Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-11
Arabs Hold Key
To Near East
Loyalty to Britain May
Decide Ultimate. Fate
Of Suez CunuI
BIZ Blair BOlleS.

By Blair BOlleS.
In London and Berlin and Rome, the
capitals of the nations principally con-
cerned with the war, there is wonder now
about the Arab. The indications of the
day are that the winter will see a fero-
cious war in Egypt-and perhaps Greece
and Turkey-conducted by Berlin and
Rome against the forces of England for
the sake of dominating the Near East.
Whoever dominates the Near East, if he
wishes to dominate it long, must have
the Arab on his side. Most Arabs are
friendly to Britain. So as an offshoot
of the Egyptian war, London and Wash
ington await some Berlin Rome Under
taking designed to turn the Arabs away
from their pro-Britishness.
Aside from the grandiose Italian am
bition for Roman ownership of the Medi-
terranean Sea, the Egyptian war,
launched three weeks ago by the Ital-
ians, has twofold purpose, and both
| purposes together are designed to bring
England to time. The first is the seizure
Of the Suez Canal, through which the
| oNAoii6 Diitioll lldfdl anu dl1 lOlCP Ill lIe
Mediterranean is supplied. The second
is control of the pipe lines conducting
oil from Iraq to the Mediterranean and
complete access to the pipe lines ter
minals at Haifa and Tripoli, as we'll as
to the Mosul oilfields themselves.
Without Suez, the British would find
it difficult to continue policing the Med
lterranean. With the Iraqi OIL the Ger
| mans and Italians would have new and
| adequate supplies of the essential elixir
| for the mechanical war against the
British Isles. The Arabs could render
control of the pipe lines ineffective. Dur
ing the British difficulties with the Arabs
two years ago over the Palestine situa-
ton there were several Arab attempts
at sabotage of this oil.
The Arab domain includes seven coun-
tries, besides Egypt. which, while an
Arab-speaking nation, is not racially
Arabic. These seven are spread over the
Arabian Peninsula-Syria and the Leb-
anaon, which were in the orbit of France
until the French surrender, at the north
west, and Iraq at the northeast; Pales-
tine, fronting the Mediterranean's east
ern end south of Syria and touching
Egypt at the southwest: Trans-Jordan,
where the chief voice of authority be-
longs TO the British Residents: Saudi
Arabia. stretching from the Red Sea to
the Persian Gulf, from Trans Jordan
almost to the Indian Ocean. Saudi
Arabia Is the domain of the great Arab
leader, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, head of
the Wahhabis. He is in actual control
also of the sixth Arabian country. the
Yemen, in the southwestern corner of
the peninsula.
When the first World War broke out.
all THESE countries were included in the
ottoman Empire, and as such were in
theory contributors to the success of the
central powers cause, since the Otto
man Empire was German ally. Some
OF the most exciting and dramatic his
tory Of the World War was born in this
oattle arena-the work Of Gen Allenby
and the revolt in the desert" against
the Ottomans organized by T E. Law
renee
Untll Italy began to provide real evil
dence Of its imperialistic aspirations.
England and France. whom the World
War settlements put in nominal author
lty IN the Arabian countries regarded
the Arabian situation as principally a
local matter-especially with regard to
the difficult question of Palestine, whose
importance, the British Foreign Office
evidently thought. had international i'm
pllcations only for the Zionists
The Italian success in Ethiopia how
ever. awoke England to the dangers to
the British Empire implicit in the Ara
plan disaffection with the Palestine ar
rangement. The post-World War Bal
four settlement made of Palestine. man.
GATED to England, Jewish haven. Arabs
already established in Palestine showed
increasingly their resentment against the
arrangement. Zionist-Arab clashes grew
frequent. England. envisioning an Ital-
ian threat decided the time had come
10 be practical. On May II, 1882 the
British government issued its Palestine
White Paper, satisfying many of the
Arab demands in Palestine at the ex-
pense of the Zionists.
The White Paper has had the desired
result. Growing Arabic irritation at
the British was Gained. The propa-
ganda effect of statements like Musso-
l1nl's, that he considered himself the
defender of Islam'-the Mohammedan
rellglon-was reduced almost to zero.
All Arabs had been engendered with a
certain anti-British feeling by the situa-
ton of the Palestine Arabs. With those
Palestinian Arabs who continued to agi-
tate and rebel after the White PAPER
Issuance, the British dealt severely.
Harshness Gained what insurgency
diplomacy had not allayed London
ignored the protests of Zionists who saw
in the White Paper a blow to their
own hopes.
Scarcely was the war begun-a year
ago in September-when Iraq severed
diplomatic relations with Germany. AL
most $4,000 Syrians volunteered for mill
tary service in behalf of the Allies. But
the spectacular Ibn Sa'ud declared his