The Denver Jewish news., 1924-10-02

NlHg f'lNhl. IN having his Parliament
ralify the treaty with Great Britain
Just when the majority Of it, members
were absent, has cnSi the n-rk of the
Kings cabinet, II not His Mnlcsty's
own royan@k. The inevitable retire.
ment of the cabinet has taken pIncc hut
II few days ngo, and new one, huIlt
upon n "brond founda ion" has been
appointed by the King.
The political situation or the new
Ministry, presided over by the extreme
III nailonnllsiic Nassn Pnshael Hash.
imi. does not appear To he very envi.
able. II is entrusted with the dlhi-
cult and delicate task of obtaining
from the British later on. through
nmlcable negotiations. such corrcctives
for the Anglo-lraI Treaty as could not
he secured by the Parliament. Under
the impression of the British ulti-
matnm. the popular assembly Of the
lraq, reluctantly ratified the treaty.
Subsequently, however. II demanded
that the government insist upon rad
icnl changes in that document on the
part Of Great Britain.
The new cabinet created by King
Feisal certainly is n rcma rkablc hodge
podgc OF parties. The Prime Minister.
iassin Pashn, belonged to King Feisal's
camp already at the time he ruled In
Syria, even though. as rabid mn.
tionalist he hears more than his share
of responsibility for the events wnicn
resulted in the overthrow of Feisal and
his flight from Damascus. II he now
steps into the place of the far more
cautious Jaafar Paschn el Askari Mt
the hend Of the government. in spite
of this. 1t is only ms concession to
the extremists. who expect Yassin
Pascha to show more backbone in deal
ing with the royal wishes than his pre-
decessor has shown.
Closely allied with the extrcmcists
are also the newly appointed Ministers.
.Ablnl Moshein Iseik cl Snadnn, and
Moshein Iseik Pachatchi The former
was at one time Prime Minister under
Feisal. but was forced to hand In his
resignation because. as Chieftain Of
one OF the most powerful Beduin tribes,
he though it beneath his dignity 10
submit TO the ceremonies insisted upon
at court. As for the other, he has
been until now the leader of the OPP
position to the Anglo-lraq Treaty: hut
at the session that ratified this docu-
ment he as prudently conspicuous by
his absence from Parliament, and.
since one good turn deserves another,
he was rewarded with ministerial
portfolio.
While we must admit that the Min
lister named thus far are. without ey-
ception, opposed to English policy
whether they have the audacity to con.
fess 1t openly or nOt-it should be
noted. on the other hand, that the
British High Commissioner. Sir Percy
Cox, was able, through soft pressure,
to bring into the cabinet also pro-
nounced friend of England-the Jew,
Sir SassoOn. This makes him for the
fourth time Minister Of Finance, even
though he was defeated in the last elec-
tion. In spite of his none too great
popularity, Sir Sassoon, n multi-Million-
alre, happens to be the only financial
expert 1ieSopotamia can boast of to-
day, thus making himself practically
indispensable under present conditions.
The coalition cabinet would not be
such n bad thing, after all, were it
only u matter OF mere partisan strug-
giles between the Radical and Pro-Br.t-
ish, ms the Arab press is trying to make
people believe, and as the English and
other Europeans are ready to believe.
As II matter Of actual fnct, however,
there is something altogether different
at the bottom of the struggles for and
against England. for and against
Feisal. We are confronted here with
n religious strife, with its roots so
deep in the national life that no coali-
ton cabinet Of any kind will be able
to put stop to it. We are dealing
here with the age-old feud between
Supnites and Shiites, the two great
branchca of Mohammedansm, which Is
faring up once more in this country
betwee nthe rivers"
Something like 500 of the popu-
lation are Shiites, while the King is
not only hateful Sunsite, but, worse
still, son of the heir presumptive to
the throne of the Caliph. And it is
against the Calph, whom England sup
ports, and not against England, that
the popular wrath is kept blazing.
The Turks have correctly diagnozed
this trouble And, although the aholi-
tion Of the Caliphate has brought them
a great deal of disapproval through
a,,. a., Mnb, ,,p,aJap ,ynrlJ this not