Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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M A S M I D claims if it is convinced that the Arabs will remain a pressing problem in Palestine. According to international law the his- torical-political rights of the Arabs are on a very weak basis. The Arabs claim the land by conquest. With the coming of the Turks and their absolute rule, the Arab title to ownership was put to naught. Great Britain ' s occupation did not give the land automatically to the Arabs. By historical, political and moral rights it is Jewish, for the Jews never gave up their claim. Only they regarded Palestine as their sole land.- ' It is the economic aspect which makes up the knotty part of the problem. It is not possible to establish a Jewish state in Palestine without the forcible dis- lodgement of a peasantry who seem ready to face death rather than give up their land. ' ' this pro-Arab statement seems to stem from true liberal sentiments. The cudgels are taken up for the Fellaheen or peasants who constitute one of three classes (roving Bedouins and an aristocracy of well-to-do and professionals constitute the other two). But an unbiased report brings out the fact that ' The Fellahe en know nothing con- cerning whether the country is underpopu- lated or overpopulated. Ignorant and fa- natical these Arabs . . . are as dry fuel for any conflagration which the leaders of the race may desire at any time to kindle. ' As the Arab population steadily in- creases, as fraternizing takes place in Jew- ish-Arab unions, and as the Arab standard of living is raised, the Arab leaders fear losing control of the Arab masses. Their power is at stake. Consequently stirring up trouble is to their advantage. Backwardness and selfishness go hand in hand. The Arab aristocracy and ruling classes, aided and abetted by the British administration, have played upon the re- ligious fervor and national feelings of the Fellaheen. The results have led to organ- ized disorders which have only aggra- vated conditions and in no way aided the Arab in agrarian reform. Since more land is needed by the Arab to eke out a living than would be necessary under scientific farming, they are blind to the absorptive capacity of Palestine. They are dead set against intaigration despite Lord Melchett ' s analysis which shows a capacity of at least nine million people on both sides of the Jordan supported largely on an agricultural base. 5 A continuation of the initiative shown by Clidutzim in intensive farming and in industrial enterprise can turn such a recipe into a reality. That Jewish organ- izations can settle large numbers of immi- grants is borne out by no less an English- man than Sir John Hope Simpson: Any organization which plans emigration of ref- ugees would do well to study the tech- niques cf those organizations which have been responsible for settlements in Pales- tine. If Arabs would only let matters take their course the Jews would reach 2,000,000 in fifteen years on the basis of Post-World War I figures which will equal- ize the then Arab total. ' ' If Arabs would only let matters take their course the Jews would easily double those figures on the basis of Post-World War II needs. And still the land will not groan under the burden placed upon it. For obviously not all would take to agricuhure. The potentialities of the natural resources of the land promise an industry and a commerce whose im- 2) Our Historical-Legal Right to Eretz Yisrael, by Dr. Reuben Gafni. Torah-Avodah Pub., Jeru- salem, 1933, Passim. 3) Arab Awakening, by George Antonius. J. P. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1939., p. 410. 4) Palestine Today and Tomorrow, by J. H. Holmes. Macmillan Co., New York, 1929, p. 115-116. 5) Rape of Palestine, William B. Ziff. Long- man Green Co., 1938, p. 492. 5) The Refugee Problem (London, 1939), by Sir John Hope Simpson, p. 441. 7) The Jewish Fate and Future, by Arthur Ruppin. Macmillan London Co., 1940, p. 348. Twenty-six

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Iic Ora of r relz 1 Ji. raei By ISRAEL LERNER cmd NACHUM STEPANSKY T AM well aware that ' there ' , in the world of freedom, civilized beings don ' t be- lieve what they hear. Tell them WE AF E . . . DYING. Let them rescue all those who will still be alive. We shall never forgive them for not having supplied us with arms so that we might have died like men with guns in our hands. So spoke a Jewish voice from the underground of the hell- ghetto of Warsaw. Promises, not guns, were supplied and people continue in a manner unlike anything men ever saw be- fore. But for us Jews outside the sphere of man-made hell who are helpless to aid fully those inside, there is a soothing quality in post-war promises. The cycle of birth and death will be adjusted. After so much death a rebirth must come for the Jewish people. The placating proposals of yester- year will be forgotten and the radical but right solution will be substituted — a land, a home and a piece of sky for the Jews to settle under. But the post-war period can see on emergence of a Jewish Palestine only if the world will act on the proposed solution as cm actual probability rather than a remote possibility. The politico-economic barrier pointed out as the hindrance to a proper solution must be exhibited in all its fallacies. It can be rolled aside. The assumption could be made that in the post-war world Great Britain will upon her own initiative, or through pressure of other United Nations, exhibit a genuine in- terest in resolving the Palestinian problem in on unselfish manner. This will come about only if Great Britain will be con- vinced that a Jewish Palestine can be established and still do full justice to the Arabs at the some time. The Arabs ore the chief excuse for failing to carry out the original spirit of the Balfour Declaration as evidenced by the reports of all the investi- gating commissions. The counsel of others will carry v eight. Great Britain regards the Mandate officially as a responsibility for the peace and well- being of the whole population and as an obligation which MUST BE FULFILLED. The Mandate vested great power in the League of Nations and no one country may regard itself morally or legally as absolute proprietor of the Holy Land as Great Britain ' s qctions should seem to indicate. Judging from the official attitude of the United States throughout the period of ragged peace, a Jewish Palestine would be the advice from that quarter. Applica- tion of a like test in the case of the Soviet Union might make Arab chances in turn look extremely promising. The U. S. S. R. used the Palestinian problem as a plank in her anti-imperialist campaign against Great Britain in the Near East. A renuciaticn of imperialism in the post-war period on a world-wide scale should rob the Soviet Union of its argument. While such a policy seems improbable, the closer alliance be- tween the two countries does foreshadow a severe curtailment of anti-British-impe- rialist activity on the part of the Soviet Union. It is conceivable that in view of the horror which descended on European Jewry and to which the Russians have been such close witnesses they will be more amenable to Zionist proposals than before. However, the Arab question looms large in any feasible solution the Zionist can offer. No major power will support Zionist 1) The Riots of 1936, ed. by 3 Chcrrci£. Davar Publication, Tel Aviv, 1937, p. 456 T c€nty-fivc

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M A S M I D portance is hard to cverestimate. The Arabs themselves have neither the capital nor the initiative to develop the latent possibilities of Palestine. Jev ish experts have clamored for years to buy the Negeb (Southern Pales- tine). The same Partition Commission that forbade land sales in this area states (p. 225): The Negev is desert and desert it v ill remain until Jewish enterprise and capital develop it. ' ' Some Arabs admit that the Jev s have turned some of the potentialities into actual- ities. Jewrish capital and labor have great- ly contributed to the economic development of the country and to a rise in the wages of Arab labor. ' But even these Arabs point to Jewish purchases of inhabited and farmed land from rich Arab owners with the results that the tenants are forced to vacate suddenly as highly unjust. Actu- ally such instances are rare. Reclaiming unused and gutted land is on essential part of the Zionist program. Wherever purchases of inhabited lands take place, fair warning is given to the tenant to allow for a period of adjustment. The Jews cannot be ex- pected to pay double — one price to legal owners and an equal amount to the ten- ant, for as it is the prices are exorbitantly high. Even if the land were not sold, the owner could evict his tenants. Neverthe- less, the Jews actually help the tenants, as is proved by the case of Petach Tikvah. Formerly 300 Arabs needed 20,000 dunom land to subsist. New Petach Tikvah sup- ports on 35,000 dunam 15,000 Jewish and 2500 Arab workers. The above facts give a fair idea what a boon a Jewish Palestine has been and would continue to be to the Arabs. One can visualize Eretz Yisrael with important industries in Haifa and Tel Aviv. An Eretz Yisrael of a flourishing tourist trade, of great technical improvements promoted by a Technical College in Haifa, of Iremendou.T health improvement in hospitalization and combatting of disease; an Eretz Yi.srael which will serve as a center of learning for the whole Near East through its Hebrev University. And above all, equal opportun- ities will be given to the Jew and Arab-- for Jews are downtrodden strangers in other lands but in our own land, our own law provides for fair treatment of the strangers. Between visualization and realization there remains the barrier of stubborn oppo- sition. As Duker so well points out, ' ' Little or no progress can be reported concerning the future of the Jev ish National Home. . . . There is no clear indication as to what line of action the United Nations will follow in the disposition of the Holy Land. . . . How- ever, there is increasing support on the part of the British of Arab aspirations for a Federation of Arab States to include Pa- lestine. The fostering of a strong national- Arab state backed by British capital seems to bode bad tidings for Jewish hopes. No- where can we find proof that such an Arab state would enjoy a budding ultra-modern minority within its bounds. The eventual result could well similize the ruthless Turk- ish nationalization cf the Kurds. Despite the need for Jewish immigration to Palestine in the past decade an analysis of official Mandatory policy shows on un- bridled attempt to divide and rule, hinder wilfully and wantonly Jevnsh eccncmic and political development and to intend to trans- form Palestine into port of the mosaic of British imperialism. The theoretical possi- bilities attributed in the past to Palestine hove become realities. Haifa Bay, fac- tories. Dead Sea chemical resources, air and rail transportation centers, oil line ter- minus are all destined to transform Pales- tine into the great center of the Near East. 8) Ibid, p. 361. 9) Arab Awakenina, ' op. cit., p. 407. 10) Jewish Social Service Quarterly. SepL 1942. Political and Cultural Aspects of Jewish Post-War Problems, by A. Duker. riccii j(-sere!i