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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

THE FATE OF PALESTINE
AFTER THE WAR.

That millions are concerned
about what is to become of Palestine
and Jerusalem, the "holy land" of
the three greatest monotheistic re-
ligions of the world, Judaism, Mo-
hammedanism and Christianity, is
more than evident from the many
discussions of this theme found in
leading periodicals. It is doubtful
if any other writer is in a better
position to give the facts and proba-
bilities in the case than is Pastor L.
Schneller, head of the two great
Protestant Orphans' Homes in Je-
rusalem and who was born and
raised in that city. In the quarterly
journal issued by him for many
years under the title of Der Bote
arts Zion, he reports and discusses
this problem of world-wide interest
in the following way :
"Jerusalem has now become a
great military center. The town and
the public highways are crowded
with soldiers and their equipment.
Large camel caravans fully loaded
come in from all directions. The
cloisters and the pilgrim hospices in
and around Jerusalem and Bethle-
hem now harbor thousands of Turk-
ish soldiers. The citadel of the city,
with its mighty towers dating back
to the time of King Herod, is the
scene of great things. Not since the
days of the Crusader have such
things been witnessed in this sacred
territory. The government has by
compulsory purchase secured from
the French owners the railroads of
the land, especially that from Joppa
to Jerusalem. The Holy Land has
again become what it was in the
days of the great world powers of
antiquity, Babylon, Assyria and
Egypt—the military and commercial
gateway between Asia and Africa."
And who shall be in control of
this gateway when the great war is
over?
Pastor Schneller declares that
more than one people and govern-
ment are now speculating how to
secure this land. When at the be-
ginning of the war the English mis-
sionaries left Palestine and went
home, one of their leaders said :
"England will never permit this
country, so near to the Suez Canal,
again to fall into any other but
English hands." The French arc
known to have historic claims,
especially on northern Palestine,
particularly on the Lebanon, be-
cause of their interference in 1860
in favor of the Christians, when
these were being massacred by the
Druses. Orthodox Russia, which,
more than any other country, ven-
erates the sacred shrines of Pales-
tine, is only too anxious to possess
it, especially as thereby it would se-
cure access to the Mediterranean.
The people of Palestine themselves
dread nothing more than the fate
of becoming subject to the Czar
and his fanatical hosts, this dread
being based chiefly upon the fear-
ful suppression of Christianity as
effected in recent years by Russia
in Persia.
The Jews constitute a fourth

NEWS FROM HOME

By Hannah Berman

(Concluded)

"'co the gymnasive!" retorted
Malice hotly. "A lot of good that
will do her, She will blind herself
reading and reading; and never set
eyes on a living soul. And when it
comes to making a match for her,
she will not know who is who and
what is what. And her mother will
imagine she is the only girl in the
world. She ought to come here,
and she will know what life is, and
where in the world she stands her-
self. My Fanny, now, she knows
what life is. She sees hundreds of
people every day of the week—the
greatest ladies, English ladies who
treat her most respectfully, and do
not turn up their noses at her. They
can afford to spend a hundred
roubles without thinking twice over
it. That's the sort of people one
can learn something off. And my
Fanny conies in contact with them
every hour of the day. That's where
she has learnt to be a lady ; not from
me and not from her father ; let us
tell the truth of ourselves. She has
a grand place. The only drawback
is that she works in a cellar. They
have the lights lit there every hour
of the day and all the year round.
Her eyes suffer sometimes from the
unnaturally brilliant light, but her
master is as good to her as if she
were his own daughter. He pays
her good wages. Believe me, a man
in our village at home doesn't earn
in a month what my Fanny earns in
a week. But, do you think she
brings it all home to me? Oh, no.
That's not Fanny's way. She does
•not give me a penny more than what

party that hopes for the possession
of the Holy Land. It is the land of
their ancestors. Those Jews who
are thinking of repossessing it •do
not expect to secure it by an over-
throw of the Turkish supremacy.
but by the establishment of a
Kingdom of Judah under Turkish
suzerainty. England, indeed, has
planned to make this Kingdom a
neutral buffer state, under the con-
trol of the Allies, and has sought to
gain the influence and co-operation
of Zionism in the interests of this
scheme. However, the Zionists
have openly declared their antag-
onism to such a plan. The Jewish
Revue, the organ of the Zionists,
has openly declared that they will
have nothing to do with such a fan-
tastic project, especially as the vic-
tory of the Allies, upon which the
realization of this scheme is condi-
tioned, is not materializing. The
Zionists declare that they would
like to have Palestine, but without
interfering with the present govern-
ment of the country, as the na-
tional reunion of the Jews can be
consummated best with a strong
Turkey.

it costs me to buy her her food.
She goes about. She dresses beau-
tifully. She leads a life of pleas-
ure. She is a lady, I tell you. Her
clothes alone are worth as much as
Zlatte's clever daughter will get for
a dowry. And, her life is alto-
gether easy. She is not kept in a
moment longer than the specified
time for closing the business. She
has only to cover her counter with
a big sheet, and she is off. She will
not be long 1101V. How is your fa-
ther, Joseph? Does lie still sit
cross-legged on the table and put
patches into old garments, or turn
the old frock-coats of the house-
holders inside out, to make them
look like new ? He never made a
new suit (luring the years I was at
home. He could not cut out a gar-
ment to fit a mouse. Do not be of-
fended, Joseph. I mean no harm.
Your father never learnt to be a
tailor. He left the seainary, and,
having nothing else to do, began to
stitch and stitch ; and what is one to
expect from such a method of learn-
ing a trade? IIere they do things
differently. A boy has to give up so
many years to learn his business ;
afterwards lie works for someone
else, learns to cut on their beards,
as the saying goes; and then, if he
has the money, and gets a good
chance, he may begin for hiniself.
You should see the clothes my Zelig
wears! They were made for hint
by the people who live in the next
house, tailors. But, I forgot to
tell von that Zelig, too, is a business
man. He wouldn't be a working
man. He despises such a low

In harmony with these ideas is
the recent action of the Turkish
government, which has now re-
moved all restrictions upon the im-
migration of the Jews into the land
of their fathers. Jews can now
settle down in the Holy Land al-
most without any formalities at all,
and many are making use of this
privilege. A leading Jewish organ,
Nowy IVoschod, declares that an
immense immigration of Polish
and Russian Jews particularly, who
have suffered terribly in the war, is
already setting in. It says that in
Russia tens of thousands of inno-
cent Jews have been slaughtered,
dozens of pogroms have taken
place, and with Palestine now open
hosts of these suffering people will
throng to the Holy Land to secure
under .11oslent protection the right
to live and to labor, which Chris-
tian nations, especially Russia, have
denied them. Schneller says it
would not be a surprise to find in
Palestine within the next few years
as large a number of Jews as were
found there in the times of the
Old Testament kings and prophets.

—Current Opinion.

means of making a living. He is a
clerk in a warehouse. And fine
trouble we had before we got him
in there. I fe had to go to classes,
and classes ; and afterwards run
about looking for a place, like a
poisoned mouse. Ile got one last
year. He has a far way to go
mornings and evenings ; but he need
not worry about that. There are
trains underground. Yes, you may
well stare, right tinder the ground,
under us. They go like lightning.
May the Lord send him a place
where he will earn better wages.
As things are 110\V, what with one
drag and another, Zelig has nothing
to give us towards his own keep. I f
my old man did not work hard, and
if we did not keep a lodger, I don't
know where we should be this day.
I hit, one ilittst not sin. Things are
worse with other folks, God knows!
And your mother—is she well, Jo-
seph? But she is not too young."
Malka brought out, seeing that Jo-
seph did not answer but shook his
head disconsolately. "Oh, yes ; she
is an old woman. And she has had
a hard life. Oh, don't tell me !
know that things are terribly hard
at home ; not like here. If my hus-
band had been more of a man,
smarter and younger and more of a
business man, he might have made
a fortune here. Ali, what wealth
there is lying about everywhere!
You have no idea, Joseph, how rich
some of the people here are. If all
the wealthy men of our village were
to put together all the money that
they boast of possessing — I say
nothing of the sums they may or
may not have in reality—if they
were all to put together the wealth
they are supposed to possess, they
would not have enough to buy out
one rich Londoner ; no, perhaps not
even a quarter of him. See ? Woe
is me, NVOC is me! II ow I nm on
talking about myself ! And I waited
and waited for you as a good Jew
waits for the Messiah, to hear from
you the news from home. Tell me,
little Joseph, how is your grand-
father's brother, Ephraim ? Is lie
well ? I Ie was always a queer man.
F.ven when he was young he would
not wear earlocks. Already he was
a bit of an epicurean. He was a
dandy from birth. You know that
he once wanted to marry my
mother, • peace be unto her! She
told me all about it many tittles.
But, no ; she would not have him.
She was too religious for that sort
of a man. She said no ; and it was
no. It was a grand match. But
you could cut her to pieces. She
was that sort. In any case, lie was
a funny man. He spoke only Ger-
man, and read romances in that
language. And he laughed at some
of the customs that prevailed in the
village. Does he still beat the floor

(Continued on Page 15)

