Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08
BY FRANK Fl. sIMONDs.

tn HE disturbances in Palestine have
served to call attention again Il
the difficulties that have beSet
L the British and the French sine.
the World War in that corner o.
the Mediterranean where, at the Peace
Conference. rivalries were most intense
Mesopotanlia, Syria and Palestine have
proved costly experiments in postwar
Imperialism. Nor is it conceivable that
any material advantage will in the
future repay the two nations holding
mandates in this region.
At Paris, the British were eager to
keep all of Syria, Palestine and Meso-
potania under one control, vested. nomi-
nally at least, in that Emir Feisal who
achieved fame as the associate of Col.
Lawrence during the war. The British
had promised the Arabs that there
should be one Arab state including
Damascus, Jerusalem and Bagdad. But
they had also made a treaty with the
French, assigning to them considerably
more territory than Is now included in
the Syrian mandate.
The French were anxious to acquire
Syria because. from the days of the
CrusadeS, French influence had been
exerted in this region and France had
been the protector of the very consider
able Christian populations there. The
British were eager to consolidate their
position in the Near East by adding to
Egypt, which they had annexed through
the form of protectorate, and by hold
ing all the other territories covering
their communications with India.
Struggle Over Syria.
After a long struggle at Paris, the
British were compelled to assent TO the
French possession of Syria. AS conse-
Quence, the Arabs were estranged and
there followed long period Of costly
trouble in Mesopotamia. And in ad-
dition there were disputes with the
Turks, who claimed the region about
Mosul, believed to contain vast oil de-
posits. Once or twice the Mosul ques-
ton threatened to precipitate hostilities
between the British and the Turks.
Meantime, the French came immedi-
ately to conflict with the Turks about
the Gulf Of Alexandretta and were in
the end compelled to evacuate the
region about Adana. Thereafter the
French were less troubled by the Turks
but increasingly involved in endless
trouble in Syria, because OF the mixed
populations and the indomitable spirit
of the Druses. In the end the French
had to fight something like war with
bI1CoC LII uSCS, hIl2C1L leu W Vic poi I1o4
destruction of Damascus and the ap-
proximate determination of the Druses.
The British in Palestine were faced
from the start with the fact that up
wards of five-sixths Of the inhabitants
of the Holy Land we're Arabs-and thus
Mohammedans; that for them, as vel
as the Jews. Jerusalem was a sacred city
and that they are hostile to any prof.
ect to create Jewish state. On thu
other hand. the British had beer
pledged by Lord Balfour to establish q
Jewish national home in Palestine.
There has been smoldering trouble
during a number of years. good
many Jews have settled in Palestine; q
certain number of fiourishing agricul-
tural communities have been eStab-
lished. But the Jews have remained a
relatively small minority. Their de-
velopment has been bitterly resented by
the Arabs and religious animositieS have
served to infiame grudges that have ma
terial origins.
Egyptian Situation Bad.
Meantime the British situation ir
Egypt has gone from bad to worse. The
protectorate had to be abandoned
Egyptian nationalism has steadily in.
creased, and only the other day tht
Labor government was constrained tt
recall Lord Lloyd, the British repre-
sentative. and to propose a new settle.
ment that envisages the removal Of
British troops from Cairo and Alexan.
dria. the concentration of the garrisons
at the Suez Canal and a further recog-
milton of Egyptian independence, in.
Guiding permission to join the Leagut
of Nations.
AS far as Palestine and Syria are con-
cerned, the British and French are
equally sick of their Jobs. But there
is no easy way out for either country