Evening star., 1936-09-27
1900 "TOMM|ES"
OCCUPY H0[yLAND
Stern Measures Expected
Soon to End Clashes of
Arabs and Jews.
BY A. G. GARDINER,
Ensland's Greatest Liberal Editor


LONDON, September 26.-By the
time these lines appear in print the
British forces in Palestine will reach
the substantial total of 1900. which
is greater than that of the army with
which Kitchener Waeed the war
against the Mahdi in the Sudan. But
no one here anticipates that the
parallel will go any farther, or that
anything in the nature of a war Is
seriously imminent.
This does not mean that the dis
patch of so formidable a force was
uncalled for 1t means that the meas
ures taken to deal with the Arab
revolt had proved so inadequate that
the rebels had been encouraged to
think that they had the game in their
hands and that they had only to pur-
sue their guerrilla tactics to render
government impossible and TO make
4 clean sweep Of the Jews from Pal
estine.
1t had been supposed that the sue
cess of the air force in suppressing
the rising in Iraq could be repeated
against the Arab rising in Palestine.
But that expectation has been COM
pletely disappointed and it was felt
that nothing but an overwhelming
demonstration of force would bring
the organizers of the so-called strike
to reason.
Cause for Delay.
The delay in taking these sterner
measures was due TO the recognition
that the Arabs have real grievances
and to the anxiety Of the British gov
eminent to settle the racial quarrel
between Jew and Arab by pacific
means. The help of friendly Arab
leaders outside Palestine, like Nuri
Pasha of Iraq. the Emir Abdulla OF
Trans -Jordania and the King Of Saudi
Arabia. was invoked 10 persuade the
Arab leaders to call off the strike
and to avert the necessity OF extreme
measures. And a royal commission
was appointed to go out to Palestine
this Autumn in order to hear evl-
dence. examine the situation on the
spot and find basis on which Jews
and Arabs can live peaceably side by
side
But the more the government strove
for a negotiated settlement the more
the ringleaders Of the revolt stimu-
lated the guerrilla war, which began
to assume the character of holy war
that was TO sweep the infldel and the
Jew alike out of Palestine. The prime
movers in this enterprise are two men.
one o. whom supplied the fsnatical
motive and the other the executive
genius. The first is the Mufti Hal
Amin Hussein. the head of the Moslem
Church in Palestine. He is the un-
compromising foe of concordat be-
tween Jew and Arab and Is the in
tellectual and spiritual force behind
the campaign of violence and murder
The strategy of that campaign has
been the work of terrorists, led by
professional firebrands from Iraq and
Syria. The chief of these is the no
torious rebel. FawZi Kauji- who was
trained in the Turkish army and VINO
gave so much trouble to the French
during the Druse revolt in Syria 10
years ago. 1t was he who issued the
inflammatory proclamation calling
the Mosiem world to a holy war
against Jew and Christian in Pales-
tine and it is his sinister genius tnat
has inspired the cunning strategy OF
the campaign. The better and wiser
influences in the Arab world lost con-
troll of the situation and the preachers
of terrorism got out of hand.
Due to Be Effective.
Little doubt is felt that the stern
measures now taken will be .effec-
tive, that the more reasonable inf1u-
ences among the Arabs will recover
control and that a round table con-
ference between the rival communi-
ties will be called to hammer out q
modus vivendi. If that is done, the
British army will promptly disappear
from the stage, giving place to the
royal commission which will draft
the settlement. 1t will not be easy
for tempers are high and the con-
fiict of interests bitter.
But the sooner it Is done, the bet
ter pleased public opinion in England
will be. The Palestine mandate ha.
never been popular here. and it Is
generally felt that Balfour's commit.
tai of this country to the cause oi
Zionism was. not sufficiently safe
guarded. There will be no failure
to fulfill our obligations under the
mandate, but there will be genera
satisfaction when We can leave thu
Palestinian state. as We have left 1rac
and as the French are leaving Syria
to walk alone under the guarantees
OF an impartial and lust constitution