EIGHT YEARS IN PALESTINE

Chronicle (Levin), 6 March 1946, Page 2

EIGHT YEARS IN PALESTINE

EXCITING EXPERIENCES TE HORO MAN'S STORY After an eight years' absence from New Zeaiand, British Sergeant Davidson, of the Palestine Boiice Force, has returned to his iioaie in Te Horo, on furlough for approximately four months. He arrived in Wellington on' the R.M.S. Rangitiki, after an unevent-. ,ul voyage .from Suez, Melbourne oeing the only port of call en route in a journey taking exactly one month. Following his departure from New Zealand, Sergeant Davidson spent eight months in England during 1938, thus seeing the country at its oest prior to the war. He then proceeded to Palestine to commence what has since proved to be an mteresting and exciting career. A period of three months training in general police duties, the Arabic .anguage, revolver musketry, law and other subjects was, though not particularly exciting, a busy cime. This was followed by a transfer to the German Colony, one of the police station areas of Jerusalem city. Many of the residents here were interned some months iater, to be followed at a later date by Italian subjects residing in Jerusalem. Arab troubles, which were serious during 1936-1939, were at this time sporadic, and lessened in the latter part of 1939. Shortly after the war began there was no organised political activity, though as throughout history individuals and small parties of armed robbers continued their depredations. Jerusalem is a city of many and varied attractions, both old and new, and during the first few months of his service there Sgt. Davidson visited many Biblical and historical sites the Holy City, arouna which the modern business areas and residential quarters are situated. The old city itself , surrounded by a wall averaging 40 to 50 feet in height is a picturesque suk (or native market)', where many craftsmen still ply their trades as builders, cobblers, jewellers, etc., in a primitiYe manner. Residents in the old city are Moslems, Christians and Oriental Jews. In the new city, Jaffa Road, Ben Yehunda Street, Princess Mary Avenue all contain modern shops and stores, cinemas and cafes, where shopping and entertainments compare favourably with a European town of similar size. Particularly fine buildings include the Y.M.C.A., and Roekbfellef "Md^etihY, while in the old city, places visited by Sgt. Davidson were the Dome of the Rock (a gigantic Moslem mosque ) , the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Wailing Wali, Garden of Gethsemane, Church of all Nations, Damascus Gate, Via Dolorosa, etc. After three years' service, Sgt. Davidson transferred to Jerusalem C.I.D., where on plain clothes duty he had many interesting experiences. Among the perscns he met were the Emir Abdullah of Transjordan, the Prime Ministers of Iraq and Egypt, King Feisal (the boyKing of Iraq) , the Queen-Mother of Egypt, Sir A. MacMichael, then High Commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan, and General Patton, of the U.S. Army. By this time his knowledge of Arabic had reached the "reading and writing" stage and it is not, he states, difficult tc acquire a more comprehensivt knowledge of Arabic than many Arabs, among whom the "fellah, ' or peasants, have a limited vocabularly of 400 to 500 words, and in most cases can neither read nor write. Thanks to the Government and Education Department, the standard of literacy, particularly among the younger generation, i. much higher now than a few year,. ago. From a police point of view Arabic is of more use than Hebrew as the latter language, though a, difficult to speak, is not so widely used. Jews, being accomplished linguists, if European, can usuali.v speak Eng'lish, or, if Oriental, ea: •converse fluently in Arabic _as_th. two languages are not dissimilar Sgt. Davidson has met several Jew who can speak ten or twelve different languages. In 1944 the New Zealander transferred to Nabl'us, a Moslem city with a population of 30,000, which is situated equally distant fron. Haifa, Jerusalem and Jaffa. A with Jerusalem, he found the cli mate of this town to his liking, th sun being bright and hot, temperec by fresh breezes and pleasantly cool nights. Nablus is in keeping with other purely Moslem cicies, anc contains little of interest to a Brit isher. The community of British police and governmeht officials have a life apart from the rest of the population from a social point oi view. Moslem women here are heavily veiled, and cannot associate with members of the opposite sex even of their own religion.. At a wedding Sgt. Davidson attended. celebrations were held separately by men and women. The custom oi marrying several wives is now practically extinct, due to enlightenment and partly from the economic viewpoint. Though in present times a Moslem may have foui wives according to religion, rareh. is a man found with more than one. Large families are, however still the rule, a single son being vrorth any number of daughtcrs ir. a Moslem's eyes. The town of Nablus consists of a natiye market, througjb which wind — —

narrow, cobbled l'anes and aiong which vehicles cannot proceed Flanking the lower slopes of twc mountains Gezirin and Ebal, are the better-class residential quarters. There are few European-style shops, and the only places of amusement are a small cinema, at which Egyptian-produced, Arabic speaking films are shown, and a number oj coffee shops, where one sits on a stooi and drinks sweet and potent Turkish coffee, which is invariably preceded by a glass of cold water, and smokes either cigarettes or the "Nargeili," a hubble-bubble pipe, in which course tobacco is inhaled through a tube, after it passe.. through a glass container fillea with water. The ceremony of drinkmg coffee invariably precedes any conversation one may have, wliether it is of an official or persona nature. It is impossible to taik f'shop" before complying with thi formality.

Industries in this town include soap manufacturing (where olivc oil and caustic soda are blended in a primitive manner) , textile factories with both hand-looms and modern machinery, a match factory, to flour mill and olive press while manufacturers of foodstuff; and sweets peculiar to this part oi the world also ply their trade. The small and unusual community dwelling in Nablus is the remainin'g several hundred of £ once powerful race — the Samaritans— who split away from the Jews 3,000 years ago. Quiet and inoffensive, they are a rather pathetic handful of a dying race. One of thei.r most interesting possessions'is au scroli bemg' "tfieJ 't'elxt' "of ' tli'e fiV'e' books of Moses, and stated by them to be original. An event witliessec by Sgt. Davidson was the Samaritan Feast of Sacrifice, held ol Mount Gezirin, where a ceremoniai slaughter of six sheep is annually attended by large crowds of speetators of other faiths from all ove? Palestine. In addition to visiting Egypt Transjordan, Syria and Lebanon Sgt. Davidson has journey ec ohrough most parts of Palestine md places he considers well wortb visiting are Nazareth, Ramallah Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee,. Acre and Gaza, as well as the largei towns of Jaffa, Haifa, Tel Aviv anc" jJewish communal settlements J where farming is being carried or. I by modern methods. In additior there are many smali biblical anc historical sites too numerous. tc mention, where evidence of thRoman, Israelite, and Greek era may be seen. with many ancien edifices in a remarkable state o. preservation. Prior to his departure on leave Sgt. Davidson was for six month station officer of Nablus ur'oai police station, where crime as com ' pared to an area of similar size i) jNew Zealand was heavy, thougl jnot out of the ordinary in Pales tine. Assaults, thefts, armed robberies, housebreaking and damag to property occupied a good deal c time. In many cases peculiaritie and customs have to be taken intconsideration in the investigation o ■ crime. In the country feuds o imany years standing are the caus-. ' of incessant trouble. Though no jso prevalent in the town, there are instances where inoffensive . and j elderly citizens are invariably iaccompanied by an armed guarc iwhen outside their homes, mej:el Ibecause an ancestor of their's iiac caused the death of a member oi i another family. The village Arabs are poor, anc Jews own about 17 per cent of thc farming land in Palestine, and fo; the most part this is of fair quality. Lack of water is a great problem and this is overcome by expensiv^. methods of irrigation. Most of thv hilly parts of the country are barrer and rocky. In a country where' trouble app^rs never-ending, the polici fori»Sgt. Davidson mentions is wel eqirfpped with all types of moden automatic weapons, and is highl; mechanised, utilising many' radio equipped armoured cars. Beinf perhaps the most heavily policec country in proportion to its popu lation in the world, its force con sisting of Arabic, Jewish and British police. Though unable to voice ar opinion on the political situation a' present, Sgt. Davidson says .ther is always tension. Ccmparing. Pal estine to a "barrel of gunpowder" i ' an apt description. . Assassination and sabotage of governmental anr police . buildings were frequqnt occurrences at the time of his departure. The findings of. the

Anglo-American Commission en - quiring into the situation will be awaited with interest, though a solution satisfactory to both Arabs and Jews would appear an impossibility. Prices prevailing at the time of Sgt. Davidson's departure wtere high, suits costing £50 in New Zealand currency, shoes £7 to £8, shirts £4 and ties 30/-, while even u gooo handkerchief was sometimes priced up to 10/-.