The Maccabaean

bombarded with a regular avalanche of questions in the House of Commons. There can be very little doubt that if the Commission of Inquiry now sitting in Jerusalem is unable to effect a further reduction of Jabotinsky's sentence—if not his release—the Civil Administration, as soon as it is created, will take a wise step in liberating him. Jabotinsky was sentenced for a purely technical offense, which, in the eyes of all upright-minded men, should have been commended as a deed of sterling merit. His real offense was his unsparing criticism in the Jerusalem press of the anti-Jewish attitude of the Military Administration.

The reception of the San Remo decision by the non-Zionist section of Anglo-Jewry has, of course, been outwardly very cordial. But the non-Zionists and anti-Zionists are trying to make out that all that has been decided is that Palestine shall be a British colony in which Jews shall have facilities of immigration and settlement. So far they are in favor of the British Mandate. But they still do not like to hear anything of Erez-Israel becoming once again the National Home of the Jewish people. For them there is still no Jewish people, only a religious community of which they are the least religious members. They realize, however, that the success of Jewish efforts in Palestine is no longer a purely Zionist trust, but the concern of all Jews, and hence an attempt may be made to arrive at a working arrangement with the "super-British" Jews so as to insure the broadest basis of co-operation for the advancement of the welfare of our ancestral country. The Council of the Jewish War Memorial has passed a resolution in favor of creating scholarships in Hebraic studies at the University of Jerusalem, tenable by Anglo-Jewish ministers and teachers. This indicates clearly how the Jewish culture of the new Palestine will be able to exercise a beneficial influence upon Jewish life in the Diaspora. The League of British Jews, which was founded for no conceivable purpose except to counteract the Zionist movement, has now appointed a sub-committee to consider how one of its declared objects, hitherto entirely neglected, can be carried out, namely, to enable those Jews to settle in Palestine who wish to do so. When the League succeeds in settling the first hundred Jews in Palestine they will have performed a very valuable piece of Zionist work, and as that is the only practical kind of work before them it is to be hoped that they will devote to it a great deal of energy, and especially of money.

Apart from the settlement of Palestine's future, there is nothing gratifying to record of the Jewish situation in general. Anti-Semitism in this country seems to have abated, but it is as rampant as ever in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and, indeed, all the countries of central and eastern Europe. The vile attacks upon Jews of the intellectual class are more violent now than they were in the days of Stöcker and Lueger. Poland has entirely forgotten all the obligations towards her Jewish subjects as stipulated in her Treaty; relentless oppression in social, economic and political life is their daily lot, so much so that even the more tolerant of Polish writers and professors are beginning to protest. According to a statement made in the House of Commons yesterday by Mr. Harmsworth, Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office, Sir Stuart Samuel's report on his mission to Poland shows that there is a case for referring to the Council of the League of Nations the infraction by the Polish Government of her obligations towards the Jews, and the British representa-

tives on the Council are to be instructed to raise the matter. Meanwhile we are receiving further reports of pogroms and miscellaneous outrages in Poland and Galicia, and the military adventures of Pilsudski's army against the Russians are not likely to bode any good to the Jews along the route. Our brethren in eastern Europe see only one haven of refuge—Palestine, and the sooner it is rendered fit to receive them the better.

The responsibility of reconstructing Palestine, now that England is the Mandatory Power, must be borne in a pre-eminent measure by English-speaking Jewry, but there are some sections of this Jewry that are altogether too remote to be engaged in regular collaboration. They are the Jews in Australia and the Far East, who have given a certain meed of support in the past, but who must now become a more active factor. The Central Executive of the Zionist Organization has therefore decided to send them a special emissary to report upon the situation of the movement and the needs of Palestine and to stimulate Zionist sentiment into a powerful force. The emissary will first visit Palestine to gather the latest information and then proceed upon a tour which will include Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, the Straits Settlements and India. The task is unique, and its responsibility is keenly felt by the one who has been delegated for the purpose—the writer of these lines. Its discharge will occupy me at least until the end of the year, and, therefore, for the present, and to my regret, I shall be unable to continue my monthly letter.

From the Front Line Trenches

Special Correspondent of THE MACCABAEAN in Palestine

SPEAKING before a Zionist audience last September, before his second visit to Palestine, Dr. Weizmann referred to our country as the "front line trenches of our movement." Our leader must have had in mind not an actual battle-ground where foe meets foe in the accepted fashion, but just the sort of thing that broke out in all its ferocity and blood-thirstiness on the second day of Pesach in Jerusalem —a pogrom. Dr. Weizmann knows enough about Arab history and Arab psychology to know that, if he can only help it, the Arab prefers guerilla to the ordinary kind of warfare. He will either fire from an ambush or slink away. The history of the attacks on our colonists is a series of nocturnal marauder's attacks. Most of the Shomerim who have been killed were fired at from behind some fence or tree. The last marauder's attack on Tel Hai was achieved by treacherous subterfuge. And the Passover Pogrom in the Holy City was likewise achieved. Those of the Arab leaders who had for months incited the mob to bloodshed knew that our young men had accepted their challenge and were prepared to meet all comers on Friday, April 2nd, the date on which the first religious procession to Jericho was to have taken place. This knowledge caused the change in their plans. Friday passed quietly. Saturday, the first day af Pesach, there was no sign of disturbance. On Sunday morning, when they knew our young men to be off their guard, the pogrom began.