Purely Commentary A substance called "international Jew- ish money" has been so convenient a tool for those who envison only mystery in the existence of the Jew, that the mere com- ment about Jewish finance and financiers often creates panic among us. That was the case when the Lawrence of Arabia sensa- tional item was broadcast here via the London Times. An interpretation of the new assess- ment of Lawrence by Phillip Knightley and Colin Simpson, to be published in Eng- land in September, as being "likely to come as a shock to both Arab and Israeli histor- ians" may have added to the puzzlement. In reality, what was stated in the London Times article was, to the knowledgeable, a mere rehash of well-known facts regard- ing T. E. Lawrence, his pro-Zionism, his friendship for Dr. Chaim Weizmann. The only item that could be called ques- tionable was the reference to "Jewish money." But here, too, an explanation is in order. In truth, Dr. Theodor Herzl had hoped for financial support from the world's wealthiest Jews. He contacted Baron Maurice de Hirsch and was turned down. Baron Edmond de Rothschild preferred to do his own pioneering in Palestine, and he assisted in the establishment of Jewish colonies, in the creation of the Rishon leZion wine cellars and in other ways help- ed Jews who wished to go to the Holy Land. But there were no large funds from any of the wealthy Jews. • That's why the foundation of the Jewish National Fund was on the basis of a penny a day is the JNF way. The anatagonists spoke of international Jewish finance while Zionism depended on pennies: that was one reason why rescue of Jews was limited, world powers interfered, Arab animus stood in the way of progress and Zionists were not always properly understood. Perhaps that is why the Lawrence myth has become even more entangled when, as a matter of fact, the Zionist attitudes of the romantic adventurer are well known and have been established. It is only in relation to weavers of tales who often distort his- tory that "Jewish money" becomes a sub- ject of intrigue and serves to arouse preju- dice among non-Jews and creates uncalled- for trembling in Jewish ranks. Lawrence's interest in Jewish pioneer- ing efforts in Palestine dated back to 1909 when, in one of his earliest letters, incor- porated in a volume of his correspondence edited by David Garnett and published by Jonathan Cape in London, he wrote: "It is such a comfort to know that the country was not a bit like this in the time of Our Lord. The Renaissance painters were right, who drew Him and his disciples feast- ing in a pillared hail, or sunning them- selves on the marble staircase; everywhere one finds remains of splendid Roman roads and houses and public buildings, and Gali- lee was the most Romanized province in Palestine. Also the country was well-peo- pled, and well watered artificially. There were not twenty miles of thistles behind Capernaum and on the way round the lake they did not .come upon dirty, dilapidated Bedouin tents, with the people calling to them to come in and talk, while miserable curs came snapping at their heels; Pales- tine was a decent country then, and could so easily be made so again. The sooner the Jews farm it all the better; their colonies are bright spots in a desert." (p. 74. ) cornered case. Especially as I suspect you want my denials only to assure yourself a triumph over Dr. 1Veizmann, a great man whose boots neither you nor I, my dear Bishop, are fit to black. I beg you not to consider this leter in any way rude. When we next have the pleasure to meet (it will be here in England) I will have the pleas- ure of showing you that its rudeness is only relative." (pp. 342-3.) The text of this Lawrence letter is, how- ever, on the record. Of major interest in the discussion about Lawrence's role and his pro-Zionist attitude is the share he had in the meetings between Emir Feisal, Dr. Weizmann and Felix Frankfurter and the historic letter of Feisal to Frankfurter. Lawrence met with Frank- furter in February of 1919. Frankfurter was a member of the Zionist delegation in Paris during the Versailles Peace Conference. As an aftermath to the meeting of the Arab and Zionist leaders, the Emir Feisal, on March 3, 1919, wrote this letter: Hedjaz Delegation, Paris Dear Mr. Frankfurter: "I want to take this opportunity of my first contact with American Zionists, to tell you what I have often been able to say to Dr. Weizmann in Arabia and Europe. "We Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted by the Zionist Organ- ization to the Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate and proper. We will do our best, in so far as we are con- cerned, to help them through; we will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home. "With the chiefs of your movement, especially with Dr. Weizmann, we have had, and continue to have, the closest relations. He has been a great helper of our cause, and I hope the Arabs may be in a position to make the Jews some return for their kindness. We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is national and not im- perialistic. Our movement is national and not imperialistic, and there is room in Syria for us both. Indeed, I think that neither can be a real success without the other. "People less informed and less respon- sible than our leaders, ignoring the need for cooperation of the Arabs and the Zion- ists, have been trying to exploit the local differences. "I wish to give you my firm conviction that these differences are not on questions of principle, but on matters of detail, such as must inevitably occur in every contact with neighboring peoples, and are as easily dissipated by mutual good will. Indeed, nearly all of them will disappear with fuller knowledge. "I look forward, and my people with me look forward, to a future in which we will help you and you will help us, so that the countries in which we are mutually inter- ested may once again take their place in the community of civilized peoples of the world. Yours sincerely, FEISAL." In his writings Lawrence had indicated that there was nothing in the Balfour Decla- ration to show a conflict with any of the dealings by Great Britain with the Arabs. But Arab antagonism to Lawrence's pro- Jewish position was expressed early and on numerous occasions. Thus, in the book, "T. E. Lawrence: An Arab View," pub- lished in 1966 by Oxford University Press, Of more than passing interest is the Suleiman Mousa, who was a member of the text of a letter Lawrence was to have writ- staff of the Jordanian government's infor- ten to Dr. Weizmann. In the volume of his mation department, emphasized the "Zionist letters edited by Garnett, there is reference tendencies" of Lawrence. Mousa showed his to a reported annoyance by Bishop McInnes antagonism by expressing doubt whether a to a statement allegedly made by Lawrence Feisal-Weizmann agreement existed and he to Dr. Weizmann. The bishop protested to implied that it was a Lawrence invention. Lawrence, who drafted this reply which he Mousa wrote that "Feisal could not possibly reportedly was dissuaded from sending: have put his signature to anything that "My dear Bishop—I will now answer would have harmed the Arab cause, be- your letter. You wish me to deny statements cause of his zealous nationalistic spirit, which a third person declares I made to which was above suspicion." Dr. Weizmann. I will do nothing of the sort. I have never in my life denied any published statement attributed to me, and am not tempted to begin in your three- While Feisal signed the historic letter, the belief persisted that Lawrence au- thored it. But in 1929, when Feisal be- By Philip Lawrence 'Myths': Legendary Aspects of Arabian Intrigues Mingled With His Zionist Sympathies Siomovits came king of Iraq, Awni Abdul Hadi claimed to have approached him and asked whether the letter was a forgery. As the Arabs would have liked to estab- lish that it was not genuine, Hadi claimed he was told by the chief of protocol at the Iraqi Court: "His Majesty does not recall writing anything of the sort with his knowledge . . . It is probable." Hadi then spread the word that "Lawrence sent that letter without Feisal's knowl- edge." This is how a reality assumed fan- tasy in Arab eyes—in spite of the known facts about the Feisal-Weizmann-Frank- furter meetings and cooperation. On Nov. 28, 1919, the now 'defunct Lon- don Jewish Guardian published an interview with Colonel Lawrence. The mystic who be- came known as the leader in the Arab re- volt had many interesting things to say, and it's worth quoting him in full. He was asked whether and how Arabs and Jews can live together in harmony, and his reply is of such vital interest and importance that— because of the new sensational "disclo- sures"—it merits total quotation. He stated: "Speaking entirely as a non-Jew, I am decidedly in favor of Zionism; indeed, I look on the Jews as the natural importers of that Western leaven which is so neces- sary to the countries of the Near East. "While there is an intellectual affinity between the Jewish race and the inhabitants of the Near East, there is a certain techni- cal intellectual equipment which is sadly lacking in the Arabs, for instance, and this is a quality in which the Jew is particularly rich. "It is by no means impossible, there- fore, that he might join hands with the Arab in the moral and political develop- nzent of the modern Semitic race which extends from the Persian Gulf to the Medi- terranean; while the question of religious dispute, never particularly troublesome be- tween Jew and Moslem in the past, would hardly arise at all at the present time, when the strongest factor in Middle East politics is not religion, but nationality. "Everywhere, in Persia, in Turkey, in Arabia, in Egypt, the cry is 'Nationality.' Religion has lost its political influence and exercises itself only in the spiritual sphere; and those three communities of the Semitic race which differ so vastly from the reli- gious point of view—I refer to the Syrian Christians, the Syrian Moslems and the Palestine Jews—will be able to work to- gether harmoniously and with good feel- ing, so far as their politics are concerned. • • Jews Must Become "Easterners": "But there is one condition which must be satisfied before the Arab or any other of the Near East and Middle East States will in good faith accept the Jew as an integral part of Palestine. The Jew must be a Palestinian. The first generation of Jews which comes to reside in Palestine preserves, and will preserve, its original national charac- ter, be it Polish, Romanian, German, or what not. But the children of this genera- tion begin to feel themselves to be Pales- tinians, and the wave of Zionism now passing through the civilized world will accentuate and accelerate this feeling and make them Easterners, and no longer West- erners, and this is what the non-Jewish states desire. "The purely Western Jew will be forced to take up his economic and political rights and duties in Palestine before he can be allowed to establish his position as a part of the Near East. "The opposition to Zionism and the great weaknesses with which it is at pres- ent beset, will continue so long as the Zionist headquarters are in London, New York, Berlin or Paris—and not in Jeru- salem. "The establishment of a Jewish Uni- versity is a splendid step in the right direction, but by itself is not sufficient, since there is an almost unlimited field far organization and imagination every- where in Western Asia. Western Jews Must Emigrate: "The trouble of course is that the richer Jew, the Jew who has already established himself in a strange country, who has his profession, his family, his friends all around him, will naturally not be overjoyed at the prospect of departing for a land where,' for years at least, he must be little more than a stranger. "Let us look at the question dispas- sionately; it is a fact, argue how we will, that the Jew who leaves the country of his birth or adoption to live in Palestine must for a considerable time remain a foreigner in the land of his forefathers. But, never- theless, if Zionism is to have any future this sacrifice must be faced. "The Sultan of Egypt once remarked that a Zionist is a Jew who pays another Jew to live in Palestine. Until this idea can be driven out of the heads of Jew and non-Jew alike, there can be no real hope for Zionism. "The working future of Zionism, then —and let me say that I regard Zionism as the only practical means of setting the new Semitic Near East in order in our own days—lies in the realization by the intel- lectual and financial heads of the move- ment that they must sacrifice their West- ern interests and devote themselves per- sonally, as well as by financial means, to the rebuilding of Palestine, and that as soon as is humanly possible. . • 2 Friday, August 15, 1969 — Arthur Hertzberg, professor of history, Columbia University, "Israel: Religion, Nation and Peoplehood." Also, Dr. Max Arzt, vice chan- cellor and professor of practical theology, Jewish Theological Sem- inary of America, "Jewish Liturgy and Christian Worship," Jan. 14; Prof. Abraham Joshua Heschel, professor of Jewish ethics and THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS mysticism, Jewish Theological history at Hebrew Union Col- lege-Jewish Institute of Religion, "The Pharisees and Early Chris- tianity," Oct. 8; Dr. Jacob Agus, rabbi of Cong. Beth El, Balti- more, "The Rabbinic Tradition and New Testament," Oct. 22; Dr. Irving Greenberg, professor of history, Yeshiva University, "Scripture, Law and Authority in Judaism," Nov. 5; and Dr. • form only 10 per cent of the population. This of course was a misconception; Dr. Wei.-rnann himself, in Paris, appeared ready to accept the proposition that Jews shall have only their proportionate degree of control in. Palestinian affairs, and in re- turn asked for the granting of those eco- nomic opportunities that are necessary for the proper application of Jewish capital to the resources of Palestine. "The Arab is far from making objec- tions to the entrance into the country of Jewish capital, Jewish brains and Jewish energy; he will be very grateful indeed if the Jews will help him to develop the water supply, build the railways and ports, increase the area of-arable land, and found new industries and interests. "Further, my own private ,.opinfors is that the Jewish agriculturalists: will not cultivate wheat or barley to any great extent, their capacity for unskilled labor is not strong enough to compete with the unskilled Arab population in Syria, Meso- potamia and with the fellahin in Egypt. They will probably concentrate on the cultivation of fancy crops such as grapes, olives and fruit, and upon special indus- tries. • • • Second or Third Generation Friindship: "Thus there will be no danger of ritlalry or clashing of interests, and the Jew will start on friendly terms with the local peas- antry, will help to increase its prosperity, and, in the second or third generation, may be expected to work hand in hand with it. "Friction at one point is, I am afraid, inevitable; and that is between the new Jew in Palestine and the original settlers." Whatever may be published in the Knightley-Simpson volume in September can hardly add anything more to what we have just quoted. The London story that reached our COMP munity via the London Times lent itself to sensationalism. The facts are on hand, we know Lawrence was a Zionist, we are aware that the myth of Lawrence can be easily complicated by accusations and denials. But the record as it has been made available in the words of Lawrence himself, can no be distorted by additional rumors nod myth ology. • • There is an interesting postscript to tit Lawrence story. Rudyard Kipling was no so friendly to Jews. On July 20, 1922, he wrote to Lawrence: "I may as well warn you that, if you are a pro-Yid, and think that the present cheap Hell in Palestine is 'Statesmanship' I shall most likely turn the whole thing back on your hands and refuse to touch it." How interesting humans are, and how fantastic the trends in history! AJCommittee to Bring 8 Jewish Scholars for Pope Pius Center Lecture Series Eight renowned Jewish scholars will deliver a series of lectures on Je1vish history, theology and topics of j current concern at the Pope Pius XII Religious Education Cen- ter here, starting Oct. 8. by the.American Jew- j ponsored isl; Committee's Institute of Hu- men Relations, the series will in- clude the following: Dr. Ellis Rivkin, professor of • Arab Objection "Political": "It must always be borne in mind that the Arabs' objection to Zionism Was polit- ical and not economic. They were given to understand that the aim of the Zionists was to induce the peace conference to transfer the government of Palestine immediately to the Jews, in spite of the fact that these Seminary, "Jewish Ethics and My- sticism," Jan. 28; Dr. Eugene Horowitz, professor of Jewish religious thought, Hebrew Union College, New York, "New Trends in Jewish Theology," Feb. 11; and Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, na- tional director, interreligious af- fairs department, American Jew- ish Committee, "A Historical Sur- vey of Jewish-Christian Rela- tions," Feb. 25. 12,000 Arab Students Visit Parents on W. Bank JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli authorities reported Tuesday tha about 12,000 students from Aral countries have entered the West Bank so far this summer to visi parents or other relatives under special program permitting su visits. A total of 20,000 permits we issued on request, but so far 8,000 remain unused. Last summer, 16,000 Arabs visited the West Bank under the same program.