The Maccabaean

“HOPE deferred maketh the heart sick,” said the ancient sage. The hope in an early assignment to England by the Peace Conference of the mandate for Palestine is again deferred, and it is, therefore, perhaps but natural that some should be feeling sick on that account.

The latest postponement has been particularly disappointing, as the final settlement of the Palestinian question had been reckoned upon with such certainty for the latter part of January. It was for that reason that Dr. Weizmann hastened back from Palestine and the projected Basle Conference was suddenly postponed. Your readers, however, will remember that when I wrote a month ago I described the belief in an immediate settlement of the Palestinian question as extravagant optimism, and I adduced reasons to show that the great event would not occur as suddenly as was expected in various quarters. The reasons for the further postponement are various. The Russian-Bolshevik peril assumed a threatening aspect, and the Supreme Council therefore busied itself with a discussion of the ways and means of averting it. The discussion apparently did not reveal any agreement between England and France, for the British decision to permit trading with the Russian Co-operative Societies has aroused concern across the Channel. Moreover, the Supreme Council is no longer the same to-day as it was twelve months ago. Wilson, Clemenceau, and Orlando, have all, for various reasons, retired from the scene, and the only original member left is Mr. Lloyd George. And even his tenure of office, owing to the rapidly increasing unpopularity of the Coalition Government, is now only a question of time. According to the best-informed opinion Mr. Lloyd George’s Government will last for at least another few months, and before its dissolution takes place we can confidently expect to hail the definite assienment to Eneland of the Palestinian mandate.

The postponement, it must be admitted, is anything but helpful. Not only is the enthusiasm of the public sorely tried by these repeated and—to it—inexplicable delays, not only is the patience of our oppressed brethren in Central and Eastern Europe exposed to a cruel strain, but the work of reconstruction in Palestine is inevitably and severely handicapped. Our enemies are taking advantage of the delay in order to spread various stories about the evil intentions of the Zionists in Palestine and to predict vague disasters that will ensue if the British Government faithfully observes its pledge. That the Morning Post should indulge in such an agitation is not surprising, even though its attitude on this question involves an inconsistency; for though it repeatedly denies to the Jew the possibility of becoming a perfect Englishman, it also wishes to prevent him from becoming a perfect Jew. In a recent leading article it accused the Zionists of desiring to dispossess the Arabs, to catechise and control British officials in Palestine, and to secure the ownership of the Christian Holy Places, as well as of various other aggressive aims, and it even

Reasons for the Continued Delay in the Palestinian Settlement—Some of the Consequences—Lord Curzon a Warm Friend—Significance of Herbert Samuel's Mission to Palestine—Nordau Returns Nothing Diminished—Anglo-Jewish Events

Special Correspondent of THE MACCABAEAN in London

charged the Zionist bank with having overreached an Arab landlord who was in its debt; and although it published a reply from me, in which I refuted these various accusations in detail, the editor, to save his face, added a footnote in which he remarked that his statements were based upon authority

that was “at least as good” as mine. It is more disconcerting to find a writer in the Zdinburgh Review arguing against “an artificially organized ‘spiritual home’ for a certain section of the Jewish race, superimposed upon the existing population.” It is strange that the writer, Major Lindsay Bashford, who participated in the campaigns in Palestine, should be so poorly informed of Zionist aims, and also so singularly ignorant of the attitude of the great masses of Jewry, for he states that “it is by no means clear that any large number of Jews want to go to Palestine.” If only he studied the pages of the Continental Jewish press he would realize how seriously misinformed he is on the matter.

But despite these pin-pricks the Zionist leaders are not letting the grass grow beneath their feet. They are tireless in their efforts, both in London and in Paris, and whoever is to blame for the delay in the settlement it is certainly not they. Lord Curzon, who was interviewed by Mr. Sokolow in London shortly after his appointment as Foreign Secretary, has recently also been interviewed by Dr. Weizmann in Paris, and the interval has been marked by an appreciable increase of warmth on the part of Lord Curzon toward our cause, doubtless because he has meanwhile been able to make himself more deeply acquainted with our aims and ideals. The departure of Mr. Herbert Samuel for Palestine, at the invitation of Lord Allenby, cannot but be regarded as a further earnest of the British Government's intention to realize its pledge at the earliest moment. Mr. Samuel has gone out to study the situation on the spot and to draw up definite proposals in regard to the problems of administration and finance, and it is no wild conjecture to suppose that, in accordance with a well-known Talmudic maxim, he may be called upon to carry out himself the proposals that he devises; though exactly in what capacity, I would not venture to predict, as so much depends upon the terms of the mandate and of the agreement to be made between the British Government and the Zionist Organization.

There cannot be the least shred of doubt that no happier selection could have been made than that of Mr. Herbert Samuel, as he alone among Jewish statesmen of the first rank combines ripeness of administrative experience with genuine enthusiasm for the Zionist cause. His investigations in Palestine will be carried on simultaneously with the work of the Milner Mission in Egypt, and he will doubtless come into personal contact with the Mission, as the latter is expected, after completing its labors in the land of the Nile, to continue its researches in the land of the Jordan. Mr. Samuel will probably be away for three