June 1930
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should be considered in lieu of numbers of people in the turning over to them of the right to rule. There is, on the other hand, the moderate Jew, who may be what some call a spiritual Zionist, or he may be a non-Zionist. He wants the opportunity to immigrate into Palestine and the chance to live unmolested, developing his own culture, speaking his own language, living his own life. He asks for no political power. He waves no flag before the eyes of the Arab population, saying: “We will soon be a majority and meanwhile we have a Euro pean nation to protect and advance our interests. But when we are a majority—you look out. We’ll pay you back for all the pogroms of our earlier history.” Rather he says: “We will live side by side with the Arabs; we will all work for the development of the country and thus be mutually helpful to one another; we will have a spiritual homeland where our ideals may be put into practice, a place to which all the Jews of the world may look as the center of their national life.” The latter type of Jew would be welcomed by the Arab. Would that his name were legion! Most of the spokesmen among the Jews are of the militant type, who wave the red flag and cry out their willingness to brandish the sword. It is a little more difficult to explain the Arab point of view. The Arab spends more time refuting Jewish argu- (Written by an orthodox Hebrew after the Palestine riots o f last summer, the following striking poem is a faithful representation o f Judaism’s darkness apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.) We mourn for those who, guiltless, fell In Palestine! The flood of blood in that made hell Was yours and mine ! In Palestine—There Israel taught The world its Light! In Palestine!—There Israel wrought With Love and Might! O may this sorrow be the last Of Israel’s lot. So dark with pangs of ages past But not forgot! Our grief is great I-—In woe we weep Fast fall our tears! Our eyes are dim—our anguish deep— What say our seers? They tell us: “Trust!” They bid us “Hope!” ' 0 faith divine! Through gloomy clouds hearts upward grope In Palestine ! Hope! Strive! Believe! Toil on and Trust! No more repine. Israel will live!—I f God is just— In Palestine! The world moves on! The brighter Day Must dawn and shine In every land! Its beams will play On Palestine! And everywhere! Away Despair! Life still must run! Grief we must bear and sadness share— Till “GOD IS ONE!” —The Evangelical Christian. A Dirge of Hope B y A. R osenthal
The Wailing Place They left thee hut a wailing place A t which to sob thy story, And mourn with sad, averted face The days o f vanished glory. Only a few stones wet with tears In what was once thy city, With none to share thy haunting fears, And none to offer pity. A wailing place! And yet near by Was born the wide world’s gladness! O tell me, House of Judah, why This deep, unending sadness?
—The Jewish Era.
and that in the event of Great Britain’s recognition of future Arab independence within that area the Sherifian Government would not assist Turkey against the British. (Only a few months later Hussein was attacking the Turks.) The British High Commissioner answered that he could not agree to all the boundaries mentioned, but that if the Arabs would accept certain modifications in the far north, “Great Britain is prepared to recognize and support the independence of the Arabs within the terri tories included in the limits and boundaries proposed by the Sherif of Mecca.” Palestine is within the area within which liberty for the Arabs was asked by Hussein and agreed to by the representative of the British Government. In November, 1917, the British Government issued the following statement which has come to be known as the “Balfour Declaration” : “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a Na tional Home for the Jewish People, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” Except to him who is willing to take the meaning out of words, these two promises are not in agreement. The Arab feels that he was promised something when his assistance was needed, and that he has been betrayed. The Jew feels that he was also promised something when his help was needed, and that the party that promised should make the promise good. E xtrem ists and M oderates on B oth S ides From this rough outline it will be seen that there is no simple solution of the difficulty. There are various feel ings on both sides. There are extremists and mod erates among both Jews and Arabs. The professional agitator in both cases seems to have the power of press and platform. The extreme Jew, the political Zionist, de mands that the Balfour Declaration be interpreted to mean that the Jew may come into the land just as fast as (and perhaps a little faster than) the land can absorb them. They want to be given some land by the Govern ment and to buy other land from its owners. They ex press the hope that they will soon be the majority and be able to rule the land with the laws that they themselves make. In the meantime, before they are the majority, they should be given responsible positions in the Gov ernment, they should be protected by a European police system, and their higher culture and superior education
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