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The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER, 9, 1917. THE WAR IN PALESTINE

The British troops which are now fighting the Turk in the neighbourhoods of Gaza and Beorsheba are battling, for a great and righteous cause in places where some of the most notable and most romantic events in the world's history have occurred. They nro treading where prophets and patriarchs, Jewish heroes and crusaders, trod in the days of long ago. Gaza, the city where Samson performed some of his thrilling exploits, has been described as "the outpost of Africa, the door of Asia." It is a position of groat strategic importance, and its vicinity has been tho scene of some momentous military operations. In his historical Geography of the Holy land, Sir George Adam Smith states that "Gaza may best be described as in most respects the southern counterpart of Damascus. It is a" site of abundant fertility on the edgo of a, great desert—a harbour for the wfl.lerness and a market for tho nomads; once, as Damascus is still, the rendezvous of a great pilgrimage; and, as Damascus was the first great Syrian station across 'the desert from Assyria, so Gaza is tho natural outpost across the desert from Egypt. 1 Gaza, lies about three miles from the sea, and has been built on and around a hill overlooking a plain. From the sandy soil in I its neighbourhood spring fifteen wells of fresh water. Jn former times, when railways were unknown, great trado routes ran from Gaza in all directions—to Egypt, South Arabia, Pctra, and Palmyra. The riches of Arabia and India found their way, through tho harbour of Gaza,' across the Mediterranean c to the cities of Europe. When G?iza fell into tho hands of tho Crusaders they could not take full advantage of its capture, because they did not succeed in getting a sufficiently secure hold of tho neighbouring country to enable them to ddminate tho roads south and, east for ,any distance, and thoy had to tap tho eastern trade .by the route which ran through Moa-b, Jericho, Jerusalem, and Joppa. Many of the considerations which made the possession of Gaza of first-rate military importance for tho Crusaders and other inyadcrs of tho Holy Land hold good to-day, and have no doubt been given duo weight by those who are responsible for the British expedition whose fortunes wo are at present following with such eager interest.

Tho fundamental principles of military strategy arc much the same to-day as they were two or three thousand years.ago. The possession of Gaza is just as important to the British at tho present moment- as it was to the Pharaohs and Ptolemies. Its relations with Egypt have always been close. Sik G. A. Smith points out that the march across the sands from the Delta requires that if an army comes up that way into Syria it is very desir-a-blo that Gaza, being the first relief from tho desert, should bo in friendly hands. This accounts for the continued efforts of Egypt to hold the town. Alike under the Pharaohs and tho Ptolemies, "we find Gaza occupied, or bitterly fought for. Alexandre invading Egypt and Napoleon invading Syria had both

to capture her. JfAPOLEpN lias emphasised' the indispensableness of Gaza, whether in the invasion or tho defence of tho Nilo Valley." And now our troops havo captured the town. In 96 r,.c. the Jews, taking advantage of tho withdrawal from Syria of the Egyptian troops, attacked Gaza. They laid waste tho wholtt surrounding oases. After a year's siege the town was captured, by treachery, its buildings burned, and its inhabitants massacred. About t°i.'ty years later it was rebuilt on a new site, near to its harbour. In the second and third centuries of the Christian era Gaza became a prosperous centre of Greek commerce and culture, but when, in the early part of the seventh century, the town f«ll into the hands of the Moslems, Gaza "gradually declined to the rank of a respectable station of traffic. Even with the Crusaders its military importance did not revive. They found it almost deserted, and they took no trouble to fortify the place."

Beersheba, Gaza, and Hebron, which are all figuring prominently in the cable messages at the present time, are connected by a great wady which winds from the central range at Hebron clown to Beersheba, and then, turning sharply to the west, fittdstho sea near Gaza. Describing the district between Beersheba and Hebron, where our troops aro now advancing northwards in the direction of Jerusalem, Siu G. A. Smith says it is a country visited by annual rains, with at least a few perennial spriugs, and in the early summer abundance of flowers and corn. The traveller descends from Hebron to Dhaheriyah over moors and through wheatfields, arranged in the narrower' wadies in careful terraces, but lavishly spread over many of the broader valleys. A thick scrub covers most of the slopes. South of Dhaheriyah the soil is more bare, but travellers coming up from tho_ desert delight in tho verdure which mee.ts them as soon as they have passed Bcershoba. No great route now leads, or ever bas_ led, through the barren and inhospitable district lying directly to the south of Beersheba, known as the Negeb. The highways which gather Bouth of the Negeb from Egypt, Sinai, and Arabia aro thrust either to the east up the wady Arabali to the Dead Sea, or to the west towards Gaza and Philistia. "No army of invasion (writes Sir G. A. Smith), knowing that, opposition awaited them on tho Judaean frontier, would venture across those steep and haggard ridges, especially when tho Bead Sea and Gaza routes lie so convenient on either hand, and lead to regions so much more fertile than tho Judaean Plateau." Our troops how operating from Beersheba do not appear to havo passed through tho Negeb, but they are certainly invading Judaea from tho south, though history shows that probably no other invading army has come that way. It is a great achievement —a struggle against Nature's obstacles as well as against a bravo and skilled enemy. The. part the New Zealand troops havo played in the Palestine campaign ranks with the distinguished achievements of our Forces in other fields of action, and •their latest successes in conjunction with the British and- Australian Forces, are likely to open tho way to important developments in tho operations towards Jerusalem.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19171109.2.13

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 39, 9 November 1917, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,072

The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER, 9, 1917. THE WAR IN PALESTINE Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 39, 9 November 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER, 9, 1917. THE WAR IN PALESTINE Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 39, 9 November 1917, Page 4

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