“But there is another influence which would greatly assist the colonization of the country. It has long been a cherished project with the Jews to establish a college in the Holy Land, which would serve as a centre of Jewish philosophy and science. Such an institution would readily meet with support, and incalculably quicken the pulses of their national life. With an extensive literature in their own language, in which every branch of philosophy and science is represented, the Jews would be able to make such an institution a genuine centre of intellectual activity. The leading learned men of the Jewish race would be naturally attracted to such a national centre, and would form a nucleus round which all the intellect of the nation would gather, by means of which the necessary elements of the future government of the country might be formed. I understand that the most suitable site for this college has already been generally agreed upon.
“I have still to show you that these attractions would be sufficient to induce numbers of Jewish families to migrate to Syria. The total number of the Jews throughout the world is variously estimated from eight to ten millions. Of those the greater number—probably six millions—inhabit Russia and the old Polish provinces which now belong to Austria, Germany and Roumania. The condition of the Jews in Russia is deplorable in the extreme. They are denied civil rights. They are forbidden to hold landed property. They are treated as aliens, and are restricted to limited areas in which they suffer from the evils of over-population. These conditions have induced no fewer than 250,000 Jews to emigrate to America within the last thirty or forty years, and it may be confidently predicted that Syria under our protectorate would offer still greater attractions. The land of Palestine alone, is capable of supporting ten times its present population. It may seem strange to say of the Jews who are scattered throughout the world, that they still consider this to be their fatherland. But, if they are denied the actual possession of it, they still bear it in their hearts. Three times a day every Jew offers up a prayer for the restoration of his race to the land and the temple, from which he has been exiled for eighteen centuries. It is a remarkable fact that this scattered and downtrodden people possess within themselves all the elements which go to form a united nation. They have a code of laws for their own government; they have a literature, a history, a language and a religion, which are peculiar to them. Their education is, with some exceptions, on a par with that of the most civilized nations. Numbers of them excel in all the different branches of mechanics and art; and in trade and finance they are, as we all know, unrivalled. Though last, not least they are a people who would fight bravely in the defence of their country.
“During the last twenty years of the reign of the Emperor Nicholas, the military conscription fell heavily upon the Jews. In proportion to their numbers, for every Russian that was enlisted, five Jews were compelled to enter the service; and during the late Turkish war they bore themselves bravely in the face of the enemy. No one who has any knowledge of the Jewish character can for a moment doubt that if the Jews were restored to their country under an English protectorate they would prove true to our nation, and that Syria would become as firmly united to England as if it were peopled by our own countrymen.”[¹]
[¹] England’s Policy in the East: our Relations with Russia and the Future of Syria. By Edward Cazalet. Second Edition. London: ... 1879. [8º. iv + 32 pp. in printed wrapper.] pp. 22–26.
LXXIII.
A Collection of Opinions of English Christian Authorities on the Colonization of Palestine
1. General Sir Charles Warren’s Views
“My proposal is simply an arrangement by which, ... Palestine, this unfortunate land may yet be placed in ... a position which may enable her again to take a place socially among the kingdoms of the earth....”
“It will probably at once occur, ‘And what of the Arabs of Palestine?’ I ask in reply, ‘Who are the Arabs?’ They are certainly not Turks in any degree; they are for the most part not Arabs of Arabia, of the Desert. Then who are they? It has long been known, and no person has thrown more light upon the subject than M. Ganneau, that the people of Palestine are of a very mixed race: some of Canaanitish descent, some Jewish, some of Arabia. It is evident that many of them being Moslems are so for convenience,... We cannot, therefore, look upon the natives of Palestine as rigid Moslems of one race; but we must recognize them as descendants of Canaanites, Israelites, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Crusaders, now professing the Moslem or the Christian faith, according to circumstances, but retaining above everything the ancient traditions—yes, and in some instances, I have little doubt, their veritable old religion.”