The Dominion. SATURDAY, .MARCH 27, 1920. THE FUTURE OF PALESTINE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 156, 27 March 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, .MARCH 27, 1920. THE FUTURE OF PALESTINE

There was one hopeful feature seen during the darkest days of the ■ late terrible war, and that was the unity of purpose of the nations of 1 the Allies. It was assumed that this unity of' purpose would continue after the German, Austrian, 'and Turkish despotisms had been defeated, and'this assumption led many reformers to dream dreams about making the world better and of making this war the end of all wars. President Wilson was to impressed that this unity of nations would that at tnc Peace Conference he' was successful in his contention that the League of Nations Covenant must bo'made 1 an essential part of the Peace' Treaty. This assumption of abiding unity possessed him after his return- to America, and in presenting the Peace Treaty to the Senate on July 10, 1919, he laid stress on the fact, that the League of Nations was part of the warp and w ; oof of the Treaty and that it was an "indispensable instrumentality for the maintenance" of the Treaty. It. is now seen that this assumption of unity as regards_ his own Senate rested on a foundation of sand. The Senate has rejected by a majority vote the League which was largely ('he creation of its own President, and it exists in the United States to-day only as a dream. It is quite > possible the Senate vote misrepre- ■ sents the American people, but we have in this sad story the fact disclosed that expectations of reform that were aroused during the war have been shattered in part in the day of peace; This unfortunate experience that has obtained as regards Hie -League of Nations is that . also of other beneficient changes that were looked upon .'as easy and certain during the War. That Palestine would be transformed for the better after the war was looked upon as one of the sure and certain changes. . Tha't' Palestine, with Jerusalem as its cei\tre, would be the sun of a ! Jewish Utopia and would realise the dvcams of Zionists -was one of the changes for. the better that would set in' when the war ended was accepted as a matter that need hardly be questioned. A vast num- ■ bcr of Jews favoured this proposal; a large .number \ of Christians , interested in the fulfilment of . prophecy endorsed it, ai\d promin- - cnt statesmen and leaders of Labj our said the proposal was laudable 1 and just. "But this Jewish occupa- ' tion of Palestine • has not yet' even _ set in. ' The wily Turk is playing his old game of shuffle and delay in signing the Peace Treaty. 'The !■ scheme is being adversely criticised • by leading Jews. The present own- • firs of the land, Christian and Islam, are up.against the,scheme. In a word the vision of the future of '■ Palestine is not what it was dur- „ ing the period of unity of purpose during the. Avar, and there arc rocks 0 ahead for the pious and patriotic 8 proposals of the Zionists. e An official and authoritative x statement of the leaders of the movement to find a home for Jewish nationality in Palestine is given in the introduction to Zionism and the Jewish■ Future, publishecj by Mr." ® John MintiiAY. The statement says: J ''When the aim of Zionism is accomplished Palestine will be the home of the Jewish_ people, not because it will contain all the Jews in the world but because it will be the only place in the whole vworld - whero the. Jews are masters of their * own destiny, and the. national ccn- ® tre to which all Jews will look as .. the limuc and source of all that ir I. essentially Jewish. Palestine, will be the country in which Jews are to be' found, just as ' Ireland is the country in which Irishmen z".) to be found." During the war a general support was given _ to such proposals in the most influential quartevs. The British Foreign Minisier told a Zionist deputation that 0 he favoured an "autonomous Jewish State in_ Palestine," and the British Cabinet later in vague terms favoured the proposal. The For- - eign Under-Secretary still later " made the somewhat rhetorical state- £ ment that _ "the Arab countries should be given to the Arabs, Ar-

menia to the Armenians, Judcit to . the Jews, and real Turkey to the Turks." It used to be said sixty years agu that every Frenchman had a theory I of the battle of Waterloo under his j liat-, but his theory enabled him not to see the fact. In all theories with , regard to the future of Palestine i regard must be had to existing < ! facts. There is something very ap- ! pealing in this plea for a Jewish j ' Utopia in Palestine. It is one full |of piety, pathos, and poetry. It may be a very desirable thing, but it cannot be brought about by the j fiat of the terms of a Peace Treaty which would show disregard to the ; . nationality of the peoples that form to-daj a majority of the dwellers in the land. The other month a well-informed correspondent of tho London Times, writing from Jcru- ' salcm, made vivid the difficulties in the way, of Zionism. The present population of Palestine consists of 500,000 Moslems, 60,000 Christians, and 60,000 Jews. The land is all portioned out and belongs to sonicbody. Christians and Moslems alike are equally opposed to' the proposal that thc_ Jewish minority • should have a\ "privileged political position" in the land, far less to be ■ its master. It is evident that there will be no self-governing _ Jewish 1 nation occupying Palestine for ' ; many a day. It is only by immigration and by land purchase that i the Jews can possess the land. Palestine to the Arabs (so called)' who • have dwelt there _ for long generations is their native land, and they know no other, and how are they to lie removed to make room for the Jews who desire tojnake the land the .home of a new nation? By im- . '! proved cultivation pf the soil the ! land could, sustain an immensely ' greater population than at present, ' and it would seem that it is only' , by a great Jewish immigration' | scheme with such an end in view ! that the Zionists can _ possess the i land and turn their minority popu- . lation Jritp a majority, and thus s give a fouudafcion for a_ claim to- ' ,self-government of Palestine.