers were inclined to assist the Jews
10 recover this hill which means SO
much to them, the British woula
hold back, fearing to antagonize the
great a of Mohammedan popu-
lation in India. So h prospect is
that the site of Solomon's temple
Will remain in Moslem hands indef-
tnitely.
This situation is explained by G..
e. Matson, who has just returned
from Jerusalem. Mr.. Matson says
that the Jewish return to Palestine
is making slow progress. At first a
large number of Russian Bolshevists
swept INTO the Holy Land, lured by
false pictures of great opportunities
there. Many Of the wanderers who
were attracted by the inducements
were not desirable residents. The
people of Palestine were antagonized
by them. Eventually, some of the
immigrants drifted elsewhere. Some
Of the young men and women, even
colle~s graduates, could find no work
except breaking stone for macadam
roads. The Jewish return to Pales-
tine accordingly suffered a setback.
The project is going forward again
now, though devout Jews still vail
and refuse to be comforted because
the temple is in the hands of the
Moslem.
MosIems Also Unhappy
II the Jews are eager to get back
the hill of the temple, the Moslems
are also dissatisfied with conditions.
Mr.. Matson points out that people
in this country commonly speak of
the Turks and Moslems in Jerusa-
lem as the same element. The fact
is that there were only a handful of
Turks in Jerusalem. These were
the ruling faction, and they were
driven out by the British. There
remained a large population of
Arabs A few of these are Christ
ians, a few more are Jews, but the
majority are followers of Moham-
med, and it is they who hold pos
session of the Dome of the Rock.
These Arabs have complained that
the British rescued them from the
Turks only to throw open the coun-
try to the Jews. The situation re-
calls a story of the early days of
British occupancy. An official said
then that when the different relig-
ious elements in Jerusalem were dis
satisfied. he felt that he was being
fair to al. If one sect should cease
to protest he would really begin to
fear that he was favoring it beyond
the others.
That the present distribution of
British favors is likely to continue
means that no e~xcavating in the
temple are can be expected. This
is a cause of serious regret to arch
biologists who regard the site as
one of the greatest unexplored fields
of research. Three successive Jew
ish temples stood on the hill, then
a Roman temple to Jupiter then a
Christian temple, and finally a mos
que. Except for a brief period dur
ing the Crusades, the mosque and
the enclosure have since the seventh
century been jealously held as
among the choicest Moslem posses
sions.
The temple area exerts a strange
fascination because of it's associa-
tions, its mystery, and the danger of
attempting to probe its secrets. The
stories regarding its past glories defy
the imagination. There is good rea-
son to believe that the silver ana
gold used in building Solomon's
temple amounted to IS. 200, 900, 900.
All OF the Government BUILDINGS in
kWashington could be built more