Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-24
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

paper which they poke into the c~revices
of the wall, much to the displeasure Of
the worshipers in the mosque. Most
Of the Jews came from Eastern Europe
and are densely ignorant and supersti-
tious. as indicated by their written
messages to Moses and Abraham, in
serted in the Wailing Wall. Hundreds
Of thousands Of Arabs profess Chris
tianity. due to the influence OF mis-
sionaries, but no Arab ever becomes a
Jew.
BY virtue of the mandate the British
undertook to form a constitutional gov
eminent in 1922. providing for a ma
tional legislative council composed Of 10
appointed British officials. IL elected
memberS-of course Arabs were as
signed the most, because the Arabs
outnumber both Jews and Christians,
three to one. 1t was provided that. of
the IL. 2 were to be Jews. 2 Chris
tians and 8 Moslems. But the Mos
lens boycotted the election in 1923.
claiming that they were entitled to a
majority of the whole membership, in
stead Of 8 out Of %. The election was
annulled, but the constitution has not
been repealed. Since then, h country
| has been governed by the British high
commissioner, with a council Of British
officials.
+ =
Contrary to general a~cceptation, the
recent outbreak is not based upon re-
ligious differences. It is wholly race
| rivalry, in which theology has no part.
The Arabs feel that Palestine belongs
to them. and. in a spirit Of patriotic ma:
tionalism, they resent the eiort OF
Great Britain to rob them Of it, pos
session. 1t was the land Of the Jew9
for $500 years, but since the fall Of
| Jerusalem in the first century AID, Toe
1000 years, it has not been JEWISH
It is tr~aditionally the Holy and. nos
only Of the descendants OF AbTanAm
n Moses, but also Of h followers o.
Christ and also of the followers o.
Mohammed. It is no more Holy Land
to the one than the other adherents Of
the three religions.
The Jews declare that their aims are
not political but cultural. Yet the
original plan of Theodor Hertzl, the
founder of Zionism, looked TO estab-
fishing, ultimately, a Jewish nation,
where Jews from all parts Of the world
might find relief from oppression.
i 4 \
The problems of administration are
extremely intricate. First, there Is the
ulation inexperienced in self-govern-
ment. Prior to the World War, they
were subject to the iron rule of Turkey.
II was to escape from that foreign OPP
preston that the Arabs fought with the
allies against Turkey. The Turkish
Republic has sbolished the Caliphate-
the Moslem 'Pope'-so the Arabs have
no religious ties with Turkish Islam.
It is a problem Of how to reconcile
Zionism with Arab nationalism. There
is not the slightest danger of q reli-
gious war-a so-called Holy War"-as
would have been feared in days be-
fore the World War. Germany tried to
enlist all Moslems In her behalf in the
World War, but Moslems are now di-
vided-just as Christians are divided
especially since the abolition of the
Caliphate.
Some years before the World War
an Arabic paper, published in Egypt,
said editoriaIly:
Has the time not yet come when,
uniting the suppressed wailings of India
With Our own groans and signs in
Egypt, we should say to each other.
Come, let u be one, following the
Divine words. victory belongs Il the
united forces? Certainly the time has
come when we, India m Egypt, should
cut and tear asunder the ties of the
yoke imposed on US by the British"
That It was indeed a part Of Ger
many's hope to have the support OF
a holy war OF MoSIemS against the
allies, iS shown by the writings of a
noted German traveller, Carl Peters, in
1906:
There is one factor which might
fall on our side of the balance. and. IN
case OF a world war, might be made
useful to us: that factor Is Islam. As
pan-Islamism, it could be played
against Great Britain as well as against
the French Republic; and if German
policy is bold enough it can fashion
the dynamite to blow into the air the
rule of the Western Powers from Cape
Nun Morocco) to Calcutta"
While all these dire assumptions are
based upon q united Islam of 80 years
ago. there may be a hint in them still
as 70 the great caution with which
Great Britain moves even today; in
disarming the Jews rather than the
Arabs. There are half as nan Mos
lens In India as the population Of the
United States.
The Arabs, through their Palestine
executive, demand the revocation Of the
Balfour pledge and abandonment of
the Jewish homeland project, non-ad-
mission OF Jews into Palestine, limita-
ton of sales of land to Zionists. Mos
lem possession of the Wailing Wall as
part Of the mosque, annulment of the
British mandate and the founding of q
Syro-Palestine nation. If these de-
raands are not granted, the Arabs open
ly threaten o renewal of the rebellion"
(Copyrisht, 1879, b. Paul v. Oeliins.l