Intermountain Jewish news., 1926-04-08

ance from the Arabs of the HedJaz
and Mesopotamis, This was u quid
pro quo arrangement. For, before the
war ended the Hashemlte family was
mnde ruler OF the vast territory OF the
Hedjaz, lrak (Mesopotamia) and even
TransJordania, which is properly part
OF the greater Palestine.
Before the war, says Mr.. Bennett.
he never detected n trace OF racial or
religious animosity among Jews and
Arabs. Today the whole country is
full of bitterness and ill-will. Moslcms
aud Christians have united In n Joint
detcstati0n OF the Immigrant Jews. who
| are even distrustcd and disliked by
| large sections Of their coreligionists
who dwelt In Palestine before the Bal.
-four declaration" Further: "On Apsil
%. when Lord Balfour In pursuance Of
| n policy of sheer arrogance and cxas-
| peration, arrived in Jerusalem to open
n Jewish University. which had already
been twice officially opencd-the action
| of the populacc was nm outward and
visible sign Of the Indignation and bit
terness which fills the .country."
Both these statements are grossly ex-
aggeratctl. They borded almost on uIf.
! truth. Never in the history OF Jewish
immigration into Palestine have the
relations between the Jews and the
Arabs been better. BY that I do not
mean to imply that there is no room for
Improvement. Palestine experiences
now the same process OF development
as every colonizing country. The ma
tive, of course, looks askance at the
newcomer. He is jealous OF his po-
sitiOn, miserable though II may be. and
tural hettcrments there may be in store
for him. These are indisputable facts.
They Obti-in everywhere they obtained
in America. The early settlers Of this
country were not greeted with cymbals
nor even with the provcrbial bread
and salt; they bad hard struggle (;
and so have the Jews In Palestine
But not to the detriment of the Arab ;
If anything, to the advancement OF his
economic and cultural position,
The statement that the new Jewish
immigrants are even distrusted and dis
I.,-I La Of
ligionists who dwclt in Palestine be-
fore the Balfour Declaration" is naive
True. there are differences of opinion.
ms there are differences OF opinions in
every living social organism, as there
are differences of opinion in America
and elsewhere among groups Of equally
patriotic citizens. Similarly. there are
differences of opinion In Palestine But
these differences of opinions are not
the result Of dislike and distrust."
They are based upon the desire Of these
various groups coming to Palestine
from every part of the world TO see
the Jewish Homeland rc-establishcd in
accordance with their particular I'M
dcrstanding and prejudice. That the
10000 Jews of Palestine are united
with the possible exception of n negli-
gihle and intransigcant group of ultra
orthodox fanatics, whose influence in
the community is scarcely felt, was
evidenced only recently in the general
election to the National Assembly in
which every Jewish group, every party
women included. went TO the polls to
cast their votes for their representa-
tives. II is prcpostcrous TO say that
the "ncw Jewish Immigrants arc dis
trusted and diSlked by their core
ligionistS.''
As to i,ulrour's visit to Palestine. 1t
is matter of public record that there
was not one single disturbance, one
single manifestation of hostility against
Balfour during his visit to Palestine
Where the disturbances occurred was
not in Palestine. but in Damascus,
Syria, which is under French man
date.
OF the inaccuracies and msrepre-
sentations so far quoted the following
is the most glaring:
This Amazing product Of the World
War (Iionisml accords to Jewish i'm
migrants Il privilege which no civilized
nation has ever drcamt Of Offering TO
an alien population. Impoverished
Jews from Russia. Poland, Roumania
or elsewhere. arc granted the right
nf entering Palestine, right Guaran-
tccd internationally In defiance Of any
regulations MS 10 numbers ar other
wise which the native population might
desire to establish. In 1901, a British
| commission appointed TO investigate
the possibilities Of offering Uganda 20
he Iionists reported that a vehement
protest was raised by EngliShmcn local.
ly against The immigration Of Ga.
| licinn aud other undesirable Eastern