PALEST INE AWAKE THE REBIRTH OF A NATION SOPHIE IRENE LOEB P 5 rs z } : | ie } f ; . a / # ass i" hy / 1 Z * ; aa ry es 4 R i Von ee. ” i 4 af ae PERS a " a ine 1°, 1 \ te) Te; ; a eae ’ : ‘ W408 ie ‘ A ere a iy pe i Md y+ i ie ~s - r ' 7* P tak a 5 4 - . ae 7 rb ( A J \ wed} t: av, Alida, oe IAN of! . ee a 12 ae! A iy Ors | Ps Pes, ny Les: We ey, ee et rd " a / + ry i * wa oy ‘* —, dy 7 . Li; ta a raha ee me an - : ne id - ® s ye ~ . i - r ; ee, i are a ot t ‘ es yee Wows a Ks } afi Ba ‘ Ps “ 7 4 ° ‘ i k he es al A PATRIARCH OF PALESTINE PALESTINE AWAKE The Rebirth of a Nation <<“ 05 Piggy i \ ~~) [) PA Ye AR ee a iWZ& BY hye / Of \\S Y OGIcAL Sel SOPHIE IRENE LOEB ell THE CENTURY CO. New York & London Copyright, 1926, by Tue CENTURY Co. PRINTED IN U. 8. A. FOREWORD I welcome the suggestion that I write a fore- word to this book. The welfare work in which the author, Sophie Irene Loeb, is engaged is the noblest of all mod- ern social service. ‘To protect the children, who too often are neglected and helpless, is the sacred duty of the community. As president of the Child Welfare Committee of America and hon- orary president of the New York City Board of Child Welfare, she has lived and acted up to this duty in the highest degree. I write this foreword with special pleasure be- cause I share her love for Palestine. I believe, and always have believed, in its reconstruction. Conditions have borne out fully my hopes and aspirations. To-day the Holy Land bids fair to become again the “land where milk and honey flows,” for the benefit of all its inhabitants— Arabs, Christians, and Jews alike. Without being a prophet I foretell that, as it was the cradle of all religions, Palestine will be- Vv vi FOREWORD come the spiritual center of the world. I felt this on my first visit in 1904, and repeated pil- srimages have only confirmed my belief. This caused me to be keenly interested in the author’s visit and the insight she gained into all the phases of the Palestine problem. I was grati- fied that her investigations resulted in the articles published in the “Evening World.” In their broad conception and unbiased judgment they served to enlighten those who were yet ignorant of the possibilities of the Holy Land. Put in book form, these articles will spread permanently and even farther the renewed potential glory of the Holy Land. This volume, I believe, is the most comprehen- sive’ yet presented, setting forth not only the economic aspects of the land, but also the great romance and idealism inspiring the pioneers who are paving the way for the generations to come. For out of Zion shall come forth the law And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. NATHAN STRAUS. Driftwood, Mamaroneck, New York, August 2, 1926. CHAPTER I II VII XI CONTENTS PALESTINE, THE CENTURY’S GREAT Ex- PERTRCENUT 0 erga ore ee rN fe THE Mayor OF JERUSALEM SEES THE Dawn oF A New Day IN THE Hoty LAND TeL-Aviv, THE MrraActe City oF THE FOASTERN SWVORLD ae et 8 e ° e ° ° e . ° e . Tue IDEALIST AND THE DREAMER BACKED BY PractTicaAL PIONEERS CU eh ee ee THE GOVERNOR OF PALESTINE PAVES THE Way For Town PLANNING AND FPREs- ERVATION OF Hoty PLACES . 9. : THe ZEAL OF THE COLONIST FIRED WITH THE SPIRIT OF His ANCESTORS . . . EguaL RicHts FoR WoMEN IN THE BIBLE Lanp AN ObsyjectT-LESsoN FOR OTHER GOT TRIES Me My culins Helv AD nal are How THE Money Rarsep BY WoRrLD- WipE CONTRIBUTION Is SPENT... Tue Bic TAsk oF MAKING PRESENT-DAY COTUT EEA TION § coat air ees eal eae eee Ck WHERE YouTtH BECOMES THE SCIENTIFIC TILER OF THE SOLL SS vhs et ee ke THE OPPOSITION TO THE JEWS, AND THE PIER ENS HRC Nhe eet can cent aul vii PAGE 24. 34 55 66 73 81 88 93 vill CHAPTER XII AITI XIV AV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV CONTENTS OVERNIGHT BY RAIL FROM CAIRO TO JE- RUSALEM, WuicH Took Firteen Days BY CAMEL Tue PRIMITIVE NATIVE AND THE TRIALS OF WELFARE WoRK PALESTINE LEADING OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE ELIMINATION OF ORPHAN ASYLUMS THe Lasor SITUATION Ve) ae eta ie BEAUTY-PARLORS AND CABARETS BY THE Op. WALLS-OF JERUSALEM...) ee I Go To JERICHO, AND AH Meg, It Is a Hot. PLace Ben YEHUDA, WHo SPENT Forty YEARS to Revive A Drap LANGUAGE WHERE Hort Btooms ETERNAL... THE CRADLE OF CULTURE ROCKED ANEW IN THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY WEIZMANN SEES BUT ONE GOAL FOR THE J EW—PALESTINE THe Man Wuo Forever FEELS THE Putse-Beat or HuMANITY 1 ae RoTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY. . . ENGLAND'S JOB SA SR ETS Sa THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE OF PALES- TINE e e . J J ee . °° e . APPENDIX A ee ghey ZEN Ee ae APPENDIX B APPENDIX C fo a a a PAGE 107 115 ILLUSTRATIONS A PATRIARCH OF PALESTINE ... . . .. Frontispiece FACING PAGE PANORAMA OF JERUSALEM . 228° s > 3S. COTIMBIEACTOR VFA TA ELAIRA) oo sth el collins cht RRL co eu een eS THE Oxtp CarAvAn BeInG REPLACED BY AUTOMOBILE AND Bus ee Une Men SI TEe aaa Ses Bg UME Re kha ie Text Aviv, THE Most Movern City oF PALESTINE. . . 32 Maxine MarsH-Lanp INTO TILLABLE SOIL. . . . . 36 SIREET SCENE UNSIDE( JAFFA) GATE, 44005 Od e445 A Re.Licious SETTLER eS RE Se Se ee FA REY we te 8 rer BRIN CBr OGACCO Ri fs a nee inc) Pe acca teeth Dele TA vine WOE) Tree NURSERIES A GROWING INDUSTRY FOR WoMEN . . 76 New Tyre oF APARTMENT House IN PALESTINE. . . 81 A Group oF Our Finest HapassAH INFANT WELFARE . 117 Girts TAUGHT TO SEW AT BALFOURIA ORPHANAGE . . 124 PME OEGIN NING OF Av COLONVil) 250k) a his) hohe co) oto 238 eer CIENT? VV AILING | WALL.) buted palutelh of) couch tan LAO TypicaL NEw SETTLEMENT IN PALESTINE . . . . . 160 af i oe PALESTINE AWAKE $n rs PALESTINE AWAKE THE REBIRTH OF A NATION CHAPTER I PALESTINE, THE CENTURY 'S GREAT EXPERIMENT ©). gondola glided away from the stately old palace that once was the rendezvous of princes and now a famous hostelry. The morning sun shone bright, and the spar- kling water seemed to reflect the high spirits of the stalwart gondolier as he deftly guided us through the watery highways until we reached the boat for Triest. As I took my last lingering look on Venice, the city of lovers and romance, of doers and dreamers, I turned to scan my fellow-passengers, and found already—a different order. Different they were from those about the doges’ old palace in St. Mark’s square that I had just left—a 3 4 PALESTINE AWAKE cosmopolitan crowd. There appeared a dusky individual wearing a red fez, doubtless bound for Cairo, and a white-turbaned Easterner, a high priest, different, different indeed from the tourist and readily recognized visitor of Europe, and they were bound for a different world—a different people, a different life. Going home they were, the oldest home of all people—the people of the Book. The contrast was almost startling. What tales were they carrying back to old Egypt and Palestine and Jerusalem—stories of what they had seen and heard of the New World! To them new indeed—to us very old. And once transferred to the ship at Triest bound for Alexandria, there was no escaping the feeling that something unlike anything we had ever seen awaited us. My first walk around the deck in the now late afternoon led me to look below at the third-class passengers. It was as though a fairy godmother had waved a wand and put them all to sleep e’en before the daylight had faded. And on the bare hard floor, with a coat or a bit of wearing-apparel under each head WaIvsayal JO VNVUONVd THE GREAT EXPERIMENT 5 —fast asleep. And the majority of them young people. What weariness must have been theirs to slumber so soundly, oblivious of everything— the screaming birds around the ship, the handling of cargo, the call of the midshipman! But in the morning I learned. Thousands and thousands of miles they had traveled—from Russia, Poland, Bohemia, Bavaria—everywhere, it seemed. And whither bound, I asked. To Palestine, the New Jerusalem—to them not an old world but a new one—one they were going to build. And as I talked with them I marveled at this idealism of the twentieth century; an idealism, doubtless, latent through the centuries, waiting for the call to come. Conditions all over the world hastened it—the economic situation in Europe, the industrial slumps since the war, per- secution in some instances—in truth, all of the war’s aftermath contributed to this. The intensity, the fervor of these young people cannot be brushed aside or treated lightly. It is the real foundation upon which the revival of the country is based. As one voice they said: “We 6 PALESTINE AWAKE are going to work. We know it will be hard, but it matters not. We are going to make way for those to follow. It is our heritage.” And the same note is sounded in cities and colonies throughout Palestine after they have been there for a few years. The pioneer spirit is what is making these ‘young people, many of them professionals in their former homes—doctors, lawyers, engineers, and members of the other learned occupations— willing to break stone or do any other menial work. They all come to Palestine with one prime purpose. They have picked up stakes, an- ticipating hardships, but with a sublime spirit of making the best and the most of it. The tables seem to have turned. Instead of the middle-aged going forth as pioneers, leading their young, to make a new land with new con- ditions, the young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five are now creating the foundation upon which the New Palestine is to be built. And for the aged the same spirit prevails. Old men, strict in their Jewish religious ortho- THE GREAT EXPERIMENT 7 doxy, who have all their lives longed to touch the ancient soil, come here presumably to live and die—mainly to die. But they acquire a new youth, because the young blood that has come into the country, the haluzim (which means pioneers), are making life worth living. The prayer of the Jew they say, which used to be “Next Year Jerusalem,” is being changed to “To-morrow Jerusalem.” They have but one mutual thought, a National Home. But so much on the side of Zionism. What of the country itself, the actual state of affairs that exists? Perhaps the greatest experiment of this century —and it may have already passed that stage— is now being conducted in Palestine, and is mak- ing new history in the Land of the Bible. After a study of existing conditions in Jerusa- lem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and all the other large centers, as well as the agricultural territories, and after discussing with the leading Arabs, Jews, and Christians the activities and the point of view of each, no one can deny that a great change is being wrought in this part of the Near East—a 8 PALESTINE AWAKE change so rapid and seemingly so certain that it will focus the keen interest of the entire world in the next few years. For example, this is written in Haifa, on Mount Carmel, which has been at a standstill for cen- turies and whose life has moved at a snail’s pace. To-day ten thousand Jews around the slope of this famous biblical center are cutting through the mountains and developing the sea-front and making way for the industrial enterprises that are to come. At the close of the war there were three thousand Jewish inhabitants. To-day there are thirteen thousand. Ten minutes from this two-year-old modern hotel (the Herzlia, named for the founder of Zionism )—ten minutes from here, a two-million dollar cement factory, backed by Americans, is running at a feverish speed. A two-million-dollar electric plant, as up-to-date as any in New York, has replaced the candle-light of the ages; and through the narrow streets of ancient days, paved with cobblestones and arched overhead, the gleam of the electric light is speaking of progress to the VSIVH LV AYOLOVA TIO THE GREAT EXPERIMENT 9 native who is trimming his lamp-wick for the last time. This very day five hundred Rumanian Jews landed at the port of Haifa, and they will make their future home here. Last month the im- migration to Palestine numbered thirty-nine hun- dred souls, and statistical records show that every year the population of settlers is doubling. Two hours’ ride from here is the city of Tel Aviv, which might well be termed the Miami of Palestine. Almost overnight a population from almost nothing has sprung up to forty thousand, and land values have increased, not unlike Florida, over 1000 per cent in some instances, In Jerusalem the flowing-robed native looks askance at the new buses carrying loads of work- men; at the motor-trucks replacing his donkey and camel—the only means of burden-bearing and transportation for thousands of years. He looks with awe and wonder at the pulley, the crane, and the hydraulic lift. Where formerly he carried each stone on his back to the topmost part of the building he was erecting, he sur- 10 PALESTINE AWAKE prisedly sees man-power replaced on all sides by machinery. On the fields, ditches are being dug to reclaim swamp lands, and buildings are erected almost before your eyes. Colonies that were barren land six months ago are now flourishing small centers of life and activity. A technical insti- tute was opened here last week where engineering and kindred subjects will be the curriculum. And how is this possible—this steaming-up process of human endeavor? Possibly only be- cause the newest methods are fast making their way into these oldest places. The foremost and best farm implements are employed in the ag- ricultural settlements. Mechanical labor-saving devices brought from America and other pro- gressive countries on all sides are replacing the primitive laborious work of the past. Since the war, industries have sprung up quickly. Among these may be mentioned a choc- olate factory; the manufacture of carpets; a silicate company making bricks; a $1,125,000 structural company making building materials; a $1,250,000 refining company producing olive-oil THE GREAT EXPERIMENT 11 and other oils; a furniture corporation which is transforming the Palestine woods into modern furniture; a tile factory which makes floor-tiling used in nearly all homes and which is sold as cheaply as wood. A motor concern, although in existence for a number of years, was virtually revived in a day and is now manufacturing pumps, presses, mills, and machinery of every kind. The candy industry is not without rep- resentation. Ice and mineral water form a thriv- ing industry. There is a silk factory, a salt fac- tory, a flour plant, a tannery, an electric battery manufacturing concern—more than one hundred and fifty different industries with the latest type of machinery since the war. The postal and telegraphic service before 1914 was administered from Constantinople, and there were no telephones. To-day, notwithstanding unfavorable conditions and financial restrictions, post-offices have been established in a number of towns, as well as telephonic and telegraphic facilities. Most of the telephone and telegraph routes have been entirely reconstructed, and the tel- 12 PALESTINE AWAKE ephone service now has close to two thousand subscribers and is in a very flourishing condition. The mail service has improved at least one hun- dred per cent. For instance, in Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Tel Aviv there are no less than three mails daily, where formerly the service was about one a week. Continuous day-and-night telegraph service has been established in Jerusalem within the last two years. The well equipped traveling post- office on the trains to and from Egypt has proved a strong link between Palestine and other countries. 6e¢ CHAPTER II THE MAYOR OF JERUSALEM SEES THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY IN THE HOLY LAND H me, to change places with the mayor of New York for a year or two!” was my greeting from the mayor of Jerusalem, Ragheb El] Nashashibi. “T would like to know how it feels to have enough money to run a city. Your streets must truly be paved with gold if you have the budgets I hear about. It must be wonderful to be in the New York City Hall, and have them hand you millions of dollars to pave streets and build roads and open parks and subways. “But, alas, Jerusalem—Jerusalem the Golden —is far from true to its name, from the civic point of view.” All this the Arab mayor held forth with serious mien. Beside him was the vice-mayor, and they 13 14 PALESTINE AWAKE were telling me what they hoped in the way of a future city—and they have vision. The room in which we were seated is about ten by fifteen feet in size. Outside, however, there were a number of Arab lackeys to lend dignity to the office. All of them made apologies to me for the old -stairs and the like, eager to inform me that the City Hall is being rebuilt. “It is a big job I have,” said his Honor. “I would like to see the mayor of New York try to run Jerusalem on a budget of three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars a year. The people here clamor for just as many improve- ments as the people do in your city. It is a new world we are living in—in this oldest city of them all. “What with the radio and the telegraph and quick transportation, the New World has been brought to our doors, and we are no longer satis- fied with the old order. The younger genera- tion is demanding a New Jerusalem, and we are getting it faster than all the ancient patriarchs buried here ever dreamed. When you stop to think that before the war we had an annual ap- THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 15 propriation of approximately a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, which probably does n’t cover one of ‘your smallest departments in New York, you can readily see that we have gone a considerable distance to bring our revenue up to the present figure. “We have built twenty-four new roads in the five years of my régime—more than had been built in a century before that. We have widened and repaired many of the old roads. They were so narrow two cars could not pass. You see, they were not built for automobiles, only for cara- vans. We are getting electricity, and soon the whole city will be electrified. “All we need is money, and that is very hard toget. People here are still very poor. The rev- enue from the mass of the citizens has not in- creased in a generation because of the poverty that obtains here. But with the new state of af- fairs, with new elements coming in—the Jewish settlers, the tourists—the situation is entirely dif- ferent. “One of our biggest problems,” said the mayor, “is that of water. The people have been very 16 PALESTINE AWAKE patient. Imagine if you can millions of people living in New York depending entirely on rain- water. Well, that is our situation. And this year there has been a drouth. The rainfall was below normal, and considerable hardship has re- sulted. We have some engineers working on the problem, and we are hoping to harness the Jordan and bring water to Jerusalem. “Can you picture mothers and children every day carrying their water from central places in tin cans on their heads or on their shoulders? And this water must do for drinking and cooking; very little for bathing, I am afraid.”” He smiled sadly. ‘The water has to be purchased by the people and is a great burden on them. “Sanitation, therefore, must necessarily be of low standard, but we have hopes. Ah, yes, we have great hopes. Nothing can stop Jerusalem from being one of the greatest cities of the world with all the latest improvements and devices. Only recently we developed a cosmopolitan police department. Traffic rules were needed, and I believe if a New York policeman came to Jerusa- lem he would find on every important corner an me a! . aes —-. Te et! : 4 : ey at : os pres a eee a ; , at ihe \ : - i, ain a ares ies : Ws | ee} xe) A oe, . a “ t . | i 7] Sad GNV AZTIIGONOLOV Ad GHOV Idea ONIAX NVAVUVO CIO AHL THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 17 officer just as busy as the traffic man on Broad- way. “TI venture to say that if he tried to take our policeman’s place he would find it a bit discon- certing, what with the camels and donkeys and automobiles and buses all trying to go in dif- ferent directions at the same time. Besides, he would have to know how to give orders in three languages—Arabic, Hebrew, and English, the official tongues. Oh, yes, the New York cop has nothing on his brother in Jerusalem. “In other ways as well, the New Jerusalem is being developed along the most modern lines. New homes are being erected outside of the Old City and are planned with all the latest improve- ments. We hope very soon to have sanitary laws of the same order as your own. But we must be patient until some of these municipal improvements are completed. “Before the war we had seven officials to run the city. Now we have three hundred. Are we not getting like New York?’ he asked smilingly. “But there is not much chance for graft here’’; he winked knowingly, “not with only three hundred 18 PALESTINE AWAKE and twenty-five thousand dollars in the treas- ury. “What do you think the mayor of New York would do if he had to listen to all the languages in the world and had all religions to satisfy? That is our job here. Jerusalem with its hun- dred thousand inhabitants has every tongue and every creed. Not only this, but you start an im- provement somewhere and you find you are en- croaching on some religious interest that must be ironed out and settled and satisfied before you can do anything further. “But we are coming, coming fast. And you can go back to New York and tell them so. They will be glad to come here from Fifth Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Broadway to view the oldest and best city in the world. “Where heretofore the tourist has stopped in Egypt because of the desert roads and railroads and the hardships he had to encounter before entering Palestine, to-day it is quite different. He can get here overnight with very little dis- comfort. An automobile road from Cairo is now being built, with a bridge projected across the THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 19 Suez Canal, which will bring thousands of tourists. “And the more of them come, the better. American money will go a long way toward pre- serving the holy places and making Jerusalem a place to come for a sojourn. “Aside from the valuable historic spots, the climate here is better than anywhere else in the world. In the spring the Judean hills are filled with flowers, and the place is a garden-spot,”’ he proclaimed with pride. “Our big task is to pre- serve all the holy places intact, to defend them from encroachments, and at the same time pro- duce a modern city—fine hotels, parks, play- grounds, just as any other great center of the world. What city deserves it more than this city that harbors the history of all the world?’ I quite agreed with his outlook. I went home with the mayor and had tea with him and his pretty wife. He lives outside the ancient section, and from his upper porch I could look out over the whole city of Jerusalem, old and new. And the little woman complained to me how day and night her husband worked even 20 PALESTINE AWAKE harder than the mayor of New York; for the mayor of the metropolis could delegate much of his job to his department heads, but as yet the mayor of Jerusalem is the department head and the whole works. As we looked over the glorious landscape of temple towers, the-closed golden gate which the Messiah is ‘yet to open, the old synagogues, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the circular domes, the great walls, the winding ways, he waved his hand over it all, crying: “Is it not the greatest city in the world? The whole universe will recognize it as such!” But to return to civics. “Our avenues are to be wider,” he explained. “We are constantly opening up new streets, although we hope to re- tain the charm of the old ones. We now can boast of a street-cleaning department and a new type of water-sprinkler; we are very proud of this. We are numbering our houses, and have already instituted a city planning commission. But you will have to ask the governor about all of this, for I cannot talk politics. That is the governor’s job.” THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY ey And they have politics in Jerusalem, just as intricate, just as forceful, just as controversial, and just as bad in spots, as I found out, as we have in our little old New York. But he was willing to talk about the Jewish entry into Palestine. “I can see no reason why the Jews and the Arabs cannot work together in this great country. There is room for all, and up to the present time there have been no serious quarrels. At the be- ginning, what little dissension arose has been smoothed out, and I believe it is the desire at least of the younger and vigorous and open- minded group of Arabs to do everything they can to work amicably with the Jews. “We must say that the Jews have brought con- siderable progress, and as they are mainly spend- ing their own money in developing the country it would be wrong not to give them credit for such efforts in trying to make the future and better Palestine. “And our new post-office,’ he continued. “We are very proud of that. We have heavy incoming and outgoing mails. We don’t want to 22 PALESTINE AWAKE stand still. Watch us. We are going to profit by your wisdom. You have had to go through growing-pains and through the elimination proc- ess. We will take advantage of it. “No unsightly bill-board signs will we permit in Jerusalem; no street-cars with the miserable tracks that have outgrown their usefulness. And as to subways, who knows, we may develop the airplane for common use to fly overhead, instead of having transit underneath. We fly almost daily from here to Bagdad, Damascus, and other places. Palestine, with its great valleys and hills, lends itself beautifully to airplanes. “Through our city planning commission we have already passed one ordinance that aims to avoid unsightly buildings, haphazard archi- tecture. We mean to produce things in con- formity with that which is already so beautiful here—the ancient outlines and the artistic con- tour.” Yes, Mayor Nashashibi of Jerusalem wants to come to America to see the golden streets whence comes all the money. And as I left him, again THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 23 he repeated, “If only I could exchange places with the mayor of New York and get some of that money—ah, me, what wonders we could pro- duce here in Jerusalem.” CHAPTER III TEL AVIV, THE MIRACLE CITY OF THE EASTERN WORLD LL over Palestine Tel Aviv is on the tip A of every tongue the seeming wonder of the Eastern world. In its rapid growth and de- velopment it is likened by experts to Los Angeles, California or to Miami, Florida. These two American cities, however, began with speculation and get-rich-quick projects. The Tel Aviv de* velopment had its inception from the idealistic aspiration of the Jew for a National Home, which has been the basis of all the present development of Palestine. Unique indeed is the history of the first com- pletely Jewish municipality, numbering forty thousand souls, and its story was told me by its mayor, Meier Dizengoff, with whom I discussed the past, present, and future of his city. He has been mayor since the beginning of the city, and is 24 THE MIRACLE CITY OF THE EAST 25 regularly elected just like any of our mayors: a dominant figure, full of enthusiasm, eager to adopt the progressive methods of the New World. Tel Aviv truly resembles a subdivision of Miami, Florida. Situated on the Mediterranean, it has the advantage of sea-frontage; its houses are built strong, mainly of stone, and the atmos- phere is that of a seething center of business, in- dustry, and social activity. It is perhaps the most noteworthy example of what new-world methods can accomplish. The mayor points proudly to statistics which demonstrate what human endeavor has entered into this project. Tel Aviv only became a municipality in 1921. Until then it was a small suburb of Jaffa and comprised thirty acres. Its existence dates from 1909, and up to the time of the war it had spread over about 275 acres. With the outbreak of hos- tilities all effort ceased; during the conflict there were only five persons in Tel Aviv, and they were the watchmen. But soon after the Armistice, active opera- tions were begun by the mayor and his lieutenants, so that in 1921, when a government grant for the 26 PALESTINE AWAKE establishment of a municipality was made to Tel Aviv by the British government, the manda- tory over Palestine, it had an extent of 400 acres. By 1924 it more than doubled, while to-day the area of the city is 1250 acres. The population in 1920 was 2084; to-day it is approximately 40,000. The mayor, whose genial personality has won for him friends all over Palestine, in giving me these figures, smiled, saying: “During the last four years when anybody asked me the population of the city, I would answer: ‘This morning the population of Tel Aviv is so many thousand,’ because by the afternoon or the next morning there would be a hundred or two more.” In 1920 there were 200 houses in Tel Aviv with 1563 rooms. To-day there are 2700 houses with 15,000 rooms. ‘The value of these houses is estimated at eighteen million dollars, and the vacant property is placed at two and a half millions. ‘There is no other place in Palestine that has such sanitary conditions in private houses as obtain here. In this progressive municipality the mayor THE MIRACLE CITY OF THE EAST 27 makes it his business to ascertain not only the number of people but also the productive pop- ulation. He told me that according to the last count made, when there were 30,000 inhabitants, 11,280, or 37.6 per cent, were breadwinners, which is regarded as a very high average. His record is very complete in regard to the enterprises in which the population is engaged. They are as follows: Per Cent RICHES FORTNOUSCE oer Ui rots cre wee ice She 1.5 Hotel and restaurant business .............. 17 MESSRS RIN OME Mp Tage Ly ap ee ean CM Seid eae 2.0 TEVA 4s DOMED a Pe ee OL) MORAN ma Se 3.2 Transportation operators, such as drivers and RRIURECULS Meee it cialis aur ole As eee Getie ta: shu y oh ety! Liberal professions, such as doctors and engi- “i isl Ag a ALO a bala OA RY re aaa 6.5 ETON Cd, dp latal caleieieal ar PU AA Pay a De obvi 10.4 REPEC SPAMS EO IS bere see Neyae a she sie spare arene es 11.0 REOBULSd ea DOTd sta Shia dle isis alsin sane 28.4 Bas ecu alOri:la se ts ano oh telses Hy aaa iene eet 31.6 In the last line of this table les perhaps the element that has made most for the rapid strides of Tel Aviv. 28 PALESTINE AWAKE The mayor went on to tell me of the school development. In 1921, there were only sixteen schools with 2700 pupils. To-day there are forty-nine schools with 7300 pupils. They are divided into kindergartens, public schools, the higher grades, musical and professional schools. The interesting feature to the Jews in this connection is the fact that religious schools only have 829 pupils out of 7300. The mayor pointed out that the religious element is not so great a factor in the development of the Holy Land as the idealistic effort for a National Home. And when the mayor came to the city budget, his broad smile betokened great happiness in the fact that the entire debt is more than equaled by the revenue. ‘Therefore,’ he said, “I have no troubles like the New York mayor in going be- yond the debt limit. In 1920 our budget was fifty thousand dollars; to-day it is approximately three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Our municipal bonds must interest even your American investors,” he continued. The public property now owned by the munici- pality is made up of public parks and complete THE MIRACLE CITY OF THE EAST 29 and well developed system of water-supply—three wells with electric and gasolene engines, two reservoirs, etc. Concrete walls have been built, and pavements and sidewalks. There is a munic- ipal library and a meteorological station. The police force was established in the summer of 1921. As I was leaving the city the police band had just given its first concert. There are seventy-five policemen, and Mr. Dizengoff de- clares that the city is most orderly; he challenges the record of any other city in the world. The maximum monthly number of violations of police regulations is twenty-four with a population of forty thousand. In 1922 Tel Aviv first obtained its own munic- ipal bench with the legal power of inflicting punishment. Criminal actions approximate ten a month, the maximum in the entire history of the city having been forty in a month. There have been only two homicides, with no convic- tion in either case. If it were possible to transport Tel Aviv on a magic carpet to a subdivision of Florida, the passer-by would not know the difference, except 30 PALESTINE AWAKE that the signs on the stores and business houses have both the Jewish and the English writing. Tel Aviv, like the Florida sections, was founded on sand-dunes; sixty families settled there in one year to get away from the crowded quarters of Jaffa. Advertisements read not unlike those in Miami and its subdivisions. Land that cost fifty dol- lars an acre is now selling in some places for two thousand dollars, and all of the surrounding ter- ritory is being bought up for development pur- poses. The outlying suburbs were consolidated with Tel Aviv in 1923. The shops and show-windows are exactly what you would find in any bustling city of the United States. The moving-picture show, the cabaret and roof-garden, are joyfully in evidence. There is nothing old in Tel Aviv, and you can- not find there what you find in Jerusalem—old walls, old streets, and ancient landmarks. Only when you look up in the direction of Jaffa do you see any trace of former generations. The commercial center of the city is termed Merkaz Micchary. A considerable distance THE MIRACLE CITY OF THE EAST 31 away are some thirty factories busy turning out building-materials, furniture, mineral waters, chocolate and confectionery, jam, cloth and shoes; there is an extensive tannery and a large silk mill. Last year there were three thousand employed on public utilities alone, paving roads, constructing water-works, and the like. One of the biggest developments in Palestine is in the field of electric power. The Jaffa Elec- tric Company (Rutenberg concession) operates at Tel Aviv and also at Haifa. It was established only two years ago. It has supplied the cities with electric light and power and has proved an ex- tremely valuable aid to manufacturing. A unique idea is the construction of a workshop built in Tel Aviv by this electric company, where small manu- facturers can secure power and so avoid the in- vestment of capital in building and motors. This will aid the industrial development of Tel Aviv, and will be a pioneer effort toward giving the small manufacturer the facilities for large opera- tions. Then there is the casino on the sea-shore at the end of Allenby Road, which makes you truly think 32 PALESTINE AWAKE you are somewhere in Florida. The casino is the only thing of its kind in Palestine. A special bus service brings parties from the different towns to the sea-shore. It is fast developing into a resort place because of its climate and the sea. The Mayor is extremely proud that fifty tele- phones have been installed in private residences; for a private telephone is most unusual in any part of Palestine. It is remarkable about this community that the population is made up of Jews from every part in the world; and although many, many lan- guages are spoken, the one so-called legal language is pure Hebrew. ‘This is due to the efforts of one man, who insisted that the dead Hebrew language be revived. He it was who created the Hebrew dictionary. His name was Eliezer Ben Yehudah—but that is another story. The tourist of the future will come to Tel Aviv and be amazed at this new-world city in a very old- world region. In the words of Elwood Mead, professor of rural institutions in the University of California, who went over the same territory, “The contrast between the old Arab city of Jaffa, with ANILSAITVd AO ALIO NYAGOW LSOW AHL ‘AIAV TAL THE MIRACLE CITY OF THE EAST 33 its narrow, crooked streets and lack of sanitation, and the city of Tel Aviv, with its broad, paved, electric lighted streets, is the contrast between the tenth and the twentieth centuries.” CHAPTER IV THE IDEALIST AND THE DREAMER BACKED BY PRACTICAL PIONEERS HILE the idealism of the young Jews \ \) who come from everywhere to settle in Palestine is one of the chief points of interest in the development of Palestine; while the social welfare work that is being done by various Ameri- can organizations inspires admiration because of the crude human material that abounds in this very old country, where sanitation and standards of living have been practically unknown; while the picturesqueness of the country impresses all visitors; yet there is one center around which everything else revolves, and that is the business of acquiring land and developing it. For this purpose the American Zion Common- wealth has been established. Just how much land can or should be obtained may be readily deduced. 34 IDEALIST AND DREAMER 35 The total area of Palestine is 6,750,000 acres. The arable land comprises approximately 3,125,- 000 acres. Of this, 2,250,000 acres are owned by the Arabs; and but one third, or 750,000 acres, is not cultivated, aside from hills or slopes to be reclaimed. ‘That is to say, 750,000 acres of cul- tivable land have been allowed for centuries to remain in medieval decay. Much of this land is held for speculation be- cause of the new demand for it from the Jews. At present about 212,500 acres are owned and cul- tivated by Jews. There are also several thousand acres of uncultivated and unowned land which the government controls. It is believed that this will be made available for the Jews in accordance with a provision of the mandate. To acquire a large portion of this fertile land has been the particular work of the American Zion Commonwealth. Like the Jewish National Fund and the Keren Hayesod, the Commonwealth has for its object the redemption of the soil of Pales- tine and its colonization by the Jewish population. The Commonwealth has no individual stock- holders. The Zionist Organization of America 36 PALESTINE AWAKE has complete control and supervision. It appoints the trustees. While the Commonwealth started out as individuals organized on a codperative plan, it is to-day a public enterprise. There are thirteen directors, among them Judge Bernard A. Rosen- blatt, S. J. Weinstein, J. Adlerblum, Isaac Meis- ter, William Topkiss, Louis J. Lippman, Charles Passman—all from New York. Charles Passman is the vice-president and the general manager. Since he is an engineer as well as a land expert, his work has proved of incalcula- ble value. Much of the new colony development is due to his enterprise. He is spoken of as “‘the quiet but busiest man in Palestine.” Judge Rosenblatt, the founder of the Common- wealth, instituted the first sale of Jewish land bonds in America. Most of the Jewish people who had made investments heretofore had done so entirely out of sentiment. They felt the idea was not a practical one and should not be en- couraged. The judge made a tour of the States but was at first unsuccessful: the people would not subscribe to his bond issue. As one man in MAKING MARSH-LAND INTO TILLABLE SOIL IDEALIST AND DREAMER 37 New Orleans put it: “You have convinced me thoroughly that this is a sound investment, but why do you have to come all the way here to sell the bonds? Surely the people of New York should have oversubscribed ‘the issue by now.” And so Judge Rosenblatt went back to New York and made virtually a house-to-house can- vass. He finally interested Colonel Herbert H. Lehman. By this time the judge had about five hundred subscriptions. Colonel Lehman felt that this was an accomplishment—getting five hundred clients was building up a business—and he bought a large number of the bonds personally. The bond issue was completed. To-day the bonds are quoted at par. Private investors and banks, who at first were skeptical about purchas- ing them, are to-day awaiting another issue. The investment in them has proved to be a very good one. Dividends have been paid semiannually (four in number) at the the rate of 6% per cent, through the Title Guarantee and Trust Company. It is this confidence of the American Jews in the American Zion Commonwealth, the feeling that their investments will bring a fair return, that 38 PALESTINE AWAKE will help firmly to establish and solidify the de- velopment of Palestine; such is the belief of this organization. The Palestine Securities Corporation was formed at the time of the launching of the Tel Aviv bond issue. It is a subsidiary of the Com- monwealth, and it too is under the supervision of the Zionist Organization of America. It has for its object the raising of sufficient funds through bonds, mortgages, and other securities to enable the settlers in the various Palestine colonies to secure loans for the completion of their homes, barns, factories, and the like. At the recent Zionist Congress held in Vienna the Securities Corporation reported that they are now arranging a mortgage loan with one of the Palestinian banks, and it is to be put on sale in America very shortly. At the present time the Palestinian Securities, Inc., is engaged in floating two million dollars’ worth of mortgage bonds of the General Mort- gage Bank of Palestine, and the money is to be used for building operations in the principal Jewish towns of Palestine. IDEALIST AND DREAMER ad: Another subsidiary company recently organized is the Palestine Hotels, Ltd., which has for its object the building of large hotels in the principal towns of Palestine. It is now building the first large modern hotel in Jerusalem, which will con- tain about two hundred rooms and will be mod- ernly equipped. When these hotel facilities are completed in Palestine, it is expected that tour- ists will visit the country by thousands. As a rule, when the Jewish tourist visits Pales- tine he not only spends a few dollars, but very often he is attracted to make investments; these are steadily increasing. The Commonwealth is fostering the Municipal League of Erez-Israel. Its main object is to give to the old colonies the sinews of progress. Application has already been made to combine all the colonies for the purpose of obtaining mortgages and loans. The Commonwealth endeavors to interest the Jew in investing his money on a purely business basis. Therefore all the land acquired by the organization becomes the property of the indi- viduals who make the investments. 40 PALESTINE AWAKE During the last three years the Commonwealth has purchased in Palestine fifty thousand acres of land. Most of this land was previously owned by Arabs who did not live in Palestine but had acquired these vast stretches of land dur- ing the Turkish régime and had left them un- cultivated. The method of operation is to purchase a stretch of land, develop it—that is, install modern water systems, sewerage, roads, and so on—and then sell it to individuals who desire to settle in Palestine or who merely want to acquire the land for investment. The Commonwealth helps permanent settlers to build their houses and assists them in other ways. The first work done in Palestine by the Com- monwealth was the building of the Colony Bal- fouria, named in honor of Lord Balfour. When Lord Balfour visited it on his recent visit to dedi- cate the Hebrew University he cried for joy. Balfouria is situated in the Emek Israel Valley and comprises about three thousand acres of land. This area was uncultivated for many centuries IDEALIST AND DREAMER 41 and contained a great swamp which bred malaria in its neighborhood. The swamp has now been drained and the water used for irrigation. But more about Balfouria later. CHAPTER V THE GOVERNOR OF PALESTINE PAVES THE WAY FOR TOWN PLANNING AND PRESERVATION OF HOLY PLACES «WF you want to see what the Jews are accom- I plishing in Palestine, just see the first industrial exhibit at Tel Aviv. It is amazing!” This was the answer to the first question I put to Sir Ronald Storrs, the Christian governor of Jerusalem, Jaffa, and the southern district of Palestine, when I discussed with him at length the civic, political, and humanitarian activities there. For seven years Sir Ronald, as governor, has been closely associated with every move made in the advancement of the country. ‘““The orange figures alone are startling,” he continued. ‘From the Tel Aviv and Jaffa sections only, there were transported last season over two million boxes, each box containing one hundred and fifty 42 TOWN PLANNING 43 oranges, and this is just the beginning of the industry. “It is a good example of the way Jew and Arab work together in business, and it presents an object-lesson. They have chosen a common emblem for their industrial exhibit, and if any one has any doubt of the development of Pales- tine, especially the Tel Aviv region, which the Jews have created, he needs only take a look at this exposition. “Not only does it give a vivid picture of un- precedented accomplishment, but it presents a future of inestimable achievement.” ‘The gover- nor waxed warm on this subject, but as the story of industries and Tel Aviv is covered elsewhere I urged him to discuss some of the important developments of Palestine. Town planning for Jerusalem—this is the new and gigantic job that Governor Storrs has set himself to do. “The whole world should know the problem we have before us in preserving the old Jerusalem and developing the new—a task that I believe no other country has ever had,”’ he stated. 44 PALESTINE AWAKE “Fancy what a deplorable thing it 1s,” said Sir Ronald, ‘‘to see a street-car track to the Mount of Olives, or within the little town of Bethlehem, or in the Garden of Gethsemane; what it would mean to be confronted with buffets and refresh- ment-stands around the holy places. These are only a few of the encroachments that modern civilization is presenting to us day after day.” And so insistent have been these disfiguring commercial enterprises that Sir Ronald was forced to set up a private organization, the Pro- Jerusalem Society, to deal with the preservation of the historic places and the restoration of the landmarks as well as the development of the Holy City. The governor is the president of this so- ciety. It is strictly neutral in policies, the em- blem being a combination of the dominant sym- bols of the Arabic, Jewish, and Christian nations, and the society is fundamentally dedicated to the conservation of the Holy City. “Rapid strides have been made,” said Sir Ronald, “‘under the most difficult conditions, and with very little money. We are trying to lay out the modern city on a dignified plan and to iv Ah he q cur .’ nape ‘y , yO? j “9 . ioe iy 4. ‘ + aw 5 ' ~ re ‘i> 1 os » int b ' a . nm i. i : < . {fe .* sy be | } @ : 1 i A. i r » x t* t t ' 4 ete, i T 2 4 ; f ‘ s we i . 06 ‘ ' t . eet L qth STREET SCENE INSIDE JAFFA GATE TOWN PLANNING 45 protect the ancient part from industrial desecra- tion. The Civil Administration, headed by the high commissioner, has recognized this work and given the society a charter and has agreed to con- tribute dollar for dollar the amount the society draws from all over the world. Thus far only thirty thousand dollars has been subscribed. The society is suffering for want of funds. “Stricter measures are being enforced for the conservation of the traditional building style of Jerusalem, offensive and unsuitable materials being prohibited or removed, and an effective control of new buildings and town planning has been instituted,’ the governor informed me. The size of the shop-signs, which had become of recent years a serious disfigurement to the city, has been regulated by municipal by-laws, under which the posting of bills, placards, and advertise- ments is restricted to moderate notice-boards displayed in special localities. The majority of the streets have been named by a special committee representative of the three religions, and the names blazoned in the three official languages (Hebrew, Arabic, and English), 46 PALESTINE AWAKE in colored and glazed rock tiles. For the first time in the history of the city the houses of Jerusalem are being numbered. A map is being published giving zones and street names. “It being clearly impossible for a governor, military or civil, to superintend, still less to carry out in detail the execution of this highly techni- cal program,” said the governor, “I appointed C. R. Ashbee, fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, to the post of civic adviser, which included that of secretary to the society. For nearly four years he has rendered loyal and excellent service to the Pro-Jerusalem Society. The weaving and the tile-making industries have been established, and the Rampart Walk around the walls has been cleared and restored. “A jubilee memorial to commemorate the thirty-third year of the auspicious reign of the late Sultan Abdul Hamid has been bodily re- moved from the north side of the Jaffa Gate. Special efforts have been made to improve the condition of the citadel. Many minor repairs have been executed on the walls, and repairs to the South Tower are actually in progress. De- | TOWN PLANNING 47 signs have been prepared for a stone bridge at the entrance to the Citadel. “We have come to see, however, that our job is not merely a matter of archeology or the pro- tection of ancient buildings, landscape, streets, or sites. Many more things have to be considered. And much more so in Jerusalem perhaps than in any other city in the world. “Before all things, Jerusalem is a city in which idealists through succeeding generations have torn each other and their city to pieces; for the city has changed hands over forty times. It is per- haps because of this that it has its singular grandeur and romance and beauty; and every time you do anything to a piece of sod or a scrap of stone, some historic association arises. “Hence comes the question of venerated rights of the joint and conflicting ownerships of various religious bodies. Jerusalem has a considerable parasitic population of priests, missionaries, care- takers, monks, pious women, and the motley order that has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. It is picturesque and conserva- tive, yet it presents considerable obstacles to the 48 PALESTINE AWAKE Administration and to rational improvement, because governmental sanction alone is not sufh- cient but must in reality come from the great world outside. “The actual bit of stone or the rubbish-heap we want to clean up may, it is true, belong to some Greek, or- Moslem, or Jew; but the Ar- menian, the English Protestant, the Abyssinian, the American missionary, the Italian, the wakf in India, the Copt, the other fellow somewhere, they will have a word to say on the matter, and before we do anything we must wait to hear it. “And, finally, the enterprise of the Pro- Jerusalem Society and the administration has been necessarily modified by the lack of enough money with which to do anything. Although this cripples us in historical research, yet in many instances it has proved a protection against ill considered enterprise and vandalism. At least we have the one great power of prohibiting un- intelligent or destructive action. At least we can stop foolish or wanton things from being done. “But we have made some headway just the TOWN PLANNING 49 same. Effective work has been done to the great Jaffa, Damascus, and Herod gates. As a result of the work of the Society, the Palestine Town Planning Commission has been created. The commission has established new town bound- aries, has zoned the city in general outline and has adopted a new body of by-laws and regula- tions that are to give practical effect to the law. It has laid out eight sections of the new city. “For the first time an accurate survey has been made. After long and careful study, roads have been placed in proper relation with beauty spots. Historic buildings have been linked up. We shall have to tear down and clear away all the ugly things and make the individual give way to the public interest. “It is impossible to get out of the hard rut of the old roads. All we can do is to widen them alittle. It is difficult, often impossible, to touch buildings that are held by religious bodies. We still do not have enough money or administrative machinery to keep historic buildings in proper repair, and many of the finest things still remain in private hands. 50 PALESTINE AWAKE “The job after all is not merely to draw a city plan on paper. The real work is to shape it toward a more or less ideal end. “In arranging for our parks you can imagine how far we have advanced: when in 1921 we planted 1283 trees and had 332 failures; the fol- lowing year we had only thirty-eight failures out of 1903 trees. Two nurseries have been estab- lished, one at the Citadel Garden. Many beauti- ful parks are being planned in and out of the old city. ‘As to our markets, they have progressed slowly only because of lack of funds. Perhaps there is nothing that needs development so badly as these. Various schemes for marketing improve- ments are before us. The most important is the one at the Damascus Gate. We hope to clean up all the unsightly shops and corrugated iron buildings that disfigure the gate, and also to accommodate the Bedouins and their camels that enter the city here in great numbers. “One of the most interesting jobs accomplished by the Town Planning Commission has been the naming of the streets, which had never been TOWN PLANNING 51 done in Jerusalem. Already forty-six streets have been named in the old city and eighty in the new. In most cases the signs are painted in ceramics and set in the streets. The list is full of history, and poetry, and folk-lore. For ex- ample, in the old city, some of the streets are Honor Lane, Street of the Chain, Christian Street, Jew Street, Blacksmith’s Lane, Water- melon Alley, Stork Lane, Via Dolorosa, Dancing Dervish Street. In the new city there are such names as Allenby Square, Agrippa’s Way, Street of the Prophets, Omar’s Way. “The names have to be given in three official languages, and the three traditions, Christian, Moslem, and Jewish, so far as possible, have to be preserved. Not only that, their connotations in a language in which they had no precise meaning had often to be sought out. Here was scope not only for scholarship but acute political division, and the subcommittee had on several occasions to be steered past very dangerous rocks. “The Pro-Jerusalem Society has endeavored to promote the interests of weaving, ceramics, glass, painters, tile-makers, blacksmiths, cabinet- ix: PALESTINE AWAKE makers, upholsterers; and the high commissioner appointed a special commission to investigate the various crafts, including those mentioned, in rela- tion to agriculture. “The findings are of considerable interest. Some questions of the future Palestine have pre- sented themselves to the commission. Is the life to be agricultural or industrial? Can it be both? If not, to what extent is the former to be de- pendent upon Western industrialism? ‘The whole Zionist problem is involved in this, for it means the life of the Jewish colonies. Are they going to continue to be dependent on outside support? Will they develop mechanical power intelli- gently? Will they practice side crafts, as the Palestine peasant has done for thousands of years? Here are involved not only vital problems in the theory of civics, but the Zionist question itself, and the mandate of Palestine. “Among the most interesting developments in the modern construction work of Jerusalem are the plans and proposals for building upon which different Jewish groups are engaged; they have been working in codperation with the Town TOWN PLANNING 53 Planning Commission. There are so far five such schemes, Antiochus, Talpioth, Janjirieh, Boneh Bayit, and Antimus Porah. They might be termed garden cities. “Each one of them has a definite plan. For example, at Talpioth there are eight hundred pri- vate plots with houses, hotel, baths, post-office, coéperative distributing store for food-stuffs, the- ater, academy, synagogue, hospital. All this planning and dreaming is symbolic of Zionist activities. “Another of the developments is Boneh Bayit, which means Garden City. This provides a school, public hall, synagogue, sports ground, playground, and a cooperative distributive store. Twenty-four per cent of the total area is devoted to roads, open spaces, green belt area, and public building. There are 148 separate lots. This will give you an idea of how carefully we are following the development of the new centers around the city. “Before long,’ concluded the governor, “the attention of the world will be directed to this part of the country. Outside, comparatively 54 PALESTINE AWAKE little is known of what is actually going on here. Certainly anybody can foresee that sure and defi- nite change and progress are destined for the Holy Land.” CHAPTER VI THE ZEAL OF THE COLONIST FIRED WITH THE SPIRIT OF HIS ANCESTORS “9 HAVE what IJ want, and I do not want any more than I have.” This sums up the philosophy of the life of Lazar Jeffe, one of the pioneers of Palestine, whom J met at Nahalal, a flourishing Jewish colony. Although Jaffe and his family have been here for fourteen years, the colony is but four years old. A neighbor, formerly of the Ukraine, voiced practically the same sentiment, as she showed me about the four acres of vineyards, vegetables, and flowers. “Ah, yes, here we have real sholem [peace],” she said. ‘““We can work out our own salvation without being molested by hostile changing gov- ernments and revolutionists. Very soon we will have our little farm paid for—my husband, my 55 56 PALESTINE AWAKE child, and I. Life will be easier; and what more can one want?” And so you go from one little house to another, all of them temporary abodes. When the land has been tilled and more money has been made, permanent structures will be built to take their places. And the constant courageous spirit of the pioneer meets you at every door, willing to bear hardships, but happy in the doing. No one can possibly visit these colonies as I have and not be impressed with the fact that it is the spiritual life behind it all that is fast, very fast, putting each family on a footing that will eventually lead to Easy Street. One of the interesting features of these col- onies, especially the one at Nahalal, is the unique coéperative local government, which is made up of small committees to attend to various aspects of community interest. For instance, Jaffe, who explained the system, told me about the committee on sickness. When a man is taken ill and cannot continue his work, the committee calls on a group of workers to aid with his work until he is well again. And fur- THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCESTORS 57 thermore they must do this job before their own, so that no one may plead he has his own work to do first. This is the invariable and unbreakable rule. No taxes are imposed here on any one who is unable to pay. ‘There is a joint marketing plan; that is, each man’s products are sent to a central store and from there taken to market. If he wishes to purchase anything, he gets it at this store, and it is charged to him. Very little money is passed until each man gets on his feet. The colonies as they are developed are of two types. In one the pioneer settler owns and cul- tivates his own farm and depends on this as his source of living. In the other the colonists join in a gild in which the entire colony owns alli the land, equipment, and resources on a cooperative basis and all share in the return. In some sec- tions these people live in large buildings and eat at one community table; in others they have sep- arate homes and regular individual home life. Nahalal is doubtless the most significant col- ony of the second type, having two thousand acres which are divided into eighty farms of 58 PALESTINE AWAKE twenty-five acres each. The colonies have proved of great value in promoting community spirit and social activity. They have also been needed for common protection against the Bedouins; though since England assumed the mandate over Palestine, much of the lawlessness has been eliminated. The Nahalal settlement, as also some of the villages at Nuris, has been attractively designed by talented landscape artists. Drainage was a problem, which has been solved by emptying a large marsh in Kishon Valley, and domestic water has been secured from hillside springs. The pioneer work of the settlers is financed in many of the colonies through the Keren Haye- sod, which provides a credit of five hundred dollars for each settler, this is set aside for the improvement of the land. ‘The title to the land is held by the Jewish National Fund, although the settler receives a perpetual leasehold. The rent of the land has been fixed at 2 per cent of its value, and for money advanced for development the settler gives his note bearing interest at § per cent. The gild settlements at THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCESTORS — §9 Dagania and Nuris are operated in a similar way, except that there few allotments of farms, the principal activities being community stores, mu- tual industrial efforts, and joint efforts in tilling the fields and sharing in the results of toil. There are various reasons why settlers come to Palestine. The chief and fundamental reason, however, is patriotism and the spiritual motive for creating the National Home. Others come to get away from the hardships inflicted on them in the countries of Europe where they have lived. The community method of settlement was developed because in the early days of coloniza- tion many immigrants came who had no knowl- edge of agriculture and therefore could not very well own individual farms. Under the com- munity plan the skilled worker shared his knowl- edge and his fortune with his less skilled brother. Many of the individual settlements have been built up by those who have seemingly graduated from the gild colonies. What makes the colonies of Palestine so un- usual and their development so attractive and interesting is that nothing is haphazard. Road 60 PALESTINE AWAKE development heretofore has extended through many years without any definite objective. In the Palestine colonies, however, the settlers and their backers have a definite plan for what is to be done from the inception of the colony until it reaches a flourishing condition. In other words, the work “is planned and the plan is worked. The rural settlements have the advantage of the past experience of other countries. Certain rural developments have been standardized in a manner not unlike the most advanced. city planning. It is most inspiring to visit these colonies and see the zeal and enthusiasm and interest with which they work. It was not always so, how- ever. When the first settlers came they were people who had no agricultural experience. A large number of them came from countries whose climate and conditions were entirely different from those of Palestine, and these people came to learn a new method of living—out in the open. They have been accustomed to receive individ- ual pay for their individual work, and the codp- THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCESTORS 61 erative method of dividing the results of their joint labor was new. They soon realized, how- ever, that as they advanced in knowledge and were able to go their own way it was easy to secure their own plots and develop their own farms. Experts who have visited Palestine are en- thusiastic in their belief that the development of these colonies will create a rural life unprec- edented in the history of any country. As one explained to me, what has been done in Florida and Southern California can be reproduced in a like measure in the Valley of Esdraelon and on the slopes of Mount Carmel. I have visited land newly acquired for these colonization centers—thousands of acres—and was accompanied by Charles Passman, vice- president and general manager of the American Zion Commonwealth, which works in codperation with the Palestine Land Development Company —a society founded for the purchase of land in Palestine. Perhaps there is nothing more indicative of the new life that is springing up in Palestine than 62 PALESTINE AWAKE a motor trip through the Jordan Valley and the Valleys of Esdraelon and Jesreel, which from the beginning of biblical history have been the route of travel. On the mountain-sides of the Judean Hills are the old terraces where flourished in ancient times many olive-groves and vineyards and gar- dens. But they now present a sad picture because they have been left so long to decay and fruit- lessness. The contrast that appears when you enter the valleys, however—the green growth, vegetables, and fruit that greet you on all sides —speaks of what is being accomplished. Irrigation has brought the change in the last three or four years. The barren soil has been planted to orchards, in which abound oranges, bananas, date-palms, and all kinds of vegetables. There are large wheat-fields and corn-fields as well. And the water that has made this luxu- rious growth possible has been pumped from the Jordan. Although the irrigation enterprise has proved expensive, very soon a hydro-electric develop- THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCESTORS 63 ment, which is under concession, will reduce the costs appreciably. The biggest work of the Jews in rehabilitating the Homeland has been the settling of the col- onies. There are eighty-nine of them, with a population of eighteen thousand. Forty-three of these colonies have recently been established by the Keren Hayesod. They have more than 3000 inhabitants, of whom 2324 are workmen. ‘There are 687 working animals in these colonies and 27,302 fowls. Buildings numbering 10f0 have been erected. To aid these colonists four agricultural experi- ment stations are in progress. Agricultural col- onization has cost the financial organization, Keren Hayesod, over two million dollars from April, 1921, to December, 1924. Since the war 750,000 timber and decorative trees have been planted, to say nothing of mil- lions of saplings for further forestation. Three forest-tree nurseries have been established at Jerusalem, Nahalal, Yehuda and Petah-Tikvah. These young trees are then distributed among 64 PALESTINE AWAKE the new settlements. Altogether about 135,000 of these trees have been replanted. Arab chiefs have told me that the success of the Jewish farmer in these colonies has proved a great influence to the Arab, whose agricultural methods have not changed since biblical times. The waste of labor and loss of soil have proved deplorable. It is mainly because of their primi- tive methods that the Arabs in the outer dis- tricts have survived. Elwood Mead, professor of rural institutions in the University of California, who has gone over the territory, says: The contrast between Arabic agriculture and that of the new Jewish settlements is very striking. In their methods they are separated by centuries. The range of dry land crops grown by the Jews is much wider than that of the Arabs. Spring vegetables, Egyptian clover, and Rhodes grass are valuable fodder crops that will enable more stock to be kept and the soil made more fertile. Tobacco is a money crop of great promise. What modern science and skill can do has been shown by the German farmers at Wilhema, where the yields A RELIGIOUS SETTLER “yf THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCESTORS 65 are from three to five times as large as those of the Arab cultivators in the same neighborhood. In the Jewish settlements, which cover approxi- mately 25,000 acres, these plantings have been made: 3000 acres of orange-groves; 8000 acres of almond-groves; 4000 acres of vineyards; 1900 acres of olive plantations; goo acres of olives and almonds; 600 acres of young forests, mostly eu- calyptus; old forests, mostly oak. CHAPTER VII EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN IN THE BIBLE LAND AN OBJ ECT-LESSON FOR OTHER COUNTRIES HE old world, Palestine, may yet teach us T of America the equality of women in places where men have been monarchs of all they sur- veyed. Unprecedented work is being accomplished by women on farms throughout Palestine. While it has been customary to see Arabian women carry- ing large burdens and hoeing and raking and gardening and even breaking stones on the high- ways, the young women who have come here to Palestine from other countries adapt themselves to this sort of work very quickly. Perhaps the unique group of this kind is the cooperative community at Petah-Tikvah. Here twenty-five women have banded themselves to- gether on a communal basis. The colony has been 66 EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN 67 in existence nearly four years and has proved most successful. Last year their operations showed a profit of two hundred and fifty dollars after applying con- siderable money on their investments in live stock and buildings. I talked with Mrs. Bertha Fishman, who is the leader of the group and works side by side with the girls. She said: “It was interesting to learn that when the profit was declared and each of us was permitted to take her share, not one girl would take any money, but insisted that it should remain in the common treasury for future development. “Tt is this spirit of creating and seeing the fruits of their own work, and of course the fact that it is their own country and they are preparing the way for others, that has preserved the enthusiasm among these young women who are doing the hardest kind of work. “They rise very early in the morning, and you can hear their songs in the fields as they labor at their tasks. For the present, at least, the whole work is strictly codperative. Thus when a girl . 68 PALESTINE AWAKE wants a dress or a pair of shoes or anything that she needs, it is purchased out of the common treasury, and it is amazing to see how little they will do with in order to save the common fund. “We have barracks for our meals and common activities, but most of us live in tents until we can make enough money to build houses. One of the girls got married a short time ago, and most of the others were disgusted with her and thought she should have waited until the expiration of the two years of apprenticeship which are required to make the girls self-reliant in farm work; after that a girl can pretty well go on her own. “It is surprising how these girls from all parts of the world work in perfect harmony and actu- ally take to the job at hand. We raise chickens, develop bee colonies, sell our milk and butter, and in fact do all the work of the general farm. One of our newest developments is the raising of to- bacco, and we expect considerable revenue from it. “An amusing incident occurred when the girls decided we must buy a horse and wagon and plowing-machine. It was suggested by one of them that we get at least one man to do the heav- i is . ier \ mits} i ie ve G te a, ¢ os s i OL wy ‘Ss ' ODDVAOL ONIddIaLs EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN 69 ier farm work. Arguments became warm, and for nearly six months the matter was tabled. Finally a unanimous vote was given against the man, although we purchased the horse and wagon and plowing-machine. “The girls soon develop such aptitude for farm- ing that they are able, when they leave, to take up little farms of their own. There is a long waiting-list of those who want to enter our group, but we do not wish to take any more than are needed to develop the ground allotted to us— more than a hundred acres. “One of the splendid pieces of work that the girls have developed is the rearing of saplings. Thousands of them have been laid out, and pretty soon they will grow into large trees.” “And what do the girls do for amusement?” I asked. “Their big amusement is achievement, the open air, the sunlight, the responsibility of codperation, the freedom of the outdoors. They read and they play among themselves on occasions. But in the main, when night comes, they are quite ready for bed. We realize we are in a pioneer period, 70 PALESTINE AWAKE and look forward to more amusement and personal interests when we have earned enough to put us on a good financial basis. 9 “Oh, yes, they have visitors,’ she said in an- swer tomy query. ‘Young men, from adjoining colonies—and there are love-affairs. And why not ? “Back of it all there is a zeal, an enthusiasm that cannot be shaken by any man. They will succeed. It is a matter of inspiration to them. The big thing in their lives is to serve and serve well, and they have stood up side by side in a common cause.”’ And surely the happy faces that I saw, glowing with health, the expression of satisfaction that was theirs, these spoke louder than all her words. So interesting and successful have these young women’s farm colonies proved that a big school has just been put into operation at Nahalal, near Jaffa. I visited it and talked with the girls, who are under the leadership of China Maisel Schachat. Fifty young women are receiving a farming school education, and next year there will be one hundred. The most improved modern methods of EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN 71 dairying have been introduced, as well as the planting of cereals, trees, and vegetables. An ex-~ cellent nursery has been planted. There is now a waiting-list of three hundred young women eager to get into this school. It cost approximately two hundred and fifty dollars to see a girl through, and the money has been pro- vided through subscriptions received from other countries. . They are a pioneer group of young women from everywhere, eager to learn farming from the ground up. Some of the girls will also be taught house-work, cooking, and sewing. These girls will do their part in the domestic work, while the others are out in the fields. Miss Schachat told me that she had dreamed about an agricultural school for girls for years. “And now that we have it, we are very happy in- deed,”’ she said. ‘“When the school was started we had a very definite aim in view, and that was to have a place for the ha/uzoth | girl pioneers] and the Palestinian girls, who were serious-minded about agricultural development, where they could be properly trained in the tilling of the soil. 72 PALESTINE AWAKE “We knew there were ever so many young women who wanted to participate in the develop- ment of the Homeland and who, under proper supervision and guidance, could build capably and do much toward that end. Their energies have been wasted for a long time because there has been no institution where they could be taught, and they have dissipated their energies. “This school has solved a great problem for many of them. We want to lighten their bur- dens, for there are many here who have suffered untold hardships in other lands. Many of them, fine girls from splendid families, have escaped from untold horrors in poverty-stricken European countries. It can readily be seen how any amount of pioneering or difficulty in this free open life is most joyfully welcomed. “We give them here the material basis and the spiritual contentment that will be most useful in their own upbuilding and in their common cause —the Homeland,” she concluded. CHAPTER VIII HOW THE MONEY RAISED BY WORLD-WIDE CONTRIBUTION IS SPENT HOUSANDS of dollars are being collected in the United States, which is the main source of contributions of the entire Zionist move- ment. Just how this money is being spent in Palestine presents an interesting story of a new country and how the revenue is apportioned. The organization that collects this money ts known as the Keren Hayesod (Palestine Founda- tion Fund), and is the chief financial agency of the Zionist Organization. The raising of the Keren Hayesod moneys is a stirring story in itself. It is a world-wide movement that reaches into every community where there are Jews. Those who are interested in Jewish progress in Palestine naturally wish to know about the money that is being spent there. The budget subscribed for the Keren Hayesod 73 74 PALESTINE AWAKE for the Hebrew year 5685, ending in the autumn of 1925, was $2,232,000. This does not include money investment in the purchase of land, which is under the auspices of the Jewish National Fund, the actual management of which is in the hands of the Jewish colonies. The Keren Hayesod spends its money mainly for social, economic, and public works, which in many localities are assumed by the state; on ac- count of the condition of the exchequer, such work must be promoted in Palestine by a private or- ganization. Although the whole of the popula- tion benefits, the chief burden is borne by the Keren Hayesod. The important consideration, however, is the fact that the British government, which has the mandate, gives the Palestine government the maximum of security. The Palestine govern- ment incurs no expenses designed to bring about a direct increase of the Jewish population through immigration. This has been left to Jewish achievement and is the primary function of the Zionist Organization. Immigration, beginning as it does in so many HOW THE MONEY IS SPENT 75 countries, presents a big problem in itself and a most absorbing one, since in most countries the prospective immigrant to Palestine goes through a selective process. He must learn the old He- brew language, which is not the present-day Yid- dish as it is spoken. He must in many instances undergo a course of training in agriculture, which is to be his first means of support. Various train- ing organizations throughout Europe are already instructing twenty thousand prospective immi- grants. When the immigrant is ready to depart, there are the head-tax, quarantine, disembarkation, housing maintenance, transportation costs, medi- cal attention, employment, and so on. The Zionist Organization allots, for selecting immi- grants and seeing them through, the sum of $335,- 000 a year. Although the immigration to Palestine is ap- proximately ten thousand a year, within the last three or four years it has increased considerably, so that in a single month recently thirty-nine hun- dred immigrants came to Palestine. It is antici- pated that increased financial support will be 76 PALESTINE AWAKE needed for this increased number of immigrants. Thirty thousand dollars is allotted to the Im- migration Department in Jerusalem and the other points of entry. Thirty thousand dollars has been allowed for loans to immigrants. Agricul- tural colonization work cost this year $625,000, agricultural experiment stations $425,000, and for land that is to be purchased through the na- tional fund $25,000 has been set aside. In the eighty-nine colonies that have been es- tablished, three thousand persons are employed in agriculture. It is expected that other money will be needed for long-term loans for these work- ers, who are now ready to start out on their own small farms. A unique feature of the establishment of the Homeland and the giving of work to thousands of men is the Solel Boneh (Jewish Laborers’ Pub- lic Works Organization), which does an impor- tant work toward firmly settling the urban Jew- ish worker in Palestine. It is a most interesting development in mutual profit-sharing. While it was organized purely for the purpose of building up Palestine, it has constructed roads and build- NHWOM YOA AULSNGNI ONIATYHL V SHTAHSYON AAaL HOW THE MONEY IS SPENT 77 ings to the value of $3,520,000, of which only $587,500 was for Jewish national institutions. The remainder went to public works for the gov- ernment and private bodies. The importance of this organization was manifested during the earlier part of the last four years, when the colonies were still in their infancy. There were many immi- grants who could not be absorbed, and they were given employment through the Solel Boneh. The Keren Hayesod has invested forty thou- sand dollars in the Solel Boneh and has therefore become a business partner in this codperative en- deavor. Last October nearly two thousand laborers were employed in various branches of public work which were contracted for by this group. Forty-five thousand dollars has been allo- cated for the purpose of aiding individuals in small industrial enterprises. The Keren Hayesod has also decided to invest money in the city banks and has made an initial investment of two hundred thousand dollars in the General Mortgage Bank of Palestine. This provides money for building of houses and has aided in the construction of more than three hun- 78 PALESTINE AWAKE dred. ‘To enable it to continue its activities fifty thousand dollars more has been provided. Many of the city laborers have nowhere to live, and efforts have been made to secure comfortable quarters for them in the country so that they may go to and from the city daily, and four hundred thousand dollars has been invested in garden spots in close proximity to the towns. Education plays a tremendous part in the work of this financial organization. It has provided three hundred thousand dollars for the mainte- nance of 128 schools, in which over twelve thou- sand children are in attendance. The only con- tributions that the Palestine government makes to this cause is ten thousand dollars annually. As soon as a more adequate educational system is de- vised by the government this item will be reduced in the Keren Hayesod budget. The Jewish National Fund is the chief source - of funds for purchasing land. Some hundreds of young workers have been trained in five Na- tional Fund Schools. When they were gradu- ated they purchased Jewish acreage and leased farms on National Fund land, and they brought HOW THE MONEY IS SPENT, 79 new life into the colonization movement. They were the pioneers (haluzim), the defenders of Jewish property. The area of rural property acquired by the Na- tional Fund up to the end of 1924 amounted to about thirty-seven thousand acres. Thirty settle- ments have been established in Judea, Samaria, the Valley of Jezreel, and Galilee. Since 1920 the Jewish National Fund has confined itself to its original program of the purchase of land, and in that connection it makes all the first improve- ments on the soil. The fund also functions for the Zionist move- ment in regard to its urban land policy. Its first object was to secure public buildings, such as the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, the Tel Aviv Gymnasium, and the Haifa Technical School. It also participated in the acquisition of the site of the Hebrew University. Since the fund retains permanent ownership of all its property in the name of the Jewish people, the property can never be disposed of by those who work to improve it. Thus there is no specu- lation and no quick turnovers at advancing figures. 80 PALESTINE AWAKE Persons of limited means are enabled to settle on the land of the Jewish National Fund and to build houses on easy terms, and thus the price of other land is kept within limits. The total amount collected during the eight months prior to June, 1925, was $175,447.67, as against $120,144.48 for the corresponding eight months in 1924. ‘The increase amounts to $95,- 303.19, or about 45.8 per cent of the total col- lected in the eight months of the previous year. This is the largest increase on record, and it is to be devoted to further development. ‘ : r : ; FR oe ea oy Lt ie i a ‘Es Abe , iy i rN 4 a - ¥ y , rate | -f i , ; i . sa : 7 wy i id iey ui.” 0 \ wtf ce ee b ' if wh! ( i] « ‘n, AG wey 6 rf \? ‘ i wa! | =@ | Fa ~ re, ' ‘ . rr : } 7 » A : i , : af: if 1 @ Near / gis RELAY Sane ha) toe a de a - ‘ ae > , n Tue ;: ‘ ' ' tn . ¥ Pf : 7 ; ve @ ; : / ; + ' i ae Lh NILSHUTVd NI YSNOH LNAWLYVdV AO AdAL MAN CHAPTER IX THE BIG TASK OF MAKING PRESENT-DAY CIVILIZATION - LL I have seen in Palestine is beyond my A most optimistic dreams.” ‘These were the words of Morris Rothenberg, chairman of the na- tional board of directors of the American Keren Hayesod (Palestine Foundation Fund), who was making his first visit to the Holy Land, although he has made hundreds of speeches about it in the United States. His path crossed mine several times in the course of travel to various parts of Palestine. He gave me, in brief, the financial situation, as follows: There are approximately one hundred and twenty-five thousand Jews in Palestine. Since the war sixty thousand Jews have come, the ages ranging from nineteen to thirty. All of them ex- cept for a small proportion, have been supplied 81 82 PALESTINE AWAKE with employment either on the land, on public works, in home building, or in other industries. From three to four thousand men, mainly immi- grants, have been employed in the public works and on buildings. A workmen’s bank with a capital of $300,000 was established by the Keren Hayesod to finance the labor gilds; the Zionist Organization, through the Jewish Colonial Trust, has taken preference shares in this bank to the ex- tent of $200,000. The Keren Hayesod is participating with a sum of $250,000 in the Rutenberg scheme for electri- fication, the Palestine Electric Corporation, Ltd. Jaffa and Tel Aviv are provided already with elec- tric light and power, and the power-station in Haifa is now complete. The Hebrew educational system comprises forty-two kindergartens, seventy-four elementary schools, five secondary schools and teachers’ train- ing colleges, six apprentice workshops—a total of 127 educational institutions. The teachers num- ber 450, the pupils 12,200. Work has to be provided for the immigrants. In addition, thousands of them go to Palestine at THE BIG TASK 83 their own expense, and also a corresponding num- ber of doctors, teachers, and officials, must find employment in the country. The development points to a growth of the Jewish population in geometric progression, so that within ten years from 500,000 to 1,000,000 Jews could settle in Palestine. Naturally, it is in every respect the work of the first year’s construction which presents the greatest difficulties. But what this work demands from the self-sacrifice of the Jews is, as the figures given show, really small. The work can and must suc- ceed if the Jews of the entire world who have approved the reconstruction of Palestine contrib- ute to the Keren Hayesod according to their means. The collections of the first three years for the Keren Hayesod, $7,500,000, are certainly con- siderable when it is remembered that it takes a certain time to win over the Jewries scattered over the face of the earth for a regular, adequate, and voluntary system of self-taxation. But it is neces- sary, as has been shown, that the income of the Keren Hayesod should be at least doubled in 84 PALESTINE AWAKE order to assure the necessary rate of progress on the work of restoration. With an income to the Keren Hayesod of $5,000,000 a year, the rest could be assured; and within a decade at the most, half a million Jews could become productively active in Palestine. Mr. Rothenberg gave me the percentage dis- tribution of the money that was expended from 1921 to 1924, and it is significant of the work that goes into setting up new centers of civiliza- tion. Out of $6,501,940, the percentages used for various purposes were as follows: Agricul- tural colonization, 27.01 per cent; education, 20.84 per cent; immigration, 12.68 per cent; in- vestments, 9.12 per cent; public works, 8.52 per cent; health, 7.39 per cent; special expenses and National Organization, 4.10 per cent; adminis- trative expenses, 4.07 per cent; Mizrachi Organ- ization, 2.79 per cent; Jewish National Fund, 1.52 per cent; Technicum, .99 per cent; trade and industry, .Q7 per cent. He stated that although he had made many speeches on the Palestinian project and the de- velopment of the Holy Land, he found on his visit THE BIG TASK 85 here that all the praise he had sung of the work accomplished could have been accentuated a hundredfold. “We have reached the point,” said Mr. Rothen- berg, “‘where the non-Zionist group, which com- prises many prominent men of New York, is will- ing to go into the general work of building up Palestine under the Jewish Agency, which is the agency mentioned in the mandate over which Eng- land rules Palestine. “Many of the leaders among the non-Zionists have contributed to the Keren Hayesod. It is not the amount of their contributions which mat- ters, but the fact that they have already indorsed the instrument set up by the Zionist Organization in its reconstruction work. “There are many splendid people who are not at the present within the Zionist Organization proper but who are anxious to help in restoring the Holy Land and in bringing immigrants here to settle. These are the elements that should be encouraged to aid.” Emanuel Neumann, formerly an officer of the Keren Hayesod and now of the American Zion 86 PALESTINE AWAKE Commonwealth, was also a visitor in Jerusalem during my stay. He gave me his views as ‘follows: ' “During the past two years there has been a change in the character of the immigration. There have been coming into Palestine thousands of the new type of settlers; families, middle-class men, merchants and artisans, many of whom are desirous of changing their occupations and settling in Palestine upon the land, but who desire to settle upon the land as individual landholders, as farmers, responsible for their own holdings. And for these there has been little provision. ‘A great deal has been said in the past about the need of our attracting additional forces and additional capital for the upbuilding of Palestine. We are all committed to that policy. It requires no further discussion. “The fact of the matter is that we have been pouring large sums of money into Palestine, con- sidering the strength of our organization. The Keren Hayesod alone has been putting into Pales- tine every year of its own funds over $2,000,000, THE BIG TASK 87 and its total budget for work in Palestine is at least $2,500,000 to $2,750,000 annually. “If we take into consideration the collections of the Hadassah (the women’s Zionist organiza- tion) and the remarkable growth of the Jewish National Fund during the past few years and the achievements of the American Zion Common- wealth and the various investment funds secured for Palestine through the stimulus of the Zionist Organization, we find that we are putting into Palestine now at least $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 annually through Zionist agencies.” CHAPTER X WHERE YOUTH BECOMES THE SCIENTIFIC TILLER QF THE SOIL OUNG men between the ages of eighteen y and twenty-five are in attendance, and half of them working their own way, in the only school of its kind in existence, the Agricultural School of Mikweh-Israel. Every year between fifty and sixty boys have been graduated as scien- tific practical farmers, trained for any branch of agricultural work in Palestine. Hundreds of the young pioneers who are now coming from other countries are seeking entrance into this school, which is unable to take them all. A vision of the Jews settling on their own land, which came to a few men like Baron Edmond de Rothschild and Jacob Nettef, caused them to or- ganize the school. We in America have much to learn from it, for it is unique among farm schools. Although the Mikweh-Israel was founded by 88 SCIENTIFIC TILLER OF THE SOIL 89 another organization fifty-four years ago for purely educational purposes, it soon realized that the need of the region was for cultivation of the soil rather than for cultural education. The Turkish government granted a large land conces- sion near Jaffa, and the school is situated there now. ‘The site was a swamp, infested with ma- laria. Great difficulties were encountered in se- curing qualified teachers of agriculture, but the first failures were overcome, and the school is now in a flourishing condition so far as training and accomplishment are concerned. More than one hundred young boys are at pres- ent taught the business of farming from start to finish. While I was at the school I had the very interesting task of presenting five scholarships from America to the young men best equipped to become farmers. The scholarships were pre- sented in the name of Abraham L. Erlanger, chair- man of the New York branch of the National Farm School of America. I believe it was the first time that American money had been provided for the school. Mr. Erlanger had said: “Every boy should have a chance to equip him- go PALESTINE AWAKE self to earn his own support. The trouble in the past has been that very little aid has been forth- coming for those who might be inclined to go back to the soil. It is my belief that there are thousands of them everywhere. Especially am I glad to extend this bit of help to boys many of whom have come from countries of great depres- sion into the Holy Land, to make their own way, and perhaps the way of others dependent on them.” I went through the institution and studied the conditions prevailing there. Besides the regular pupils, the school is training from eighty to one hundred pioneers (haluzém) to work their way through, and they take educational extension courses also. ‘The school aims to be coeduca- tional, although in fact only twenty girls are tak- ing its courses. The haluzim, after serving a year, are eligible for regular admission to the school and are also permitted to enter some of the colonies for practical work. During their serv- ice in the school they are paid seventy-five cents a day, which covers all their expenses. The school has 650 acres of land. On it you _ >» s - SCIENTIFIC TILLER OF THE SOIL 91 will find everything that grows in Palestine— oranges, olives, and all the fruits and vegetables. Cereal-growing has also been undertaken. The school is especially interested in the development of vineyards and wine-pressing, which form a profitable activity. There are also stables, cow- sheds, a modern dairy, and a poultry development, with everything indeed that makes a complete agricultural plant. The school is supplied with the most modern machinery. A_ thoroughly equipped laboratory is a part of the school, where experiments are made on trees, land, and fertili- zation. The draining of the swamp is progress- ing, and the planting of eucalyptus-trees has helped to do away with malaria. Evening courses are provided for those who cannot attend a full day. The sale of foodstuffs helps toward the upkeep of the place and of the student body, so that an appropriation of only fifty thousand dollars a year is required to main- tain the institution. The cost to each student for a three-year course is $750, or $250 a year. Ell Krause, the secretary and manager of the school, would like to admit all who apply, since there are g2 PALESTINE AWAKE large areas yet to be developed; but lack of funds sets a limit on the acceptance of the applications. The Beit-Jemal School of Agriculture, which is situated on the pleasant hills of Judea, about twenty-two miles from Jerusalem, has a meteoro- logical observatory, a laboratory of agrarian chem- istry, and a modern development of the agricul- tural activities. The school has a vast tract of land cultivated to seed and forage, vines, olive- trees, and fruits; and it is provided with a large stock of cattle and much modern machinery. The course of training lasts four years, after which the pupil is prepared to specialize in any branch of farm work. A preparatory term is ar- ranged for pupils who have not completed their elementary education, and a course intended for general culture is included in the work of the school. At the expiration of each term, as a condition for promotion, pupils have to pass a theoretical as well as a practical examination, and a general examination is held after the completion of the studies before a diploma of graduation is granted. CHAPTER XI THE OPPOSITION TO THE JEWS, AND THE DEFENSE Me has been said about the opposition presented to the Jews in the reconstruc- tion of their Homeland in Palestine by the Arab inhabitants of the country. I discussed the situa- tion with his Eminence the Great Mufti, Emine Hussimi, who is the religious head of the entire Arab population in Palestine and may be said to control their politics to a great degree. The audience the Great Mufti granted me was somewhat of a ceremony. ‘There were present one of the Arab princes, Emir Eatel Arslan; a very prominent Arab lawyer of Jerusalem, Acuni Abdul Hadi; and Sheik Mohamed Salek. The Mufti’s secretary served as an interpreter. There were many questions and answers passed back and forth, but his side of the conversation may be summarized as follows: 93 94 PALESTINE AWAKE “Before the war, and for the period of a gen- eration, the Moslems were trying to establish their own national home in Palestine. It was practically understood that the Turkish govern- ment, which was in control, would give us the country. Our people have been very poor and consequently have progressed little, but still we looked forward to obtaining independence. When the war came we fought on the side of the Allies, and we do not believe the war could have been won without us. We had the same under- standing with them, that our independence would be given us, but it was not. “Since the Balfour Declaration, which gives the Jews a national home, we have expected that there would be a large influx of Jewish popula- tion, which would immediately take charge of the country. But this has not been the case so far, and we want to do everything we can to work in peace with the Jews. We feel, however, that much of the propaganda that is being spread tends toward the establishment of an exclusive national home for the Jews, although the inten- tions of the English government have been fairly ~ OPPOSITION AND DEFENSE 95 set forth. We have no fear that our rights will be invaded or that there will be any serious blood- shed, for the handful of Jews here, about a hun- dred thousand, are outnumbered by our seven hundred thousand Arabs in Palestine and near-by countries. “We are anxious that everything should be done in the interest of our people, and that the English government, which has the mandate, shall be impartial, which is its tendency.” Knowing my interest in children, the Great Mufti dwelt on the fact that the new generation cannot be expected to be better than the old one until something has been done for the children. “The poverty and degradation among the children in Palestine is frightful,” he said. “TI personally will be glad to aid in any concentrated effort that will start something in the interest of the children, whether they be Jews, Arabs, or Christians. But such aid must begin with the government, which can assist the various reli- gions to create a better citizenry. This is one of the most important tasks ahead of Palestine.” Before we parted we conformed to custom and 96 PALESTINE AWAKE sat at the table, where they served Turkish coffee and cakes. And he sought to assure me that the one thing he and his people wished was peace and that he would do all he could to pro- mote it. The Great Mufti impressed me as being a cul- tured man, a gentle spirit, but full of intensity for the welfare of his own people, and withal, broad- minded and tolerant. He is the kind of man who would do much to avoid unnecessary violence. A different note was sounded in another in- terview, with the greatest opponent of the Jewish influx into Palestine, Mussa Kasim Pasha. He has been the leading figure in what is termed the Arab Executive, which heads the political organi- zation of the Arab population in Palestine. He is an out-an-out irreconcilable. He talked for nearly two hours, and his story is one to which he will stick to the end of time, I believe. He refuses first of all to recognize the Balfour Dec- laration and the English government’s attitude toward a Homeland for the Jews. He is against the Jews from start to finish. There can be no OPPOSITION AND DEFENSE 97 peace, according to him, so long as the Jews and Arabs are in Palestine. He wants the country for his own people and for nobody else. And he believes he is in the right. It matters not to him that the Jews had Jerusalem as their birthright two thousand years ago; the Arabs have it now, and the Jews have been away from it for so long that the country belongs to his people and must therefore be Arabic. After considerable parley I put this question to him: “Can’t you find some way by which the Jews can have their Homeland here and live at peace with the Arab, as the Zionists have de- clared times without number they wish to do?” “There is one way,” he answered, “and that is for Palestine to be given to us along with our in- dependence. Then Palestine will become the Arabic national home. When we once control the country, we shall permit the Jews to come in, and after they have settled and remained here a certain number of years they can acquire citizen- ship as formerly. What we would like would be that the Jews who were here before the Zionist movement began should be permitted to remain, 98 PALESTINE AWAKE but that those who have come since then should be excluded.” I tried to understand his reasoning, but his answer was merely: ‘““That’s the way it ought to be.” I persisted that if he pursued this course only strife would come of it, and that the fact remains that the English government by the man- date is there to protect the Jews as well as the Arabs. He answered that the Arabs, because of their numbers, were not afraid of anything that might happen. I afterward discussed the subject with other prominent Arabs in various parts of Palestine, and I found that the attitude of Mussa Kasim Pasha is not common among the younger and more vigorous element. They are anxious that every effort be made to promote the harmony of the country. The general situation might be set forth as follows: Some of the Arabian political leaders have as- serted at times that the English government is chiefly interested in the establishment of the Jew- ish National Home .and that for this purpose England has allocated land to the Jews and has OPPOSITION AND DEFENSE 99 given them preference in regard to education and political appointments. The Jews, however, have complained that the government is inactive in these very respects, that it does less than is required by the mandate, that the whole work of building up the Homeland has been left to the Jewish people themselves. These complaints have been thus answered by Sir Herbert Samuel, former high commissioner of Palestine, who is generally conceded to be impartial: “So far as there is any truth in these criticisms, it is the latter that has substance—the Jewish side of it. The English government has found it possible to do very little toward giving the Jewish people land for settlement. ‘The school system as it now stands, although a reform is already under way, leaves almost the whole burden of the education of the Jewish child population upon the shoulders of the Jews themselves, in addition to the contribution which they make through taxes to the government sys- tem of Arab schools. Of the many competent Jews who have offered themselves for govern- ment positions, it has not been possible, without 100 PALESTINE AWAKE injustice to others, to employ more than a small number. But the consequence has been that the Jewish movement has become self-dependent. “This at least is propitious, that the building of the National Home has not been the work of any government. It is not an artificial construc- tion of laws and official fostering; it is the out- come of the energy and enterprise of the Jewish people themselves.” I found that the dissensions that occurred di- rectly after the war had subsided were chiefly due to the fact that the Arabs had expected great numbers of Jews to come into the country, but this did not occur. Their fear that their villages would be attacked by armed Jewish colonists, which agitators had aroused, was found to be groundless. The day when one hundred thousand Jews would land in Palestine to take possession of the land did not come. Days, months, and years followed, and the Arab’s fear that the mosques would be closed and turned into synagogues was never realized. On the contrary, a new and purely Moslemic body, controlling all the Moslem rights, was es- OPPOSITION AND DEFENSE 101 tablished, and it has rebuilt and restored its holy places. Under such conditions it was difficult to harbor the feeling of alarm indefinitely. As has been said, “people cannot be induced to re- main constantly mobilized against a danger which never eventuates.”’ In the words of the former high commissioner, this is what happened: “The population gradually came to understand the spirit that animates a British administration. The activity of the district officers, always in and out of the villages, obviously working for the benefit of the people, had a wide-spread effect. Under their auspices there were signs of progress such as had been unknown before. Nearly two hundred villages could show new schools. Roads were being constructed in every direction. Sev- eral villages were provided with new water- supplies. Fresh land was being brought under cultivation. Agricultural experts gave useful ad- vice. ‘Tobacco-growing was encouraged. Rob- bers were put down. Old blood-feuds were settled. What seemed indeed surprising was that, although the war had for some time been 102 PALESTINE AWAKE over, tens of thousands of dollars were received in hard cash by Arab villagers in various parts of the country in payment for the damage done by the British army. “And when the new government needed land it paid for it at a fair price. The old Arab offi- cials who had received pensions under the Turks received them still; the rights of those who re- tired and were qualified were recognized and met. Slowly the suspicions of the new administration yielded under the influence of experience; grad- ually it acquired in the minds of the people a reputation for justice and good will. “The Palestine population has been made to realize that the Balfour Declaration plainly sets forth the interest the British government has taken in the Jews securing the Homeland, al- though the rights of other citizens are to be conserved. Not only this, but each succeed- ing government in Great Britain, no matter of what party, definitely affirmed the policy. The League of Nations finally indorsed the mandate, as well as both houses of the United States Congress. OPPOSITION AND DEFENSE 103 “It was therefore made clear to the leaders of opinion exactly what the Balfour Declaration meant and what it did not mean. The Zionists on their side were careful to make no exaggerated claims that would justify the renewal of alarm. Of the large Jewish expenditure in the country, a considerable part percolated to the Arab popula- tion; the sales of land enabled many owners to free themselves from debt and to obtain capital with which to develop the lands that they re- tained. It is impossible for many million dollars to be spent in so small a country without all of the people feeling the benefit. “In the beginning the political committee men- tioned was appointed by the Arabs to thwart all the efforts of the Jews. It is evident, however, that to maintain the purpose of action of any political movement is difficult. In a population such as the Arabs in Palestine, the difficulty 1s more than usually great. For, as among the Jews, so also among the Arabs, there is much diversity. The Christian shopkeeper of Jerusa- lem does not necessarily share the views of the Moslem merchant of Samaria. The business 104 PALESTINE AWAKE man of Jaffa or Haifa, educated perhaps in France or in England, has little in common with the Bedouin tribesman of Beersheba. But for political purposes all are designated equally ‘Arabs,’ and it is often assumed that they must therefore be animated by the same mind. “At first the Arabic press approved the actions of the political committee. There are thirteen newspapers printed in Arabic—five weekly and the others triweekly. And as a whole they en- couraged this agitation. But in time the com- mittee became less and less representative of the Arabic population. Change of opinion was undergone, although the committee refused to change theirs. They insisted on the repeal of the Balfour Declaration, although the withdrawal of the British government was not suggested. The demand was made, however, that the govern- ment should be controlled by a legislature in which the Arabs should have a clear majority. Until these demands were conceded they should adopt an attitude of non-codperation. “Such a policy, however, got nowhere. The more thoughtful of the Arabs withdrew their OPPOSITION AND DEFENSE 105 support from the committee. The general meet- ings of the committee became very controversial and at last ceased to be held. One newspaper after another ceased to support criticism. Fi- nally there came a definite division. A separate national party was formed which included men of equal authority of the other committee termed Arab Executive. “The government of Palestine patiently pro- ceeded along the path that had been set. The constructive measures that have been described were set on foot. The administration was as active in promoting the welfare of the Arabs as if there had been no Zionist complication and no refusal to codperate; it has been animated in this respect by the same spirit as any British administration in Asia or Africa.” Sir Herbert Samuel established an Advisory Council, consisting of ten British officials and ten Palestinians (four Moslems, three Christians, and three Jews). For two years all legislation was submitted to this Advisory Council, which ren- dered useful service. Although there was con- siderable criticism, the government never found 106 PALESTINE AWAKE it necessary to reject the advice of these non- official members. All this tends to show that once government under the mandate has established itself and once definite policies are understood to be firm and fixed, the population of Palestine, with all its creeds and religions, can be assured of peace. This is the view of the optimistic leaders on all sides. CHAPTER XII OVERNIGHT BY RAIL FROM CAIRO TO JERUSALEM, WHICH TOOK FIFTEEN DAYS BY CAMEL HEN I boarded the train for Jerusalem at Kantara, having arrived there from Cairo, I could not believe my eyes. I prepared to be uncomfortable on a long night’s journey, as I had been in Europe, where the sleeping-car companies have much to learn from the U.S. A. But here I found a very fine sleeping-car, better than anything I had seen in all Europe. Each of its compartments has upper and lower berths, which are constructed of steel and painted to resemble mahogany. Altogether the cars are as easy to travel in as anything in America. For old Palestine does not have to go through all the growing-pains of development that the other countries have known, since it can go out into the new world and choose the best. To go to Jerusa- 107 108 PALESTINE AWAKE lem in this luxurious style is a far cry from the recent past. A 1912 guide-book on Palestine con- tains the following: The whole journey to Jerusalem occupies from eight to ten days. The railway is taken from Cairo to Kan- tara where the journey by camel is commenced; or again, if the journey is via Port Said or Alexandria, one goes to Jaffa where the steamer anchors outside the rock- girt harbor. In rough weather the disembarkation will be difficult and as much as $4 is sometimes demanded from each person. If the wind blows from the west, landing is impracticable and passengers must go on to Haifa or Beirut. Sometimes it took as much as fifteen days to make this journey, and here I was doing it in one night. In fact, we had tea in Cairo, and break- fasted at ten o’clock the next morning in Jerusa- lem. In like manner a visitor may in the morn- ing look out over the Mediterranean on Mount Carmel, and in the moonlight of the same night he may bow before the pyramids and the sphinx in Egypt. During the night our train crossed the Sinai Desert. The first vision that greeted me as I OVERNIGHT BY RAIL 109 awoke in the early morning was a caravan of camels and Arabs crossing the desert. From that moment the camel and the Arab were never out of sight for any length of time. The camel and his little associate, the donkey, are still the chief burden-bearers—the Oriental Express. But fast, very fast indeed, the bus and the motor-truck are coming in to replace these picturesque carriers along the highways of the Old World. Every turn, every scene is a picture in itself. All night long on the winding roads of Jerusalem you hear the tinkle of the bells of the camel caravans under starry tropic skies, making an all-night journey, bringing produce or merchandise to market. You would hate to lose those lovely pictures that satisfy the soul of the artist. Yet when you think of the human endeavor that goes to waste, the long journeys that are made by foot beside the donkey and camel—by people that have trod along in this fashion for centuries, you are will- ing to forego some of your esthetic joys and satisfy yourself with printed pictures. You look forward to the day when these animal servitors 110 PALESTINE AWAKE of a past age will be given an easier path in green fields and fertile valleys, and will be replaced in the busier traffic by motor transport. I made several automobile trips through Jer- icho, to Jaffa, to Haifa, and to other centers— over new roads and roads that are just in the process of building, passing hundreds of these camels and donkeys; and everything points to the waning of their day. Perhaps nowhere in an old country have such rapid strides been made in railway development as in Palestine. This was due mainly to the war, when it was necessary to transport large numbers of troops and supplies. It is a long story of these railways that were built during the conflict by General Allenby and his army, of the difficult mountain passes and the steep climbs that taxed the ingenuity of the best en- gineers. As in the case of the line from Artuf to Jerusalem, parts of mountains had to be broken away so to leave a narrow rocky shelf to sustain the track. This, of course, was in the early days, when the main line was completed during the war by rail- OVERNIGHT BY RAIL 111 road recruits in the army. The construction of the railway was forced by the rapid advance of the army and the urgent need of transportation for troops and supplies. Pages could be written on the difficulties en- countered. For instance, entry into Haifa required that a great sea-wall be built a con- siderable distance south of the town. The amount of work that was accomplished in the completion of this railroad can be realized when it is understood that in the last three months of the war more than six hundred and fifty thousand men were carried and about four hundred thou- sand tons of supplies—a daily average of twenty- eight fully loaded trains out from Kantara. After the Armistice, as the army railway men had left the service, it was very difficult to re- place them with experienced workers. It was then that the Arabs, Jews, Syrians, Egyptians, Armenians, and others were enlisted, the majority of them unskilled. The name of the road became the “Palestine Railways’; it had been the “Palestine Military Railways’ during the war. One finds not only excellent sleeping accommo- 112 PALESTINE AWAKE dations on the trains to Jerusalem but restaurant- cars supplying three meals a day are attached to Jong-distance trains; and you pass through the ancient stations of Deir E] Belah, Rafa, El Arish, El Abd, and Romani, where were once situated camps teeming with the life of a great army. Now what has this extensive railway develop- ment accomplished? In 1913 there were 3900 tourists in Palestine. In 1922, 1923, and 1924 the number of tickets issued to tourists amounted to 13,556, 15,501, and 19,470 respectively. It now takes five hours to go from Haifa to Jerusa- lem; from Jaffa to Jerusalem, three hours; from Kantara to Jerusalem, nine hours; and from Nazareth to Jerusalem, ten and one half hours. Automobiles are the prevailing means of trans- portation for the tourist, and fine roads are rapidly being built. What is now contemplated is a rail route from Calais to Luxor, requiring only 150 miles of construction along the sea-coast from Tripoli to Haifa; a branch-line will be run from there to Bagdad. At the present time motors are being operated on the new road from Haifa to Bagdad, and it is upon this road that steel tracks OVERNIGHT BY RAIL 113 are to be laid. The plan is to provide a luxuri- ous route from London to Cairo and Luxor, and then to Bagdad en route to India. The government has also an extensive build- ing plan which includes some nineteen new roads. Most significant are the privately constructed roads, of which hundreds are being built within the colonies by the Jewish settlers. ‘Thousands of American dollars are going into them, and they will provide connecting links with the main government highways. In the years to come, they will be taken over and maintained by the government, just as would be done with the streets in any newly laid out village or town in the United States. Big preparations are being made for the tourist. Heretofore he has ended his wandering at Egypt; although desiring to go to the Holy Land, he has been precluded because of the hardships of travel. But travel will soon be made very easy for him, and a great influx of the floating popula- tion is being prepared for. In the next five years several large hotels are to be erected at va- rious points of interest throughout Palestine, and 114 PALESTINE AWAKE hotel organizations are making plans accordingly. We cannot but be impressed with the fact that Palestine opens up a resort center that will beckon the whole world. There is no antiquity greater, for it contains the history and the land- marks of nearly all peoples. Those who know it only in song and story can go into the midst of It. Many travelers have feared that the railroads and highways and new-world activities may take away the charm of the ancient place and its unique pictures of the old life. As to the holy spots, they will never be effaced; the whole world will see to that. But how far better it is to bring sanitation into the home of the native where it is practically unknown, and to lift his burdens by modern methods. Far better this kind of mis- sionary spirit than one which holds forth on charming pictures of the life that was normal two thousand years ago but which has outgrown its usefulness in a later age, when things can be made easier for the people in it. CHAPTER XIII THE PRIMITIVE NATIVE AND THE TRIALS OF WELFARE WORK LONG the road to Jericho, I stopped at A a picturesque spot to take a snap-shot of a couple of Bedouin girls who were carrying on their heads great earthenware vases filled with water. For the only way of transporting water is to carry it from springs or wells or some central spot. The method has not changed in two thousand years except for the new pipe and the spigot at- tached to the spring. As these girls came along the road, I took out my camera and smiled at them, little dreaming what would happen. They dropped their burdens and began to run away, screaming and crying. Although our driver called to them in their language, not to be afraid, there was no chance of reassuring them. They would not come back for their vases until we were a long distance away. 115 116 PALESTINE AWAKE Fancy then what it would mean to try to do uplift work with such human material. We are all accustomed to drives and social meetings and the work of helping the poor. We do not need to be educated as to the importance of welfare work. But such is not the case in Palestine. The people can understand why money should be given to them, and they need no instruction what- ever in the art of begging. But to be taught how to live, how to bring up their babies, how to avert disease, how to keep clean—these things were vir- tually unknown among the poorer classes of Pal- estine before the war. When they got sick in Palestine they tried to doctor themselves in crude and primitive ways, or they went to a hospital where they fared little better. If they survived, well and good; if not, they just died. No concerted effort had been made, no method devised, to teach the people the prevention of disease or the care of themselves or their families. The struggle was to exist rather than to live; and it was only the climate, the invigorating health-giving powers of the sun, SYUaMYOM AAVATAM LNVANI HVSSVGVH LSANIA aNO AO dNnoOwdd V TRIALS OF WELFARE WORK 117 that saved these people throughout the centuries, not any knowledge of caring for themselves. ‘Malaria and trachoma and such diseases have accordingly been prevalent. I venture to say that among the poorest of the natives almost every other one has something wrong with his eyes. When the war produced the medical unit, which came from America, it marked the begin- ning of real welfare work in Palestine, which to-day is going forward at a rapid pace. The chief work is being accomplished by the Hadassah (Women’s Zionist Organization), of which Miss Henrietta Szold of New York is head. It has been made possible partly through the gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Straus. The money is used for installation and equipment. I visited the welfare stations. To reach them you must go through the narrow streets where you will find the hovels of the pauper, and where the miserere is sung in the hearts of the people almost day and night—suffering souls whose daily grind is the mere business of hand-to-mouth existence. 118 PALESTINE AWAKE There is no tragedy so tragic as that of the poor at Jerusalem. There is no Ghetto in all the world suffering so silently as this one. Hearts of stone would be made to bleed at the sight that greets you from these holes in the rock that are called homes, where four and five and six people live, move, and have their being in one room. So through this medley of misery, through winding archways and on streets where the Naz- arene trod, we were finally led into a little oasis in the desert of destitution, the welfare station, clean and orderly with its white and blue paint. You breathe a sigh of relief. Here was some- thing that would faintly penetrate the dark holes and give light to poverty-stricken people. As [ stood there I watched hundreds of small bottles of infants’ food being prepared and given to mothers. I saw the babies being weighed, care- fully examined by doctors and nurses. I saw the smiles of ill-fed mothers bringing their under- nourished anemic children to this human haven. I felt that a big start had been made. “And this was not so easy,” said Miss Szold, TRIALS OF WELFARE WORK 119 who was with us. “It was very difficult to ex- plain to these mothers that their children’s dis- eases were due to themselves, their own lack of knowledge of caring for children. We tried to teach them how to mix the food, but as yet the task has proved almost impossible. For so many centuries they have known so little of cleanliness and present-day methods of living that only when they saw the results in the children did they have faith and belief in what we were teaching them. So we are still preparing the infants’ food, but gradually and constantly the tremendous impor- tance of caring for the baby is being realized and the mothers are responding.” I visited another welfare station where 40 per cent of those who appear are Arabs. ‘The stipula- tion that the Arabs should be cared for was made a condition of the Straus donation. ‘This station too, is conducted by the Hadassah. Seven such baby stations are now in operation. I went to the homes of some of these poor people who had been taught how to keep their places clean: even their one room was spotless. So that the task has not been insurmountable. 120 PALESTINE AWAKE The people can be educated to better ways of liv- ing. They can be urged to give their children better opportunities than they themselves had. America has done much in this respect, but there is still endless work to do. But this is not the only welfare work that is conducted by the Hadassah, for it maintains four hospitals located in Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, and Safed, all of which have dispensaries and lab- oratories. The Jerusalem hospital also has a nurses’ training school for fifty pupils. The course of studies, theoretical and practical, covers three years and is conducted in Hebrew. Fifty nurses have already been graduated. The di- plomas are countersigned by the Department of Public Health of the Palestine government. From their ranks, the organization draws its hos- pital nursing staff and its infant welfare nurses. All of these hospitals are supplied with modern equipment, but they operate under difficult con- ditions. They do not have sufficient electricity, and water is still lacking. Water, by the way, is one of the chief prob- lems of Jerusalem. Imagine a whole population TRIALS OF WELFARE WORK 121 living on rain-water only, according to a system that has obtained for centuries. Everybody has a cistern, and the poor buy their water and carry it in tins to their homes. And when there is a drouth as there was in 1924 it is necessary for the government to send four trains daily, loaded with tanks of water, from Ludd. The water problem will have to be solved by the government itself, and engineers are already working on a plan to harness the Jordan and pipe the water to Jerusa- lem; it is an engineering feat that, according to experts, can be accomplished. But to return to welfare work. Clinics have been established in all the towns that contain Jewish population and in forty agricultural settlements. The Hadassah has also undertaken the hygienic supervision of more than fifteen thousand children in the Jewish schoals. A sys- tematic campaign against trachoma has been or- ganized, and arrangements have been made for the examination of the immigrants and the san- itary supervision of immigration camps. Clinics play an important part in the treat- ment of malaria, not only among Jews but also 122 PALESTINE AWAKE among Arabs; in several clinics like those at Hebron, Beth-Shean, Ramlah, the majority of the patients are Moslems and Christians. A vigorous campaign against malaria has been conducted by the Hadassah. Five fully equipped laboratories have been established in various centers, and these have performed thousands of blood examin- ations. The Department of School Hygiene has been established by the Hadassah. A physician with thirty assistants was appointed and particular attention given to malaria. All the pupils are examined twice a year. A child infected with malaria receives intensive treatment for two months in a special children’s clinic. He is then placed under the supervision of the school doctor who examines the pupil from time to time. The school doctor and the teachers provide health lectures for the children. Health weeks are being promoted through the Galilee colonies with lantern-slides and other equipment. Penny lunches have been instituted. Prenatal and post- natal care is another activity of the organization. Its educational work is being developed, and TRIALS OF WELFARE WORK 123 the government is aware of the excellent results obtained. Miss Szold says: “We deem it a pleasant duty to point out the value of the great help given to us by the Department of Health of the government of Palestine. The Depart- ment of Health has always taken into considera- tion the unique and difficult conditions under which we work and on many occasions has given us worthy aid.” The Hadassah also places its laboratories at the service of the public hospitals. It distributes _ linen and drugs free of charge to many charitable institutions. Mosquito-nets and quinine are furnished to those settlements which cannot pay for these necessities. The cost of this big enterprise of welfare is small indeed in comparison to what is actually being done. From January 1, 1922, to January 1, 1925, the cash collections amounted to $633,221.64, with materials valued at $149,700.- 11. The money was collected in America by 23,500 members, the greater number of them being in New York. CHAPTER XIV PALESTINE LEADING OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE ELIMINATION OF ORPHAN ASYLUMS EXPECTED to find orphan-asylums galore, | for from all over the world came more and more orphaus to Jerusalem (and I knew they presented a tremendous problem); to my utter astonishment I found the conditions very different. Although there were four thousand homeless orphans when the war closed, only one thousand now remain in Palestine. The other children have become absorbed in the population and are being cared for in homes of relatives and foster- parents. It was pleasant to learn that the most ad- vanced methods of caring for children have been adopted in this oldest of countries, so that six hundred children are cared for in the homes of I24 ADVNVHdaO VINNOAIVA LV MAS OL LHOOVI STaI9 ORPHAN ASYLUMS 125 their own mothers or relatives or other good people, and only two hundred have found their way to orphan-asylums. I discussed the matter with S. Moheif, direc- tor of child care activities in Jerusalem, who for ten years has labored in the cause of the children. This work is supported mainly by the Joint Dis- tribution Committee, and Sophie Burger is the executive director of the Palestine Orphan Committee. Mr. Mosheif said: “Oh, yes, we realize more than anything else the importance of placing children in homes and giving them community life. We have a staff of home visitors who fol- low up the children whom we board out in the homes. ‘They make frequent rounds of inspection and are received as devoted house friends and as advisers on family problems. We follow the children up until they become self-supporting. We make every effort to see that the one-room Jerusalem dwelling has plenty of air and sun- shine, and we insist on an adequate standard of cleanliness both in the home and for the children. “It costs us approximately a hundred dollars 126 PALESTINE AWAKE a year to keep a half-orphan in a home with its own mother, but this does not include medical care and clothing. The Hadassah furnishes wearing-apparel. We pay for the text-books and school supplies of the children, however, and when children need special care we provide special food such as milk and eggs daily. We have an educational supervisor who looks after the child’s advancement in school.” There are trade-schools established in Jerusa- lem and Tiberias that enable the girls to take up sewing in its various branches. ‘There are also two country institutions run on the cottage system where the girls are taught the lighter forms of farm work, housekeeping, cooking, laundering, and sewing. These schools are located at Meier Chfeye and the children’s village, Givat Hamo- reh, and they accommodate one hundred pupils. These courses are followed by an intensive study in infants’ care, which makes the girls competent to do the women’s share of the work in the Home- land and meets a crying need. The problem of children, of course, is much more serious in Palestine than elsewhere. Be- ORPHAN ASYLUMS 127 cause the homes are of such low standard, it is difficult to put the child where he will be happy and enjoy real home life. I visited one of the few orphan-asylums in Jeru- salem. The surroundings, general conditions, and environment are better than in any orphan- asylum I have ever seen in Europe. Considerable of the work of these institutions is done by the children themselves, and this should be reduced as much as possible, but the general atmosphere is a happy one. As far as child labor is concerned, there is no country in the world that needs proper legisla- tion so much as Palestine. I have never seen such deplorable conditions as prevail there. It is ‘the children who are the real burden-bearers. On the streets of Jerusalem, at any time of the day, you will see them carrying on their shoulders water and other heavy loads heavy enough to stagger any grown-up. They undergo many hardships, and their lives are spent in hard labor. Child-labor laws are indeed badly needed, for the child has no way of helping himself and has to accept all that is heaped upon him. 128 PALESTINE AWAKE A start has been made in the establishment of a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Perhaps a similar Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children will be formed; or, better still, the government may take hold. The an- imal society has been doing excellent work in teaching natives that they must not abuse their beasts. Sharp-pointed instruments, with which donkeys and camels have been prodded, have been confiscated in many instances and the culprits have been punished. It is small wonder, though, that the native is surprised every day at the new ideas that have come to Palestine, and at the demand of the humanitarian treatment of man and beast. But to return to the welfare work: I saw a training school where young girl orphans were taught trades in the pleasantest surroundings, a school that has been established with American money. Many of these girls have no relatives anywhere, but they will soon be self-supporting and making their own way in the world. Here in the Old World they are solving the problems of the young dependent child in a man- ORPHAN ASYLUMS 129 ner that might well be copied by the New World. The high commissioner is being urged to appoint a commission to study the needs of the children and to promote a country-wide program in their behalf; for Palestine realizes as does no other country, that the development of any nation must begin with its children. As for the old people, the United Aged Home, known as the Moshav Sekenim, is the largest of its kind in Palestine. It was founded in 1880, and was at the start merely a tea-kitchen; but with the monetary support it has received, mainly American, it has developed very rapidly, until now it is the largest and best of its kind in this part of the Old World. It houses the poor and destitute aged of the Holy Land, and in many cases refugees from abroad also find shelter there. They obtain spacious rooms and good and com- fortable beds and are made to feel welcome and at home. The United Aged Home at present consists of several large buildings situated on the road to Motza, at the fork of the Jaffa Road to Hakerem. It is built on a plot of ground of more than forty 130 PALESTINE AWAKE thousand square yards, and it is surrounded with fruit and flower gardens. ‘There are one hun- dred and fifty spacious bedrooms, of which twenty-five were built in the last two years, and a dining-room and an office with a valuable library. There are three large synagogues for study and prayer, a Russian bath, two hospitals for patients and invalids, a pharmacy, and a number of rooms for housekeeping. The water is supplied by three large cisterns and fountains. At present there are three hundred inmates of both sexes in this institution. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Miller of New York, during their last visit, gave twelve thousand dollars to the home, and this made possible the construction of another large building supplying additional accommodations. Among the distinguished benefactors to the in- stitution is Lady Samuel, who is a patron of the home. ‘The visitors’ book is a striking testimony to the many illustrious personages who have visited the country and the institution, and who have taken an interest in the work that is being done. CHAPTER XV THE LABOR SITUATION SURVEY of the labor situation in Pales- A tine is being made by a_labor-union commission. Here are some of the results of their investigation: The first “champions of labor,’ who set out with much enthusiasm, found their greatest ob- stacle in the Arab’s low standard of living; they had to compete with cheap Arab labor, of min- imum consumption and low cultural standards. Nevertheless, they undertook this difficult task and consented to decrease their own needs and to suffer the deprivations and hardships attending life in the colonies. And they succeeded. The cost of establishing a group of one hun- dred Judean colonists on approximately twenty- two acres of land is estimated as follows: Land $2750; furnishings, $750; animals, wagons, and implements, approximately $3375; making a I31 132 PALESTINE AWAKE total of $6875. The investment capital, it is found, is amortized within ten years, and it has meanwhile given employment to about one hun- dred workers. So that the cost per workman for capital is estimated at $350. The entire debt, however, is paid off in the seventh year of the existence of the colony. The maintenance of the individual worker on about one acre of land brings the total cost only to $475, and his family begins to repay the cost of the land in the second year and completes payment in the eighth year. These figures show how carefully every part of the colonization program is planned in advance. Besides, the results continually checked up so that losses may be stopped before they assume large proportions. The settlement of the people on the land is perhaps nowhere done more econom- ically than in Palestine; it is an object-lesson in “back to the land” at the lowest cost. The colonist’s whole problem is one of expe- rience. Ina certain grove in Petah-Tikvah three sets of laborers were hoeing. They all worked on the same type of soil and at the same wage- scale, but they were of three grades: experienced INU SV ee sod INESINING Deo sk CE en THE .LABOR SITUATION 133 workers, workers employed thirty-eight days in the colony, new workers, employed only one week. When the work was.completed the result was that the experienced men had earned $1.40 a day; those who had worked thirty-eight days had earned seventy-five cents a day; the new workers had earned thirty-three cents a day. The period of training of the new worker for agricultural work is about four months. In the first month his work is below the average. In the second he earns his own daily requirements, and during the last month thereafter his work grad- ually rises to the average level, so that later on he covers the loss sustained during the first month, provided there has been uninterrupted employ- ment and no loss of time through illness. The best training seems to be found among the immigrants from Bessarabia, Germany, Czecho- slovakia, and, to some extent, Lithuania. But un- fortunately not all who received training abroad enter the colonies. The loss incurred by the individual during the initial period is made up by his greater efficiency and consequent higher wage thereafter. If the 134 PALESTINE AWAKE worker leaves the colony after a short time, or if he leaves agricultural work altogether, the loss is not made up at all. He is most likely to leave during the first months of his stay in the haburah (colony), before he has adapted himself to the work and while he is still a loss to the camp. The following figures from one of the smallest colonies, Maabar, illustrate this: Immigrants to the number of forty-seven remained for a period of one or two months, four for three months, two for four months, eight for five months, four for six months, four for seven months, three for eight months, four for nine months, five for ten months, and thirty-one remained from eleven to seventeen months. The percentage of members working more than two months is 57; more than four months, 49.43. In the smaller camps the immi- grant seems to hold on longest. For example, in twelve small colonies comprising 154 members only seven left during a period of ten months. Thus the small organization seems to thrive better than the larger one. It is well known that the problem of securing work for women is a very serious one, because the THE LABOR SITUATION 135 native farmer does not believe that they can do agricultural work, especially those varieties of work which women have never done, such as hoe- ing and digging. ‘The lighter work, such as fer- tilization, pruning, binding of trees, is not avail- able throughout the year. These conditions make it difficult for the woman worker to get into the — various branches of field work. This is why co- operative units for women have been established, as well as training-schools. Men workers had to resort to the labor organ- ization in order to force themselves into the larger colonies for purposes of advancement. The women workers will have to go through the same channel. Indeed since the organization of the la- bor group, the number of women workers has in- creased, partly in domestic work—kitchen, sew- ing, laundry—and partly in field work, especially in the production of tobacco—nursery, picking, and so on. Soon this situation will adjust itself and woman will be working side by side with man everywhere. Some of the small camps have made provision for extensive absorption of women 136 PALESTINE AWAKE workers. As a result, small groups of women were employed, ranging from 28 to 45 per cent of the total. Women farm workers will probably soon be received on a complete equality with men. CHAPTER XVI BEAUTY PARLORS AND CABARETS BY THE OLD WALLS OF JERUSALEM ITHIN a few feet of the hotel where \ \ this chapter is being written—the St. John—is the church inclosing the tomb of the Holy Sepulcher of Christ, and while I view its cir- cular dome the muezzin of a near-by mosque is calling the Mohammedans to prayer in a high, singsong tenor voice. Within a few minutes’ walk is the great Jaffa Gate, which brings you into the Old City, where this hotel is located on Cal- vary Hill. The Tower of David is close by, and to each of these places I can walk in five minutes. Below me in the street I hear the tinkle of the camel caravan, and the bray of the donkey under the great load he is bearing. I walk through the narrow Street of David, as old as the very hills, passing by flowing-robed natives whose customs \ 137 138 PALESTINE AWAKE and methods have not changed these many hun- dreds of years. One constantly marvels at the primitive life here, and yet as I go by a coffee-house I hear a phonograph pouring forth Arabic chants, and then—then— | I go to where I have been invited to dinner and to dance, only a few minutes away and in the midst of this ancient scene. And as I approach, I can hardly believe my ears—the strains they are playing—the great American jazz. Ah, yes, it is here, in full swing. Everybody ’s doing it. A regular cabaret is this place, out in the open with trees and lanterns. On one side of the in- closure is the ancient wall of Jerusalem itself. Ah, me, if this wall could but speak, I wonder what it would say about the whirling mass, tod- dling to the tunes of Yankeeland. If I could just forget I am in Jerusalem, I could readily believe I was in some open-air garden cabaret on Forty- eighth Street, New York. Just as there, one eats, drinks, and dances jazz—between courses—and then more jazz. And this does not obtain only in the public BEAUTY PARLORS AND CABARETS 139 hotel. I visited some of the homes, and there too people are jazzing continuously. Nobody dances the old dances any more, not here in the Holy Land. And when you are entertained at home of an evening, the first thing you hear is, “Oh, let ’s have a little jazz,” and the phonograph is turned on, just as in our own American homes. In fact, they are jazz mad. The latest steps, the last word in Terpsichore, have reached these ancient habitations. Teachers are making money at it. And the motion-picture craze is in full swing here. Only a few days ago they marveled at Charlie Chaplin in “The Kid.” Although it took a couple of ‘years to get here, it was none the less welcome, as was ““Humoresque,” the Jewish story, which drew the crowd just as it did in America. The Arabs, they too come to the moving-picture house. They cannot believe it is just pictures, and so, when the villain starts to pursue, they make a pell-mell get-away to the doors, unmind- ful of the people or chairs they throw down in their escape. But soon, soon they will get over it. Strange indeed and most amazing how readily this oldest of countries adapts itself to the newest 140 PALESTINE AWAKE attractions or distractions of the dear New World. And the girls—well, they have their beauty- parlors. Their nails are being manicured and their hair marcelled—and, yes, the permanent wave has become a vital institution even in Pales- tine. While it is all new to them and joyfully so, it is welcome, most welcome indeed. A charming mother who has reared her daugh- ters in Jerusalem confided to me the other day: “Dear me! What with the moving picture and the jazz my daughters have quit their embroidery and sewing. There is not enough time to do it all, and the thing they love the best is that which they do. So it is jazz and pictures and manicur- ing and all the other new-fangled business. I used to wish they would leave Jerusalem alone to go its old way, but somehow I am getting used to it, and sometimes, although I do not tell the girls, I feel like taking a few steps myself.’ Perhaps the future will find her joining one of the dancing- classes. But along with this, considerable culture is being developed. A real opera company is in full swing and doing beautiful work, Iam told. Who G WALL NCIENT WAILIN EA dkiat » ¢ 4 iu , % > mg BEAUTY PARLORS AND CABARETS 141 knows? We may yet have a Jerusalem Opera Company visit us in New York. A music school has been established at the sug- gestion of Sir Ronald Storrs, governor of Jerusa- lem. The first plan was to have it a national in- stitution, but later it was decided to promote it as a Jewish one, since the majority of its pupils were Jewish. The governing body turned it over to the care of the Education Department of the Zionist Executive, and the school has adopted Hebrew as the language of instruction. Since its foundation in 1919, over four hun- dred pupils have received instruction, and a good number of the pupils have gone on with their studies at the large conservatories in Europe. As broad a course of study is given as is possible with the limited funds at hand. The latest innovation is a children’s class in ear-training, rhythmic cul- ture, and musical appreciation. There is a chamber-music class and, among other subjects, piano instruction. Violin, singing, theory of music, and harmony are taught. The school has been very fortunate recently in receiving from Benno Moiseiwitch, the famous 142 PALESTINE AWAKE European pianist, an endowment for a piano scholarship at the school. Others supporting the school include Miss Myra Hess, who has become a life-member, and Mrs. Isaac Harris of Boston, who has also given a scholarship. CHAPTER XVII I GO TO JERICHO, AND AH ME, IT IS A HOT PLACE E journeyed to Jericho one fine morning, \ \ arising at five o’clock. It should have been two hours earlier. If you have an enemy and want him to suffer, send him to Jericho in August or September. It is the hottest place on earth, for it is twelve hundred feet below sea-level. Here you can wade in the Dead Sea. I was accompanied by the governor of Jericho, Ruhi Bey Abd-el-Had, a very fine type of Arab. And imagine if you can: the governor and a friend were going off to spend an afternoon shooting grouse and partridge in a torrid heat that would seem to be no worse at the equator. It is truly a picturesque spot, but how anxious you are to get away from it. Yet in the winter, I am told, it is the wonder-spot of Palestine. Within an hour from Jerusalem, with its winter 143 144 PALESTINE AWAKE coolness, you can come to a pleasant summer heat in Jericho. It is here that a great winter resort is being planned by one of the men that were with us on the journey. He is a physician and means to es- tablish a sanitorium for rheumatism and other ail- ments requiring sun-given properties. The governor has great hopes for his country. “The Jews,” he said, “have done much to bring the tourists and those who are interested in the development of property, and we are looking for- ward to remarkable progress.” He told me that several scientists were working on the water of the Dead Sea, which they think may contain valuable chemicals. (By the way, it is almost impossible to sink in the Dead Sea, it is so heavily weighted with salt. And for the same reason nothing can live in it.) The activities of the chemists are being watched with a great deal of interest. Con- siderable attention is being attracted by the inves- tigation of the Standard Oil Company as to the existence of oil in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. If oil is found, it will prove a very great boom to JERICHO IS A HOT PLACE 145 Palestine and Syria, where there are no coal- mines; it will mean as much even as the utiliza- tion of the potential water-power of Palestine for irrigation and electric purposes. Electricity will do much to develop Palestine. The Rutenberg scheme has for its object the utili- zation of the great natural tank of the Lake of Tiberias, and the considerable difference of level between the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers, in order to generate perhaps as much as one hundred thou- sand horse-power of electric energy. The reali- zation of the Rutenberg project will provide enough cheap electric power for the railways, for local industries, and for domestic purposes, it Is hoped. By means of irrigation, not only will the crops be increased four or five fold, as compared with non-irrigated areas, but there will be a guarantee against frequent drouth, which spells ruin in this country. With these developments ahead, Jeri- cho is looked upon as a place of great promise. But, ah, me, Jericho is a very hot place! We went up to the Springs of Elisha to take a dip and 146 PALESTINE AWAKE get momentary relief, but alas! even this water was hot and muddy. Small wonder the prophet had to sweeten this water, it was so bitter and un- drinkable. CHAPTER XVIII BEN YEHUDA, WHO SPENT FORTY YEARS REVIVING A DEAD LANGUAGE suburbs of Jerusalem, I visited a home that is destined to become a shrine, the home of the man who resurrected a dead language and made it an official language, the only achievement of its A T Talpioth, which is one of the garden city kind in history. Hundreds of years ago the Jews ceased to em- ploy Hebrew as the medium of communicating their every-day thought. In Palestine, accord- ing to the returns of the last census, virtually every Jew claims Hebrew as his mother-tongue; every Jewish school uses the language as the me- dium of instruction. The change has come about in the startingly brief space of the few years since the war, and the force which brought about the change was the 147 148 PALESTINE AWAKE persistent efforts and personality of one man, Eliezer Ben Yehudah, who as a pioneer of Pales- tine worked forty years to achieve his goal—re- viving the old words of the prophets and peoples to be used by a newer generation. He is dead, but his work goeson. And I talked with her who is completing the job her husband began, Mrs. Ben Yehudah. She told me the story —a tale replete with suffering, privations, hard- ship, a spiritual life which the whole family lived to accomplish what the head set out to do. It is the same old story that follows in the wake of him who would blaze a new path in the scheme of things. “In order to educate the masses he began the arduous work of compiling a dictionary,” she told me. When he died three years ago he had com- pleted all but four letters of the alphabet. Ac- cording to the estimates it will be seven years be- fore the work is finished. Mrs. Ben Yehudah has set herself to do this task. Perhaps there are no more picturesque figures in the history of Palestine than are presented by REVIVING A DEAD LANGUAGE 149 this family. The story told me by them is one that could fill many volumes. “As I look back at it now I marvel at the holy determination that dominated my husband, and which he inspired in every member of the family,” said this little woman, whose hair is gray, but whose black eyes sparkle with the gleam of youth. “His theory, which subsequently became the heart and soul of the Zionist movement, was this,” she said. “Where formerly the Jews came to Palestine to die—the old Jews—merely because of their common wish to be buried in the Home- land soil, Mr. Ben Yehudah felt that young blood should come here. The Jews must come to live and plant the banner of Judaism, not merely to abide here with the thought of spending their last days in the Holy Land, but to accept it as a cul- tural development and a constructive achieve- ment—a place in which truly to live, move, and have being. “‘And how he was scoffed at, laughed at, when he first began to insist that only Hebrew must be spoken, not the jargon Yiddish, which is a com- 150 PALESTINE AWAKE bination of all the various tongues of the nations of the world which the Jewish people have ac- quired through the centuries. “He insisted first on Hebrew alone to be spoken among his own family. He wrote about it. He started a newspaper, and although he had little or no money, it was a miracle how he kept going, pounding away at one principle all the time: Hebrew, the dead language, must be revived. “Then he realized that the people must have some means of learning it—and thus began the arduous task of finding words, here, there, every- where—words of the old Hebrew to make up his dictionary. He worked sometimes eighteen hours a day; but no matter how laborious, it was a work of love tohim. Each of us bore along with him and helped. How glad J am now, because it wiil soon be finished.” Mrs. Ben Yehudah then went on to tell how misunderstood her husband was in the beginning because he insisted on setting religion apart from nationality. The two had heretofore been irre- concilable. “He was even stoned and thrust into prison,”’ she said sadly. “But he gloried in it be- REVIVING A DEAD LANGUAGE 151 cause it brought the attention of the Jewish world to what he was trying to do.” And so to-day on all the signs and stations in Palestine, wherever there is printing, official or otherwise, one of the languages is always pure Hebrew. No matter where you go, in the agri- cultural regions or the cities, in town or country, up hill or down dale, everybody speaks Hebrew, every Jewish man, woman, and child. So proud are all the Jews of this achievement, which has meant so much in the creation of a na- tional Jewish life with an official language, that every meeting is conducted in Hebrew; and if any other language is spoken it 1s immediately interpreted to the assemblage into Hebrew. Children are reprimanded if they do not speak the Hebrew tongue. The other day I heard a little one say to her mother—a youngster who came from New York; “Mother, when we get to our home | will explain to you in English what the children said to me. I am ashamed to speak English in front of them because they say I must speak nothing else but Hebrew.” And this is the spirit that has pervaded the 12 PALESTINE AWAKE whole country: the Hebrew world, Hebrew thought, Hebrew language—universally ac- cepted. And so this frail little mother and her son Ehud are completing the alphabet. Three charming daughters adorn their home, and all are imbued with the same purpose. And the oldest son is the most prominent Jew- ish journalist in all of Palestine. He is the pub- lisher of the “Palestine Weekly” as well as of the daily “Palestine Bulletin.” His pen-name is Ben Avi, which means “son of my father.” But that is another interesting story. Truly this is a family that has suffered depriva- tion but has helped to contribute to the world something worth while, something that will be handed down from father to son, as an example of what an ideal can develop with the will behind it to bear until the task is accomplished. CHAPTER XIX WHERE HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL iL was at Balfouria, one of the colonies re- I cently established by the American Zion Commonwealth, that I found the true spirit of the settler family which is so prevalent throughout Palestine. A young girl of thirteen, boasting of seven sis- ters, had seemingly imbibed the wisdom of her ancestors and the spirit of patriotism for her newly adopted country; she was a remarkable example of what is going on in the minds of the young. I talked with her. “Oh, yes,’ she said, “we loved Chester, Pennsylvania, where we came from, but this is our home. We did not like it at first, because we had to learn a new language and go to school with children that we could n’t talk to. But we quickly learned how to play with them, and now things are so much easier and happier. Of course the camels and the donkeys amused us, 153 154 PALESTINE AWAKE but now we have become accustomed to them. We miss the motion-picture show, but as soon as our colony grows we will get that too. We have to be patient, and everything will come. This our teacher tells us, and my mother and father. In the meantime we are doing our bit to help make the Homeland.” — “And are you happy?’ I asked. “Oh, very happy,” was the quick response. “We had it hard at first, living in only two rooms —all of us. But now we have this lovely house that father built. And oh, these beautiful moun- tains to look at all the time! No, I would not want to go back to Chester. It is so good here.” And she went off, calling to a little child in a near- by house. And when I spoke to the father I knew at once where she got her ideas and ideals. “Don’t you sometimes wish ‘you were back in dear old America, where everything is developed and you don’t have to do any pioneering?” “No, indeed,” he answered with conviction. “It is some job pioneering with eight children, but I would not exchange places with anybody. I WHERE HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL © 155 feel that I am doing something here besides merely making my living and rearing my children. Somebody has to do it, and if I can contribute eight young people to the cause of the Homeland, I will consider my life well worth hving. I brought here the money I had saved all my life and invested it in a hotel, a little store, and a few houses, and here I intend to remain and die.” Close by I visited the home of a very old man, his daughter, and her husband. They came from Russia, and although their house was a little stucco four-room one, nobody could have been happier. 3 “Why? Because here is freedom,” cried the old man. “Here I have no persecution, no fear that somebody is going to knock on our door some day and demand some of our possessions, as was the case in the miserable country from whence we came. Our lives were not our own. Here we have a chance, and when this colony grows we will all be working and making our own way, proud that while we are personally getting creature com- forts that we did not have at home, we too are contributing our work in building the Homeland.”’ 156 PALESTINE AWAKE One after another I talked with these families, and the same spirit prevailed everywhere—the willingness to go through any kind of hardships because they see light ahead—a new hope, a new country, a new life. How many of them remain after a few years will be discussed later on. But to return to what these colonies are actu- ally accomplishing. In Balfouria, as in the other colonies, the first task was to drain the swamps by modern underground drainage and utilizing the water sources that created the swamps for irriga- tion. Roads were constructed so as to make the territory accessible and to connect it with the im- portant highways and with railway stations. A modern water system was installed which sup- plied the temporary farm-houses. The first group of settlers arrived toward the end of 1922, and the American Zion Common- wealth built for each family a house and a barn and provided financial assistance for farm equip- ment. The money advanced by the Common- wealth will be returned by the settlers in the course of a few years with interest, so that those who invested money in the Commonwealth will in WHERE HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL i157 time have their capital and interest returned to them. To-day Balfouria is one of the largest and best equipped colonies in the Emek Valley. It ts largely due to the development of Balfouria that a number of new colonies have sprung up in the surrounding territory and are gradually developing. Herzlia (named after Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement) is a new colony established by the Commonwealth during 1924. It is situated along the sea-coast, about seven miles north of Tel Aviv. The area comprises about four thou- sand acres, and it has been divided into two sec- tions. One part, which is along the sea-shore, will eventually evolve into a coast resort and town development, while the other, which has very fertile soil, will be worked as an intensive agricultural settlement. As in Balfouria, the Commonwealth is improv- ing the land by draining it of swamps, installing modern water systems, and building a road, which connects the colony with Tel Aviv. The first colonists established themselves in the spring of 158 PALESTINE AWAKE 1925, and they are engaged in building their homes and equipping their farms. It was in Herzlia that I saw young women working in the ditches, connecting pipes, using the tools of the plumber and the sewer-digger, which J had never seen women use before. One is fascinated at the deftness with which their small fingers work at this heavy labor. Eight hours a day they remain in these ditches, working side by side with the men. When they leave off it ts with satisfaction that they have been able to do the work of the stronger sex. It was here also that I met a family from Tennessee, Levine by name, who had made a crude shack which looked like a charming little home in the South with vines and creepers all around—and this within a year. They are living in this abode temporarily until their new house is completed. This man has charge of the digging of wells, and he pointed proudly to the machinery that had just been re- ceived from the United States. Nineteen lan- guages are spoken in this colony, all merging into the one basic language, Hebrew. Not far from Herzlia is the colony of Afula, WHERE HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL © 159 upon which much interest has centered. Afula was an old Arab village located near the central railroad station midway between Haifa and Damascus. It comprises about four thousand acres. For a long time the Commonwealth has realized the value of this region, since it is situ- ated where all the roads and railroads connecting Palestine and Syria meet. It is also in the very center of the Emek Valley, which contains more than two hundred and fifty thousand acres and is destined to be occupied by a large Jewish agri- cultural population. This area was acquired by the American Zion Commonwealth in October, 1924, and the Com- monwealth immediately set out to plan a modern garden city, engaging for this purpose some of the best town planners of Germany and England. The Commonwealth took into consideration not only the present development of the town but its more remote future, foreseeing the rapid progress of the whole neighborhood, and so all the plans were made to care for a population of one hundred and fifty thousand and to provide space for parks, boulevards, public squares, and communal build- 160 PALESTINE AWAKE ings. At present about five hundred workmen are engaged at Afula building roads, installing pipes for water and sewerage, and installing other im- provements. ‘The construction of the first hun- dred houses began in the middle of 1925, and the development is going on rapidly. The plan of Afula provides for industrial, com- mercial, and residential sections, with special pro- vision for the industries that are related to agri- culture, such as canneries, packing-houses, and cold-storage plants. ‘The rapid development of Afula has brought new life to the entire region, for it not only provides employment but already has developed a market for the farm products raised by the farmers of the surrounding colonies. During the last six months the Commonwealth has purchased several large tracts of land on the road between Haifa and Nazareth. ‘These have been sold to organized groups of Jews from Poland, who have come in a body to settle as farmers. A most interesting group which the Common- wealth is assisting on its tract known as Jeida is a band of three hundred families from Lodz, ANILSHIVd NI INAWAILLAS MAN TIVOIGAL WHERE HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL 161 which is the textile center of Poland. These families are at present all engaged in the textile industry, and they contemplate the transfer of the entire industry to Palestine, with all its imple- ments and machinery. They aim to create in Jeida a large codperative textile plant that will supply employment to their families and to many others who would settle with them. In addition to the textile industry, it is planned that each family at Jeida shall own a small tract of land which would produce about half of its food. Thus these families will not be entirely dependent on the textile industry. The Commonwealth, in addition to selling land to the Afula colonists on easy terms, is extending a credit of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for building homes for the settlers and making necessary improvements. Another recent acquisition of the Common- wealth is the entire valley located along Acre Bay, extending from Haifa to Acre. It contains twenty thousand acres of land, with a sea-frontage of ten miles. This entire area has been unculti- vated for generations, since many of its springs, 162 PALESTINE AWAKE as well as the Kishon and Nahamain rivers, have created vast swamps that have been breeding ma- laria and making the region uninhabitable. The Commonwealth realized the potential value of this vast amount of water, which could be used for irrigating the country and opening the way for one of the most intensive agricultural develop- ments in Palestine. It has worked out a plan for harnessing the springs and rivers and thus elim- inating the disease-breeding swamps. ‘There are now development plans for the entire section which will involve the expenditure of millions of dollars and the settling of half a million population. One of the principal projects is for the deepen- ing and widening of the Kishon River so as to create an inland river port, with large industrial developments on both banks, which may become the industrial center not only of Palestine but of the entire Near East. A considerable area of land will be set aside for the development of the sugar industry. This region, according to all the experi- ments that have been made, is best fitted for the WHERE HOPE BLOOMS ETERNAL 163 raising of sugar-cane, by reason of its water-supply and its climate and soil. A large sea-shore re- sort is also a part of the plan for this de- velopment. CHAPTER XX THE CRADLE OF CULTURE ROCKED ANEW IN THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY S I stood there on Mount Scopus, looking A over the great amphitheater that nature herself had built, the spot where Lord Balfour de- livered his great speech recently in the dedication of the University of the Hebrew, I could not help wondering what those old forefathers lying there in the tombs in the distance would think could they see this newest effort to revive the Jewish Homeland. The university presents a most picturesque paradox. Here in the oldest country the newest ideas of education are to be carried out, in great part with American money. I doubt if a more significant site could have been selected than the one upon which the university has erected its first building. To the west, one looks down on Jeru- salem; to the east, there stands out in relief the 164 THE CRADLE OF CULTURE 165 Dead Sea and the valley of the Jordan, and at the further side the mountains of Moab. The central board of the university has for its members Professor Einstein of relativity fame; Dr. Chaim Weizmann, head of the World Zion- ist Organization; Felix M. Warburg of New York; Dr. J. L. Magnes of New York; Sir Alfred Mond; Nathan Sokolow; James de Rothschild; Ascher Ginzburg; Dr. E. Libman of New York; Dr. Cyrus Adberg of Philadelphia; Judge Julian Mack of Chicago; and others. Perhaps it is not generally known that the pres- ent activity of the university is devoted almost entirely to research. It comprises three distinct units: Jewish studies; chemistry; medicine and agriculture. The house that was on the site was sold by the executors of the Sir John Gray Hill estate to the Zionist Organization, and it has been remodeled and houses the Chemical Institute. Adjoining this a new building has been erected for the Microbiological Institute. The Institute of Jew- ish Studies occupies a rented house across from the Gray Hill House. The university library has 166 PALESTINE AWAKE two buildings in the city below. It is expected that within two years a new library building will be constructed on Mount Scopus with funds of the David Wolfsohn Foundation, and it will also house the Institute of Jewish Studies until the in- stitute secures a building of its own. It is generally agreed that the prime purpose of the university should be the advancement of learning, scientific investigation in general, both humanistic and scientific. It is believed by the authorities that past history proves that it 1s the uninterrupted devotion of the few who have given their whole attention to research, untrammeled by other calls upon their energy, that has brought about the intellectual momentum of the world at large. The success of Johns Hopkins University is cited as an example. The new Hebrew Uni- versity therefore presents a group of research in- stitutes, and it is hoped that the high scientific standard that is to be established will redound to the credit of the university and result in a show- ing based on the quality rather than the number of graduates. The Institute of Jewish Studies is one of the THE CRADLE OF CULTURE 167 most interesting divisions that have been estab- lished. The chief funds for it have thus far been supplied by Felix Warburg of New York, Sol Rosenbloom of Pittsburgh, Baron Edmond de Rothschild of Paris, and the Zionist Organiza- tion. How representative the university is to be of the whole world is evidenced by the fact that the administration of the Institute of Jewish Studies is vested in a committee of twenty-five persons, five members each being appointed from the United States, France, Great Britain, central Europe, and Palestine. The plan is to promote the knowledge of Judaism and the Jewish reli- gion, the Hebrew language, Jewish literature, history, law, philosophy, institutions, and life, and especially the study of Palestine. The sessions begin with about 175 men and women students, only a limited number being ad- mitted as research students. The following sec- tions are in operation during the year: Philology, Professor Margolis of Dropsie College, Philadel- phia; Talmud, Professor Guttman of the Rab- binical Seminary, Breslau; Palestine Research, Professor Klein, rabbi of Novo Zamky. 168 PALESTINE AWAKE The Faculty of Medicine and the Microbiolog- ical Institute have been established by the Ameri- can Jewish Physicians’ Committee, with Dr. Nathan Ratnoff as president, and with a large membership of physicians throughout the United States. The committee has already collected a considerable sum of money and has purchased more than seven acres of land on Mount Scopus; and there are sufficient funds to conduct the Chemical Institute and to pay for the erection of homes for research workers. The Chemical In- stitute has a medical library, which is largely the gift of Dr. Julius Jarcho of New York; an X-ray therapeutic and diagnostic outfit has also been in- stalled. The physicians’ committee consists of Dr. Nathan Ratnoff, Dr. Meyer R. Robinson, Dr. Henry W. Frauenthal, Dr. Emanuel Libman, Dr. Harry E. Isaacs, and Dr. S. Wechsler, all of New York, and of several others, including Dr. Israel Stimes and Dr. Kaliski. The Institute of Agriculture and Natural His- tory is to grow out of the agricultural experimental station which was founded by the Zionist Organi- zation in 1922 for the purpose of improving agri- THE CRADLE OF CULTURE 169 culture in Palestine in all its branches by means of scientific and technical research and by demon- stration work for farmers. Two hundred and fifty acres are already in cultivation at this sta- tion. The aim of this institute is to render the results of the research department available to farmers by individual advice, lectures, publica- tions, and demonstrations. The station has two farm advisers, one for Judea and one for Galilee, and has one hundred and fifty acres of ground for demonstration purposes in the Jewish colonies. Heretofore the station has been maintained in con- nection with the colonization department of the Zionist Organization. It is not to be made a part of the University College of Agriculture. The directors of this station are Professor O. Warburg and Mr. Vilkansky. The library of the university, it is hoped, will become one of the most important in the world. Dr. Hugo Bergman, formerly of the University Library at Prague, is in charge. Over one hun- dred thousand books are on hand. The library authorities consider themselves fortunate in ob- taining recognition and gifts from several govern- 170 PALESTINE AWAKE ments, among them being the United States. The New York Public Library, too, has made sev- eral gifts of equipment. The government of Pal- estine in a letter to the authorities of the British Museum of Great Britain recognized the hbrary as having academic rank, and Sir Herbert Samuel presented many gifts. The government of France presented several hundred volumes, and the gov- ernments of Italy and Czechoslavakia are at pres- ent preparing gifts of large collections of books. The institute publishes a quarterly bibliographical review, “Kiryat Sefer.” The further expansion of the university is to follow similar lines. Other branches of human- istic learning will be added, or formed into sepa- rate institutes as the possibilities arise. On the scientific side the next step will be research insti- tutes in physiology, physics, and mathematics. Important among these is the Balfour-Einstein Institute of Mathematics and Physics. When these have been established, the development of the other side of the university will be worked out, the teaching and training of those who are to take THE CRADLE OF CULTURE 171 part in the spiritual and intellectual revival that is to emanate from Palestine. | What is regarded as a very important develop- ment is the establishment of the Hebrew language, which until forty years ago had been virtually dead for generations. To-day Hebrew is being spoken all over Palestine as one of the official languages, and it is being revived in all parts of the world. As has already been mentioned, the revival of the dead language has been brought about chiefly through the efforts of one man, Eliezer Ben Yehudah, who as a pioneer of Palestine worked forty years to eliminate the Jewish jargon then in vogue and permit only Hebrew to be spoken. The university authorities regard his achievement as ‘“‘one of the most significant events of our time.” They are of the opinion that the revival of He- brew will mean for the Jewish people the recon- quest of something which they have lacked for centuries, the power of self-expression in their own idiom. That the Hebrew University has no contro- 172 PALESTINE AWAKE versies nor any seeming enemies is evidenced by the fact that all factions of Palestine and all creeds were represented at the laying of the foun- dation, including General Allenby and his staff, representatives of the French and Italian contin- gents, the American Red Cross Mission, the chief rabbis of Jerusalem, Cairo, and Alexandria, and representatives of other religious communities, the Grand Mufti of the Arabs and the Anglican and Greek bishops. Thus, beginning with friend- ship and good will from all quarters, the univer- sity bids fair to flourish. CHAPTER XXI WEIZMANN SEES BUT ONE GOAL FOR THE JEW-— PALESTINE “WY AM very hopeful of the whole Zionist move- | ab said Dr. Chaim Weizmann, head of the World Zionist Organization, when I dis- cussed the situation with him in London on my return from Palestine. Dr. Weizmann, it will be remembered, resigned at the Zionist Congress held in Vienna in August, 1925, but by an over- whelming vote of confidence was urged to remain at the head of the organization, which he con- sented to do. “More and more people are coming to realize that the settlement of the Jews in Palestine as their Homeland is the logical and constructive thing to do. And when they learn the results that are being constantly attained there—the de- velopment of colonies; the settling of Jewish 173 174 PALESTINE AWAKE people on the soil; the progress of cities like Tel Aviv as a shining example of what can be accom- plished; the building of an entire city, ultra- modern, from a population of next to nothing to forty thousand, and now in a most flourishing condition—these are the facts that must impress the skeptic of Zionism. “Of course our problem is difficult. When you stop to reason that all of the business of pioneer- ing has been one for the Jews, and all of the prob- lems such as irrigation, health, education, and kindred public improvements have been developed at our own expense, it can readily be seen that great obstacles have been surmounted. . The fact is that there are some eighty colonies in the outly- ing districts, where the people are tilling the land and constantly gaining ground, aside from the ur- ban developments. And the young pioneers—the haluztm—are the makers of the Homeland. “What is needed, however, is a more thorough awakening among the Jews themselves outside of Palestine. ‘They must be impressed with the im- portance of not hurting the great cause that al- ready has been so firmly established. BUT ONE GOAL FOR THE JEW 175 ‘As an example, there is the movement for the settlement of Jews in the Crimea. The relief of the suffering Jews in the Crimea or anywhere else is worthy of consideration. To aid such people to settle on the land and put them in a position to help themselves is most commend- able. “As a means of relief of rehabilitating such people as are already there and putting them on their feet—all of this is worth while and should be approved; but to spend millions of dollars in settling Jews in Crimea or elsewhere, as a counter- movement to the Zionist effort, this indeed would be deplorable and in my judgment would be a step backward instead of forward. “The history of Russia in the past, and even in the present, in connection with the Jew, has not been such as would inspire confidence that any large outlay of money would give hope of creat- ing a Homeland for the Jewish people there. The stability of the Soviet government has yet to be sounded and the fortunes of the Jews more firmly established and assured than at present to warrant any idea that the Crimea or any other 176 PALESTINE AWAKE such place could become the permanent home for the Jews. “Any fair-minded person can see that there could be no comparison as between Crimea and Palestine for the safety and the security of the Jewasa Homeland. The very fact that the Eng- lish government and other leading governments, including America, have expressed their approval of the establishment of the Homeland of the Jews in Palestine gives sufficient belief of protection to the Jews in their efforts in Palestine. “Not only this, but the mandate of the League of Nations which England holds over Palestine, with its broad powers, presents further assurance that every effort will be made to protect the in- terest and promote the welfare of the Jew in the land of his forefathers. And I have my firm be- lief that England will protect and further such interest to the cause as will eventually firmly es- tablish Palestine as the one permanent home of the Jews as a people. “I do not wish to be regarded in any sense as advancing any criticism of the efforts being made by the Jews of America in aiding our brethren in BUT ONE GOAL FOR THE JEW 177 the Crimea or to minimize the good that could re- sult. But that such a movement would take the place of creating a Homeland for the Jews in Palestine is erroneous and one that should not be countenanced by the Jews, whose hearts have been stirred and who have gone forward and toiled in- cessantly in the cause of giving back to the Jew the national home that belonged to him thousands of years ago. ‘This has been the prayer of the Jews for centuries, and it is a mission that must be fulfilled. “T understand that the leaders in the movement to aid the Jews in the Crimea have no desire to set up a counter-settlement of Jews in Russia as against Zionism. On the contrary, the Zionist cause is included in the funds to be derived from the drive to raise money.” All of these views have also been expressed by Louis Lipsky, president of the Zionist organiza- tion of America. CHAPTER XXII THE MAN WHO FOREVER FEELS THE PULSE-BEAT OF HUMANITY LL through Palestine, in the cities, in the A colonies, in fact everywhere, the name of Nathan Straus kept coming to my ears as the founder of this, that, and the other thing. In truth, his name is synonymous with pioneer, for he began by going there himself in 1904 accom- panied by his wife. When the story of Palestine is told a generation from now, the name of Na- than Straus will shine in unreflected luster. Per- haps no man of our time has founded so many ac- tivities for alleviating the burdens of humanity as has Mr. Straus with his pasteurization, his Health Department in Palestine, and his human- itarian work in general. Of his partner, Lina Guthertz Straus, you hear comparatively little, for, as she puts it, she is 178 THE PULSE-BEAT OF HUMANITY 179 “only his secretary and helpmate.” Yet, with- out her, who knows that many of the things I saw and heard in this land of their forefathers might not be of another story. For it is not only in ma- terial things that she helps; and no one that ever touches the fine generous spirit of the woman who has been “secretary and helpmate” for fifty years to Nathan Straus can be anything but bettered and strengthened. A picturesque incident of last April in connec- tion with Mrs. Straus is worthy of comment. She presented her complete collection of jewels to the Hadassah, the welfare organization that has already been discussed. One of these jewels was presented by the Hadassah to Lady Samuel, the wife of the former high commissioner, in appre- ciation of what he had done for Palestine. To commemorate the presentation of the gift, the Hadassah raised ten thousand dollars as a special contribution to the medical organization, that “out of these jewels shall also shine for Palestine the light of life-giving love and service which Isaiah of old beheld in the jewels of a resplendent Zion.” Lady Samuel has made an arrangement by which 180 PALESTINE AWAKE the jewels eventually revert to a Zionist body, to help once more in the work of Zionism. But this chapter is concerned with what Nathan Straus has done in Palestine. Perhaps his big- gest achievement is in creating on behalf of the Jews the desire to work in harmony with the Arab and the Christian population of Palestine, for everything he has founded has been subject to the proviso that it is to be open to the Arab and the Christian as well as to the Jew. When I visited one of his child welfare sta- tions, I found Arab mothers being taught to mix the infant food properly and to practise the first rudiments of sanitation. The two soup-kitchens, which might better be termed restaurants, are the joy of Palestine. One is situated in the old city and the other one in Mea Shearim. During August 44,538 meals were given free to destitute people (1925). As has already been stated, there is no poverty in the world equal to that of Palestine. Abject it is; and the grim reaper is ever present, in hovels, on the streets, behind walls—everywhere. At pres- ent an average of seventeen hundred persons daily THE PULSE-BEAT OF HUMANITY 181 —Arabs and Christians as well as Jews—receive free meals at the soup-kitchens. The soup-kitchens provide for members of the Sephartic or Spanish community inside the wall and for the Ashkenasdic or German community outside the wall; they comprise young students and the aged and infirm, as well as widows and poor families who take their meals home to the sick and other members of their families who are unable to come out. The Nurses’ Settlement, which was started by Mr. Straus in 1913 by taking two trained nurses and attaching them to the Health Department in Jerusalem, was the beginning of health work that has been of vast importance. The Health De- partment was also instituted by Mr. Straus. Dur- ing the war a Bacteriological Department was es- tablished in connection with it, and typhoid and other serums were prepared and supplied to the English army. ‘The outcome of all this is a fully established Health Department under the man- date governments. But hospitals, nurses’ training schools, clinics, and dispensaries are all success- fully conducted by the Hadassah under the leader- 182 PALESTINE AWAKE ship of Henrietta Szold, and Mr. Straus plays a notable part in the work. When Mr. Straus was making the first small beginning, he established the Nurses’ Settlement, and the first scientific obstetrical work in Jeru- salem was started by these nurses. This was fol- lowed by the treatment, in the schools and in the family, of trachoma, which has been one of the curses of the country. A Pasteur Institute Bureau was put in opera- tion. This work continues to bring its blessings to the country, which until then had no means of treating victims of hydrophobia. The nearest Pasteur Institutes were in Constantinople and in Cairo. People bitten by mad dogs often died be- fore they could reach these distant places. Mr. and Mrs. Straus stopped in Paris on their way back to America and made the arrangements; in a month a Pasteur Institute, under the Bacte- riological Department of the Health Bureau, was ready to deal with rabies. In the subsequent work of the Hadassah organ- ization Mr. Straus took an active part. At sev- THE PULSE-BEAT OF HUMANITY 183 eral periods of financial stress he came to the rescue and enabled the Hadassah to carry on, with the result that now it is a going institution in Pales- tine and continues to enlarge. Whenever there is a shortage of money in Palestine, the Straus Fund is always on hand. Only a short time be- fore my visit five thousand dollars was taken temporarily from the Nathan Straus Fund; it had been intended for one purpose but had to be used by the Hadassah for another more pressing one, such as the relief of suffering from typhoid and dysentery epidemics. Pasteurization, which is, perhaps, Mr. Straus’s greatest work, he has 1n- sisted must be kept non-sectarian. One of the child welfare stations in the Arab quarters is conducted by Jewish nurses who have been trained at the Hadassah Training School for Nurses. They speak Arabic and thereby gain the confidence of the Arab mothers, who never before knew anything about hygiene or the diet of their children. They come now and call for pasteurized milk, just as the Christian and the Jewish mothers do, and they are gradually becom- 184 PALESTINE AWAKE ing educated in child-caring. The station was established by funds supplied solely by Mr. Straus. The first infant welfare clinic in the old city was established in 1921, and for the first time an opportunity was given to mothers in Palestine to bring their children to the station and receive advice and instruction. Those who had always lived in Palestine knew the ravages of infant mortality that were going on. In less than two months the influx of mothers had necessitated the opening of a second clinic, this time outside the walls, and there have since then been several more. It is a curious sight to see a donkey with a case adjusted to his back containing pasteurized milk bottles packed in ice. He is led by a driver, who delivers the milk to the various sub- stations. The prevention of illness and the sav- ing of babies’ lives are constantly resulting. In the reconstruction of the Holy Land there is nothing more important than the safeguarding of the health of its citizens, for this means strong healthy builders, on whom depends the welfare of THE PULSE-BEAT OF HUMANITY | 185 future generations. And this fundamental work is being accomplished through the codperation of Mr. Straus, who is in close touch with everything that is being done. Among other philanthropies established by Mr. Straus are work-rooms for unskilled labor. These provided employment for many during the war. Pearl beads, trinkets, and pearl buttons were the chief products. A domestic science school for girls was founded. A large contribu- tion to the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem helped to put it on its feet; it is to-day making a fine contribution to art, inspiring a love of the beauti- ful in the young. On being informed that a piece of land right opposite the Tomb of Rachel was for sale, Mr. Straus bought it in order to prevent it from get- ting into undesirable hands. It is on the road to Bethlehem, four and a half miles from Jerusalem. Its purchase will shut out cheap restaurants and food stations from the neighborhood of the tomb, which is visited by many thousands of people. Another plot on the same road, near Jerusalem, 186 PALESTINE AWAKE was bought: by Mr. Straus, and will doubtless some day be used for a university. It is beauti- fully located, high up on the hill overlooking the Jordan and its entire valley. Perhaps the biggest of his accomplishments in Palestine was the founding of a Health Depart- ment in Jerusalem, which was hitherto unknown. This was not an easy thing to bring about, until the realization of the urgent need for sanitary and hygienic reform came like an inspiration. Malaria infested the country: it killed many every year and kept others from working. Ab- sence of a sewage-disposal system, shortage of water, and general neglect, which furnished mos- quitos with breeding-places, were the primary causes of malaria. It was estimated that 2§ per cent of the population of Palestine suffered from the disease. The first undertaking was the fight against malaria. This was so successfully con- ducted that in 1913, after a year’s labor, the dis- ease had been eradicated in many places. Grad- ually other work was taken up, such as the prevention of eye diseases, mainly trachoma. The Health Department was equipped for promoting THE PULSE-BEAT OF HUMANITY 187 public health and sanitation and for preventive measures generally. To-day the Health Depart- ment, conducted by the government, is rising rapidly on the foundation laid by Mr. Straus. CHAPTER XXIII ROTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY O name is so closely allied with the re- building of Palestine as that of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, who for more than half a century has been aiding settlers, promoting in- dustries, and developing schools. One of the first colonies from which have grown the present eighty-five flourishing centers was that of Zichron-Yakob, which was named in honor of his father. Many of the colonies that are most advanced to-day are the results of the work of Rothschild. The Rothschild Hospital is another of his achievements. The baron’s propensity of looking ahead, which was the dominant characteristic of his family everywhere, led him to establish the first school for agriculture, the Mikweh-Israel in Palestine, which has been described elsewhere. He had 188 ROTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY 189 great faith in the importance of starting the young in the right direction, and to this end he aided the orphans who came to the Holy Land. The Palestine of the present day has been a mother to thousands of Jewish orphans. During the years of the war and after, Palestine has been holding out her arms and has welcomed Jewish orphans from the Ukraine, Poland, Persia, Russia, and all the rest of the war-ridden world. In ad- dition, she has gathered from her own streets many children who, through the death or destitu- tion of their parents, were left without natural protectors. The Palestine Orphan Committee is mainly made up of volunteer workers. Two of the most attractive settlements in the whole country have been established by it. One, for a hundred girls, is at Meier Chfeye, near Zichron-Yakob, on high wooded land given by Baron Rothschild and over- looking the Mediterranean Sea. It is conducted on a modified cottage system. The girls receive systematic training in housework and become capable mothers’ helpers and farmers’ wives. Another industry, wine manufacture, mainly 190 PALESTINE AWAKE for religious purposes, has been strongly devel- oped through his efforts. As the result of his initial success at grape-growing, Baron de Roth- schild constructed the famous wine-cellars at Rishon-le-Zion and at Zichron-Yakob; those at Rishon-le-Zion are reputed to be among the most extensive in the world. To give an idea of the vast area it covers, it need only be mentioned that its big glazed concrete tanks have a capacity of about two million gallons. The two large wine-cellars contain the most up-to-date machin- ery for pressing the grapes, which are brought from the colonies of Rishon-le-Zion, Rehoboth, Gedera, and Nes-Ziona, also developed by Rothschild. One could go on indefinitely telling of the Rothschild agencies to aid the people in settling the land. “The Baron,” as he is lovingly desig- nated, will go down in history as standing for what is best in constructive philanthropy. The organization known as the Pica (Palestine Jewish Colonization Association) has been formed to conduct the work of the Rothschild Palestine undertakings. ROTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY 191 The following statement, made by Baron de Rothschild before the Zionist settlers while he was on what is said to be his farewell visit a short time before I arrived in Palestine, is char- acteristic of the man and of the general spirit that pervades the entire work of rebuilding a national home: “When I call to mind the past—about fifty years ago—when I began my work—when I re- call the condition of the land in those days with its stones, its brambles and briars, and its in- habitants straining to bring forth from its barren soil a few thin ears of corn, it seems that what I see before me to-day is like a dream. “But at that time I perceived the suffering of our brethren in eastern Europe who were endur- ing misery and oppression, and living in constant fear of massacres. J saw for them no other sal- vation than their return to the land of their fathers, notwithstanding its impoverished state. There Israel would reveal to the world not only its spiritual and ethical worth, but its power to work, and I hoped we might succeed in achieving the revival of the people of Israel on the soil of 192 _ PALESTINE AWAKE Israel. I never thought that Palestine could con- tain all the Jews, nor do I believe it possible to-day. My hope was the establishment of an im- portant center for the development of Judaism, its noble teaching and sublime culture, a center which should exert a wholesome influence on the condition of the Jews in all other lands. “The results of the hard work done in Palestine had their effect on the Jewish question in the world at large. This movement with its begin- nings in the very heart of Israel brought about a larger spirit of unit and mutual helpfulness and so affected the public opinion of the world as to bring about the confirmation of the declaration regarding the National Home at the Peace Conference. “The recognition of the declaration by all the leading Governments of the world and its in- dorsement by the League of Nations appear to us as the embodiment of that prophecy which strengthened and encouraged our forefathers throughout the many long centuries of suffering. After two thousand years we see before us the realization of the words of the Prophet: ROTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY 193 “Surely the isles shall wait for Me, And the ships of Tatshish first, To bring thy sons from afar.” “Happy are we who are alive, at this auspi- cious hour. “During the last four years, under the excellent guidance of Sir Herbert Samuel, who has brought peace and order into a land which before him knew only a government of tyranny, and who deals justly with all, irrespective of race or reli- gion, how great has been the growth of Israel! Everywhere new colonies have sprung up which in time will equal the older ones in prosperity. Townships have been created that are entirely Jewish. Tel-Aviv has become a large city, a veritable human hive, while private enterprise is creating industry of every type, and with the development of our agricultural settlements we may proclaim that our National Home rests upon two mighty foundations: Agriculture and Industry. “But the most characteristic symbol of the National Home is the spiritual and ethical phase of our activities, for it is particularly in this di- 194 PALESTINE AWAKE rection that the spirit of Judaism can develop. Therefore the creation of the university inau- gurates a great chapter of Jewish history Behold in all parts of the world, in every branch of science we have men of brilliant minds and search- ing spirits, like Einstein, and Bergson—then why may we not prophesy that the Hebrew Uni- versity will shed the light of its new knowledge upon the field of natural science and mathemat- ics and in the realm of spiritual and religious thought? “It is in the language of our forefathers, in the Hebrew tongue, that lectures shall be read and heard in the Hebrew University. “Nationality marks out the paths along which their political policies may move. Nevertheless, though the principle of nationality is so strong a force in national relations, it is not to be thought that the Jews entering Palestine must make it the basic principle of their lives. This should not be the attitude of the new-comers, for the country is still in the process of rebuilding and the people who now come to dwell on its shores have for centuries lived in various countries. ROTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY 195 “Resting upon the work I have done in Pales- tine, I wish to say how to my mind the National Home should develop, in order to avoid the diffi- culties which inevitably arise out of vain hopes, and how to remove the stumbling-blocks which you will find in your way should you wander from the path of righteousness. Only then will the National Home occupy the position in the world which is suited to it. “First and foremost you should strive to en- noble the high conception of the National Home and bend your efforts to achieve its realization. Its development shall benefit all the inhabitants of the country. You must live, as ‘you have done until now, on the most friendly terms with your neighbors. In this way you will remain faithful to the principles which our forefathers have trans- mitted to us: ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ The Jewish nation cannot thrive without being closely knit to our past by means of our traditions. For what can a handful of Jews, depending on their material resources only, achieve in this re- mote corner of the world in the midst of interna- tional strife which destroys even the mighty na- 196 PALESTINE AWAKE tions of the world? Even in a slight disturbance you would be blown as chaff before the wind. “In whatever you do, be it your daily work or in your loftiest aspirations, abide by the principles of Judaism and strive for spiritual perfection, which is the very soul of our religion and of our eternal Torah. The Torah which we made known to the world thousands of years ago when the nations who surrounded us were still barbarians, engrossed in savage practices—that Torah has kept us alive through the centuries and preserved our youth and strength for thousands of years. “The sacredness of the family, based on the principle of respect and honor for parents, is the very foundation of a stable society; without it social confusion is inevitable. “The relation of man to man is based on the general ethical principle, “hat which is hateful unto thee shall not work unto others.’ “If you follow this tradition you shall fulfill in this world a function befitting the nation which has heard the words of the prophets. “Teach your sons the words of the law which our fathers have transmitted to us and which have ROTHSCHILD AND THE PROPHECY 197 preserved us unto this day. Be true to your past and work for the improvement of the world. The lamp which our fathers have kindled and kept shall not be dimmed. In this spirit our Home will be built no matter how small its dimensions, and in this spirit shall Israel fulfil its noble mis- sion. Israel shall live among the great nations of the world and the Home which it shall erect shall be mighty and firm.” CHAPTER XXIV ENGLAND'S JOB HAVE the firm belief, and it is likewise held I by all who have come to the Holy Land, that Palestine, the land that was formerly flowing with milk and honey, with its wonderful climate and many physical advantages, can again, as in past generations, become one of the great countries of the world. For so many hundreds of years has it been left to haphazard development that prog- ress has been at snail’s pace and the situation is most deplorable. No country in the world has been so woefully neglected. The people, especially the natives, are still living in biblical primitiveness. The whole civilized world should be aroused to the conditions obtaining there. The place should be preserved by the world at large one that is reverenced and holy because of its history and antiquity. 198 ENGLAND'S JOB 199 It has been left to ruin and decay for lack of funds and because of the constant religious con- troversies with which the officials are confronted by all kinds of religious denominations that have settled there, and it has been a hardship for the authorities who have tried to preserve these an- cient landmarks. This in itself is a serious and most vital problem that should be settled once and for all. Perhaps no country in the world has the oppor- tunity that England now has with its mandate to bring back the Holy Land to its former prosperity and historical importance. I would say that there is no land of greater promise than Palestine. It will have a renaissance unequaled by any other region of the world. ‘The reason for this is that it has what the whole world wants and what no other part of the world has—the ancient history in which all creeds are interested. The charm of the country is unique and distinct from any other part of the world. Paradoxically, to preserve its antiquity, modern agencies must be introduced. While we like to hold fast to the camel and the donkey and the flowing-robed natives to satisfy 200 PALESTINE AWAKE our artistic senses, yet when we realize the prim- itive burdens these people have borne for centuries, some of our esthetic joys must be sacrificed to make their lives easier and happier. To see women carrying great baskets on their heads and men bearing pianos on their backs may be well enough for a picture and a story, yet I long to see the day when human life, human feel- ing, will be more carefully conserved. What is badly needed is the advance of public utilities, and foremost is the crying need of water. In this time of enlightened civilization and of the development of engineering, it should not be an insurmountable task to provide sufficient running water for everybody. Fancy a whole city like Jerusalem existing on rain-water alone. Recently there was a terrific drouth, and people were unable to get sufficient water for human needs. Hundreds of children were seen on the streets carrying tin pails of water on their heads or shoulders. Every family, no matter how poor, had to buy water for its daily use. The development of electricity, gas, housing, ENGLAND'S JOB 201 and transportation should be the concern of those interested in Palestine. The donkey and the camel must give way to machine-made trans- portation. And above all, the elimination of poverty, distress, and destitution is a herculean task that can be accomplished. But all of these things must have the support, the codperation, and the constant concern of the government. There are many _ public-spirited citizens in Palestine, of all creeds, who are willing to invest money in the interest of the public. But they need encouragement, backing, and monetary aid from the government. No country can rise above its poverty-stricken parts. My heart is torn asunder with the misery and degradation and the lack of knowledge of san- itation and better living—the worst I have ever seen—and especially does my sympathy go out to the children. Some excellent work has been accomplished in raising the standards of living. But this has all been left to private organizations, and little has been done by the government itself. I have recommended to the governmental au- thorities that the way to begin in the making of a 202 PALESTINE AWAKE better generation here, as anywhere, is with the children, and have suggested to the high commis- sioner, Lord Plumer, that a commission be ap- pointed by the government to study the entire child question. That has never been done. We did the same work in New York State, which resulted in the present child welfare law. I served on the commission appointed to study the question in 1913, and know what can be accom- plished by a thorough investigation of conditions. And nothing can be done until this step is first taken. The Zionist Organization, whatever may be said for or against it, has brought progress into the country in unmistakable achievements, in the development of colonies, or centers, in the build- ing of the city of Tel Aviv. But the burden of it all has been left to that organization. It has been saddled with the jobs of sanitation, irriga- tion of swamps, education of children, and the preservation of health, all of which logically be- long to the government. If these burdens could be lifted from the shoulders of those who are trying to reclaim the ENGLAND’S JOB 203 land and bring it to its former prosperity, the money that is used for these fundamental public works could be appropriated for better housing conditions, higher cultivation of the land, and kindred elevating measures. For example, over one hundred and fifty thou- sand boxes of oranges were sent out from one dis- trict alone—a new development. Fruits and vegetables that are raised in California and Flor- ida can be grown in Palestine, and the country could become self-supporting if not really flour- ishing. The tobacco industry, which has just been started, 1s in a similar process of develop- ment. But I repeat that unless the government lifts the burdens from those who are striving to do something there, the task will prove most difficult, if not impossible. Think what it means for the mayor of Jerusalem to have a budget of only twenty-five thousand dollars for the upkeep of the entire city. When you stop to think that in our Department of Child Welfare alone in New York City our appropriation this year is nearly five million dollars for the maintenance of one 204 PALESTINE AWAKE third of the number of souls to be cared for in Jerusalem, it is readily seen how meager such a sum is and how few improvements can be made. But despite this, those intrusted with the work in Palestine are doing their utmost. For ex- ample, the mayor of Jerusalem told me that in the last five years twenty-four roads have been built, and many of the old ones have been widened and repaired. ‘They are getting electricity, and they expect that soon the whole city will be elec- trified. A police department organized with modern efficiency has been established. And many other civic reforms are taking place here in spite of the many handicaps. I found in my investigation that the former high commissioner of Palestine has done every- thing in his power to be impartial and neutral in the administration of affairs as between the va- rious denominations, and especially between Arabs and the Jews, and that this strictly impartial spirit is one that obtains with the present high commissioner. While this sounds very well, be- ing neutral and impartial where there is a popu- lation in and around Palestine of seven hundred ENGLAND'S JOB 205 thousand Arabs and approximately one hundred and twenty-five thousand Jews—it would seem that the situation calls for more than mere neu- trality of attitude. Certainly, when the Jew has developed the land and built up a city like Tel Aviv, rising in five years from nothing to a modern city of forty thousand, it seems that more impetus might be given by the government to the further develop- ment of the country. There is considerable tillable land available that the government might sell, and which, ac- cording to its mandate, it should grant to the settlers of the country. Instead of this, little has been done, and the native who owns the land has been holding it for exhorbitant prices because of the possible influx of Jewish immigrants to Palestine. The government might even con- demn some of this land and sell it at nominal figures to any one, Jew or Arab, who is willing to do his share in cultivating the soil. It should be noted that wherever the Jew has developed enterprises the Arab has been bene- fited as well. The government could well take 206 PALESTINE AWAKE cognizance of this and give larger support than it has in the past. After all, in accepting the mandate for Pales- tine from the League of Nations, England as- sumed the business of aiding the Jews to secure a Homeland. The actual mandate reads as fol- lows: “the mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, admin- istrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish National Home and the development of self-governing institu- tions.” The Zionist organization is recognized as the public body to codperate with the adminis- tration in all matters that affect the Jewish Na- tional Home and the general Jewish interests. In Irak the British obligated themselves to establish an Arab kingdom. | All of these opinions I present in the spirit of great appreciation of what the people themselves are doing in Palestine—Arab and Jew—in better- ing themselves. But there must be governmental interest in the further development of Palestine. I maintain that thousands of people from all over the world will go to Palestine if some of the New- ENGLAND’S JOB 207 World advantages are provided. I am hopeful that the day will come when the small merchant, who now has a hole in the wall for a store and one room for a dwelling, in a very narrow street, will be living in sanitary quarters, will be sell- ing under more progressive conditions and will have greater opportunities; that these beautifully artistic streets of old Jerusalem will be cleaned up and pointed out as merely necessary hardships of a past generation, when the people did the best they could with what they had. If the Zionist Organization, with all its con- structive and cultural activities, has done nothing more than to bring to Palestine the welfare work that is being done, it has fulfilled a very great mission, and every group that carries into the country newer ways of doing things in eliminat- ing human suffering has done something for mankind. I am hopeful that the whole world will be aroused to the importance of aiding Palestine to become the pilgrimage center of all peoples. CHAPTER XXV THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE OF PALESTINE N the foregoing chapters, we have presented | what is going on in Palestine—the develop- ment of the colonies, the changing from old ways to new methods, the building operations, the dif_- culties encountered and overcome in connection with irrigation, redeeming the soil. As has been stated, the most important matter is for the English government itself to do more intensive work in the restoration and upbuilding of the land aside from the efforts being made by the Zionist Organization. Just how far the English government itself re- gards its work in this connection was well stated recently by the British colonial secretary when he invited the Arabs’ attention to the protection that the English Government has given them. He said ; I think that the British government has done all in its power to help the prosperity of the native population. 208 THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE 209 But I am not sure that the whole credit is due to the government. Part of this increase in the prosperity and numbers of the Arab population is undoubtedly due to the capital wealth that has been brought into the country by the Jews. As colonial secretary I have to deal with about forty different governments in countries mostly undeveloped, and the one thing that all these countries ask for is more capital and more population. Jewish settlement brings you both these much needed things. As an example of this test that Jewish resettle- ment has helped the Arab, he cites the following: In 1920 the Arabs numbered 618,000. To-day they number about 698,000, an increase of 80,- ooo. During the same period the Jewish num- bers rose to 108,000 from 55,000 in 1920, an increase of 53,000. While part of the growth of the Arab population is due to natural increase, part of it is doubtless due to the wealth and pros- perity contributed by the new Jewish settlers. The net increase in the Arab population is also influenced by the reduced death-rate, particularly in infant mortality, due to the two civilizing in- fluences working side by side, the British admin- istration and the Jewish immigration. As the 210 PALESTINE AWAKE Arab birth-rate is not appreciably decreasing, the Arabs will always outnumber the Jews, unless Jewish immigration is maintained at or exceeds the total of 25,000 a year at which it stands at the end of 1925. ‘This is greater by 15,000 than the average of the preceding four years, but to produce this showing, little help comparatively has been given by the government. Article 6 of the Mandate directs the British government to “facilitate Jewish immigration . and encourage close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.” When a Jewish deputation reminded the colonial secre- tary of this promise, his reply was: In view of the many criticisms directed against the Zionist movement and in the interests of the movement itself, economically as well as politically, the more it can rely upon its own successes and its own economic strength and the less it relies upon direct government as- sistance, the better. So it has been up to now practically left to the Zionists to rehabilitate the Homeland. Compared to what the Zionists are spending in THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE 211 the country, with the Jews representing only about 15 per cent of the population, the government budget is very small indeed. Against a government budget of about $400,- ooo for looking after the health and sanitation of about 700,000 Arabs, the Jewish bodies are spend- ing close to half a million dollars a year on about 110,000 Jews, the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Or- ganization of America contributing the bulk of this amount. For the education of the children of 85 per cent of the population the government is spending around half a million dollars a year, compared with a similar amount the Palestine Foundation Fund and the local Jewish population are spend- ing for about 15 per cent. The Zionist Organi- zation alone spends about $700,000 a year on pro- moting agricultural colonization, including valu- able experimenting, while the government budget for agriculture and forestry is about $175,000, or less by more than half a million dollars than the Zionists are spending. When the Jewish high commissioner left Pales- tine, the state was in better condition financially 212 PALESTINE AWAKE than was ever deemed it could be. In the last year of his administration, there was a revenue over expenditure of more than a million dollars, the revenue amounting to $10,000,000. The reason for this seeming prosperity for this country, which has had to struggle for its ad- vances, is that his administration was marked with various outstanding features. He encouraged labor legislation, and the Jewish Labor Federation has a membership of 15,000. He gave his attention to education and health work. This whole matter of development, as to the part played by the government and by the Zionist Organization, has been well stated by Gershon Agronsky, well known international correspond- ent, who made an exhaustive study of the situa- tion. Mr. Agronsky says: The government has done nothing to promote Jewish settlement with taxpayers’ money. As far as Jewish settlement was concerned, the British authorities simply saw to it that it received “fair conditions.” These “fair conditions” include a highly improved state of public se- curity, which resulted not only in the Jews being able THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE 213 to go on with their work, but also in the cultivation by Arab peasants of thousands of acres they had not the security to cultivate before. Government health meas- ures benefited mainly the Arabs, because the Jews with their own superior network of hospitals and clinics and anti-malaria units are virtually independent of the gov- ernment. Two hundred new schools were opened in Arab vil- lages, paid for by public funds raised from both Arab and, Jewish taxpayers. Not a single government school exists in any Jewish town or village, the Zionist Organi- zation providing for the education of about 14,000 chil- dren of school age, towards whose education the govern- ment contributes a trifling $15,000 out of a budget of more than half a million. In the last five years about 500 miles of roads were built by the government, con-~ necting Arab villages, while in many cases roads between Jewish settlements were financed exclusively by the Zionist Organization and built by Jewish labor. It is common knowledge that where a Jewish village has been planted next to an Arab one, the Arab peasants find a market for their products and work for their spare hands. Incidentally their sanitary and economic standards are inevitably raised. The impact of the Western civilization the Jews bring with them from European countries cannot long knock against the an- cient barriers without wearing them down to an extent. 214 PALESTINE AWAKE But it is not only the Arab peasant who is benefiting from his Jewish neighbor. The landlord, the peasants’ master, is richer than ever before. The class that shouts down every attempt at codperation sells land to the Jew- ish societies and individuals, who pay more than a fair price. The result is seen in the prosperity in such non- Jewish centres of population as Nablus, Hebron, and Bethlehem with their many new houses, better dressed population, and automobiles of the latest and most ex- pensive makes. The education and health requirements of the Chris- tian minority are looked after by Christian bodies throughout the world. The money contributed for charitable purposes in behalf of Christians and Chris- tianity 1s administered by the Patriarchates of the vari- ous denominations, the Greek, Latin, Armenian, and also by the Anglican Bishop who superintends the English College for Young Men, St. George’s School for Boys, the Girls’ College, and other British and American In- stitutions whose influence on modern education in Pales- tine, especially among Christians, is very considerable. Missionary schools and hospitals do a great deal to re- lieve the government burden in these fields, allowing the authorities to spend all that the revenue will permit on caring for the Arab population, which is perhaps go per cent Mohammedan. THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE 215 One of the liabilities inherited by the British adminis- tration from Turkish times is the Ottoman Law. Un- der the Mandate this must remain fundamentally the Law of the Realm. The problem before the high com- missioner and his legal advisers has been to adapt these laws to modern needs. It was also necessary to over- haul the old judiciary, which came down as part of the legacy with the Turkish code. At the same time it was essential to rectify the economic policy of previous years, which impeded agricultural and industrial prog- ress without bringing in adequate income from Customs. A Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, and a Court of Criminal Assize have been established during the last two years, the members being; British, Arab, and Jewish, with the British sitting in the high places and the native judges in the lower. The combination is sometimes em- barrassing, particularly in cases involving political or religious complications. At the same time, justice was done to the Jewish community, which under the Turks had to take all questions of trusts and of personal status to the Moslem Religious Court. Under a recent ordi- nance, questions regarding religious Jewish property are dealt with by the Rabbinical Court. All through Palestine I was constantly con- fronted with the statement that the former high commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, although a 216 PALESTINE AWAKE Jew, was even more partial to the Arab popula- tion than to his own people. Mingled with the regrets over Samuel’s de- parture from office, although he may return to Palestine after a while to live as a private citizen, is the speculation on account of Lord Plumer, the new high commissioner. The Jews are a little fearful that the appointment of a military man may have been designed by the British authorities as a means of dashing to the ground their hopes of a “purely self-governing community” in measur- able time. On this point their anxiety is shared by the Arabs, who see in it a definite blow to their pros- pect of an Arab Palestine, and of its ever forming part of the unrealized and perhaps unrealizable Pan-Arab Union. To the credit of both it should be said that, notwithstanding these speculations, Arab and Jew are facing the new régime with calm confidence, both knowing there is no going back in the general progress since Samuel helped the country turn the corner. Both are hoping for a “‘fair run.” Lord and Lady Plumer, with whom I had the THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE 217 pleasure of lunching, impressed me with their earnestness and desire to be strictly impartial and fair. The high commissioner possesses much more of the so-called humanitarian quality in his make-up than is generally conceded a man who has spent his life mainly with military matters. Lady Plumer, who has in the past done con- siderable welfare work, is deeply concerned with efforts in behalf of helpless children. I believe that neither the Jews nor the Arabs will need to complain as to the part Lord Plumer will play in rendering justice as far as he is capable. After all, it was England who first extended the hand of helpfulness to the Jew in the desire for a homeland. The Balfour Declaration, to which Zionist Jews cling with such tenderness and tenacity, says: His Majesty’s Government views with favor the es- tablishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use its best endeavors to facili- tate the achievement of this object. Following this declaration, others high in the affairs of the world came forward in the cause of 218 PALESTINE AWAKE a homeland for the Jews. Woodrow Wilson, the war president, stated: I have awaited with deep and sincere interest the reconstruction work which the Weizmann Commission has done in Palestine at the expense of the British Gov- ernment and I welcome the opportunity to express the satisfaction I have felt in the progress of the Zionist Movement in the United States and in the Allied coun- tries since the declaration by Mr. Balfour on behalf of the British Government of Great Britain’s approval of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and his promise that the British Goy- ernment would use its best endeavor to facilitate the achievement of every object, with the understanding that nothing would be done to prejudice the civil and religious rights of Non-Jewish people in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in other countries. I think that all Americans will be deeply moved by the report that even in this time of stress the Weizmann Commission has been able to lay the foundation of a Hebrew University with the promise that bears of spir- itual rebirth. The Pope also stated that he “views with entire sympathy the Jewish efforts for the regaining of Palestine. We shall be good neighbors.” THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE 219 This and all other similar declarations played no small part in the League of Nations delibera- tions in presenting the mandate to England to help the Jews promote their homeland. Whether we shall see the final act of this drama of a great dream or not, the fact remains that the greatest change in the history of the world 1s to-day being wrought in the land of the Bible. APPENDIX A WORK OF THE PRO-JERUSALEM SOCIETY By Sir Ronald Storrs, C.M.G., C.B.E., Governor of Jerusalem and President of the Pro-Jerusalem Society {Sir Ronald Storrs, governor of Palestine, realizing the im- portance of preserving the ancient landmarks, organized the Pro-Jerusalem Society. Perhaps there is no work so important to the general public, especially to the lovers of the Bible, as this of preserving the historic places, which will likely drop into woeful decay if the work does not go forward. It is pathetic, to say the least, that it has been hampered solely through lack of funds. The following is a statement by Sir Ronald Storrs taken in the last report of the Pro-Jerusalem So- ciety, which was written in April, 1924.] Although the second volume of the records of the Pro- Jerusalem Society does not strictly include more than the years 1920-22, I propose to offer for the information of members and of the public a very brief review of its activities up to the date of writing. As stated in the preface to the first volume, there were, and always will remain, many aspects of civic life, more especially in this unique city, in which no 221 a2 APPENDICES military administration, no civil government even, could, without thwarting civic and individual effort, occupy it- self, however sympathetically inclined. The objects of the Society, as defined in the charter, are the preservation and advancement of the interest of Jerusalem, its district and inhabitants, more especially: 1. The protection of and the addition to the amenities of Jerusalem and its district. 2. The provision and maintenance of parks, gardens, and open spaces in Jerusalem and its district. 3. The establishment in the district of Jerusalem of museums, libraries, art galleries, exhibitions, musical and dramatic centers, or other institu- tions of a similar nature for the benefit of the public. 4. The protection and preservation, with the consent of the government, of the antiquities in the district of Jerusalem. 5. The encouragement in the district of Jerusalem of arts, handicrafts, and industries in consonance with the general objects of the Society. 6. The administration of any immovable property in the district of Jerusalem which is acquired by the Society or intrusted to it by any person or cor- poration with a view to securing the improvement of the property and the welfare of its tenants or occupants. APPENDICES 223 7. To cooperate with the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Public Health, Public Works, so far as may be in harmony with the general ob- jects of the Society. It being clearly impossible for a governor, military or civil, to superintend, still less to carry out in detail the execution of this highly technical program, I requested Mr. C. R. Ashbee, then in Cairo, to visit Jerusalem and to report upon its possibilities in this respect. After perusal of his interesting and highly suggestive report, I offered to him, and he accepted, the post of civic ad- viser, which included that of secretary to the Society. Mr. Ashbee began work at once, and for nearly four years rendered loyal and excellent service to Pro- Jerusalem. The weaving and tile-making industries were established, and the Rampart Walk round the walls was cleared and restored. Mr. Ashbee retired in 1922, and was succeeded by Mr. A. C. Holliday, the present civic adviser. Since that date several works and projects of works have to be re- ported. Special efforts have been made to improve the condition of the Citadel. Many minor repairs have been executed on the crenelated and parapet walls, and repairs to the South Tower are actually in progress. Designs have been prepared for a stone bridge at the entrance of the Citadel. The Turkish barrack buildings within the courtyard are in process of removal, and over six 224 APPENDICES thousand cubic meters of buildings and stone have al- ready been dug up and carted away. The clock tower erected by the loyal burgesses of Jerusalem, in a style midway between that of the Eddy- stone lighthouse and a jubilee memorial to commemorate the thirty-third year of the auspicious reign of the late Sultan Abdul Hamid, has been bodily removed from the north side of the Jaffa Gate, which it too long disfigured, and is being set up again in fulfilment of a promise (less aggressively and shorn of its more offensive trim- mings) in the central and suitable neighborhood of the Post-office Square. Stricter measures are being enforced for the preserva- tion of the traditional building style of Jerusalem, of- fensive and unsuitable materials are being prohibited or removed, and an effective control of new buildings and town-planning sections has been instituted. The size of shop signs, which had become of recent years a serious disfigurement to the city, has been regulated by munici- pal by-laws, under which also the posting of bills, pla- cards, and advertisements is restricted to moderate-sized notice-boards displayed in specially chosen localities. The majority of the streets have been named by a spe- cial committee representative of the three great religions, and the names blazoned in the three official languages in colored and glazed Dome of the Rock tiles. For the first time in the history of the city the houses of APPENDICES 225 Jerusalem are being numbered. A map is being pub- lished to a scale of 1:5000 in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, giving contours and street names. A civic sur- vey and a comprehensive town plan are in course of preparation. The Society is taking a prominent part in the Palestine Pavilion of the British Empire Exhibition. The cele- brated models of the Temples will be exhibited, and the Dome of the Rock and other pottery, with the Hebron glass products, will be sold in the Pavilion. All profits, after reimbursement of the heavy initial expenditure, will be devoted to the work of the Society in Jerusalem. Early last year I traveled to the United States with the object of enlisting the interest, sympathy, and assistance of that generous nation. I have to record with gratitude the chivalrous reception accorded to my remote and un- usual quest, in so much that a sojourn forcibly limited to twenty days resulted in subscriptions and donations amounting to several thousand pounds. The monthly expenditure of the Society is about $1000 (exclusive of the exceptional British Empire Exhibition expenses). As the government grant of $5000 will prob- ably have to be withdrawn, new members and donations are urgently needed. The following special projects are in contemplation, and are detailed in the hope of striking the imagination of friends, as yet unknown, who may perhaps desire to 226 APPENDICES associate their names with some specific achievement of permanent benefit to the Holy City: Seats in Palestine marble or other good stone for the Society’s parks and gar- dens; the donor’s name will be carved upon the seat— from $ 100 Seats in wood or iron at convenient points in the Rampart Walk or in the gardens; the donor’s name will be cut or painted on the seat— from 10-25 Repairs to the walls of Jerusalem, to be done in sections— 5,000 Upkeep of the School of Ceramics— 2,500 Repairs to Citadel (site of Palace of Herod the Great) in sections in its dif- ferent towers, and excavations— 10,000 For the establishment of a Museum to house the Society’s collection— 2,500 For repairs to the seven gates of Jeru- salem, each about 250 Minor repairs to the historic bazaars— from 50 Gifts of historical subjects (Palestine history) for the Society's Museum. Gifts of examples of arts and crafts, es- pecially examples of Oriental weaving and embroidery for the School of Textiles. APPENDICES 229 I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the high commissioner for his never-failing interest and sup- port, and the departing assistant governor, Mr. H. C. Luke, whose activities and vigilance recently evoked from the Council a unanimous resolution appointing him to lifelong membership; further, the past and present civic advisers for their loyal collaboration. I would also place on record the debt of gratitude which Jerusalem owes to the members of the Council, the mayor, the director of antiquities, the Mufti, the Orthodox, the Latin and the Armenian patriarchs, the Anglican bishop, the president of the Jewish Community, and the other distinguished Moslems, Christians, and Jews, all of them busy men with urgent and important duties of their own, who, nevertheless, have not spared themselves nor their time in keeping this constructive and unifying fellowship so far as possible abreast with the needs of the time, and in holding it above and out of the dust and clamor of political and other controversy. Of our benefactors, many, who live in remote conti- nents, may never witness the results of their generosity ; of whom we can but say that, while some little of their achievement will be presented to their vision by picture and by plan, their true satisfaction will rest rather in the sure and certain knowledge that through their loving care- fulness Jerusalem will have been preserved nearer to the city of their faith and of their dreams. APPENDIX B JERUSALEM: 1920-22 By C. R. Ashbee,.M.A., F.R.I.B.A., Sometime Civic Adviser to the City of Jerusalem The present record carries on the work conceived, planned, and started during the period of the British military occupation of Palestine. The occupation lasted roughly for two years, the civil administration beginning on July 1, 1920. The present record, therefore, may be taken to cover the two years from that date, and the volume containing it might be fitly named “Jerusalem, 1921-1922,” in effect the two years of civil administra- tion that preceded the formal granting of the mandate. The principal interest, from a practical point of view, in the present discussion will, I think, be found to lie in a comparison between what was planned and what may have been accomplished—the dream and its realiza- tion. The status of the Society in the new administra- tion had to be considered, and its relations to such of the newly created government departments whose work im- pinged upon that of the Society. Thus the conservation of public monuments in the Jerusalem area became also 228 APPENDICES 229 a matter for the newly established Department of An- tiquities. The town planning of the modern city and the making of roads became a matter that also con- cerned the newly established Department of Public Works and the Town Planning Commission. Further, there was during the years 1921 and 1922 a much more precise definition of the functions of the Jerusalem munic- ipality and those of the Pro-Jerusalem Council and the civic adviser. Two things became evident during the two years with which we are dealing: first, powers and functions which were formerly exercised by the Pro-Jerusalem Council through the governor’s administrative order were exer- cised more and more by the new departments of state; and, in the second place, many of the ideas, plans, and proposals previously outlined by the Society have been, at least as far as Jerusalem is concerned, incorporated into the structure of the new state. The Pro-Jerusalem Society did its four years’ work during a very plastic period in the social history of Palestine. Such laws as the Antiquities Ordinance, the Town Planning Ordi- nance, the regulations regarding corrugated iron and advertisement, the Town Plan with its green belt of “reserved area” round the Holy City, the new municipal by-laws—all these were largely stimulated by, or were the direct outcome of, discussions on the Pro-Jerusalem Council, or of action taken by it. As the new social order 230 APPENDICES becomes less plastic and more rigid it will be interesting to watch how far the Society is able to go on inspiring and molding the new social life. So far much of this legislation may be regarded as typical of the post-war state. Will it all survive? No community can live for long above its own level. Will the new order that is shaping in Palestine be able to grow within, and carry out, the new laws which its administrators in the years 1921 and 1922 made for it? The thought contains a challenge. The Work of Conservation. The disaster of the Great War has forced upon all men and women the necessity of preserving all that 1s possible of the beauty and the purpose, in actual form, of the civilizations that have passed before. We have come to see, moreover, that this is not a mere matter of archeology or the protection of ancient buildings. In the blind mechanical order with which we are threatened everything that we associate with our sense of beauty is alike in danger. Landscape, the unities of streets and sites, the embodied vision of the men that set the great whole together, the sense of color which in any Oriental city is still a living sense—all these things have to be considered practically ; they must, to put it plainly, be protected against the incursions of the grasping trader, the ignorant workman, the self- interested property-owner, and the well-intentioned gov- ernment department. APPENDICES 231 In Jerusalem, perhaps more than in any other city, these facts are brought home to us. It is a city unique, and before all things a city of idealists, a city moreover in which the idealists through succeeding generations have torn each other and their city to pieces. Over forty times has it changed hands in history. And perhaps partly because of all this and partly because of the gran- deur of its site and surrounding landscape it is a city of singular romance and beauty. These facts are emphasized by other considerations. When the British military administration began work there were practically no roads. The Turks only im- provised roads, and most of them the Great War had destroyed. Next, in the turning of every sod or scrap of stone, some historic association 1s affected. There are then the interminable questions of prescriptive right in venerated sites, the joint ownerships by divers and con- flicting religious bodies. The city maintains a large parasitic population—priests, caretakers, monks, mission- aries, pious women, clerks, lawyers, the motley order that has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Here is a force that often makes for what is picturesque and conservative, but as often checks the administrator in genuine and rational improvement, because the sanc- tion for what he wants to do rests not in the city itself, but in the great world outside somewhere, hidden away. The actual bit of stone or the rubbish-heap we want to 232 APPENDICES clean up may, it is true, belong to some Greek, or Mos- lem, or Jew; but the Armenian, the English Protestant, the Abyssinian, the American missionary, the Italian, the Wakf in India, the Copt, the other fellow somewhere— they all have a word to say on the matter, and before we do anything we must wait to hear it. And, last, there has been the fact that has necessarily modified alike the enterprise of the Pro-Jerusalem Society and the administration: there has been very little money to do anything with. This, though it may cripple his- torical research, may also be a protection against vandal- ism or ill-considered enterprise, for one great power at least the administrator of to-day possesses, the power of sitting tight and doing nothing, of stopping unintelligent or destructive action, of waiting till a better day. If he have taste, though he himself be precluded from all crea- tion, he can at least prevent foolish or wanton things from being done. That has, in the Holy City during the last five years, been a very great help. And one thing we whose concern is civics must always remember. In the conservation of a city, whether it be like London, Paris, Rome, or New York, well within the great stream of the world, or whether like Jerusalem set upon a hilltop and remote, what we are conserving is not only the things themselves, the streets, the houses, spires, towers, and domes, but the way of living, the idealism, the feeling for righteousness and fitness which these APPENDICES 233 things connote, and with which every city with any claim to dignity and beauty is instinct. I will now take the Society’s work of conservation in detail and begin with the Citadel of Jerusalem. This has been the center of its activities. There are, includ- ing the little tower at the entrance gate and the old draw-bridge, seven main towers in the Citadel, and to all but one of these the Society during the last two years did some important structural work. One of the most important pieces of structural repair has been that on the East or Second Tower (see C on Plan No. 1), which was taken in hand with the financial help of the Department of Antiquities. Some of the Roman stone-work, reset in Moslem times, was disinte- grating. To the outside of the Tower of David nothing was done, but the Society repaired and opened out the inte- rior, making of the great central chamber a rather beau- tiful exhibition-room. A like work was carried out in the Hippicus Tower. This, which before and during the war was a hospital for spotted fever, was carefully put in order and the interior converted into two large exhibition-rooms. The Hippi- cus Tower flanking the Jaffa Road, and opposite the Jaffa Gate, is necessarily one of the main features of any improvement scheme in this part of the city, as will be seen later when the Jaffa Gate improvement is consid- 234 APPENDICES ered. The Society, therefore, arranged with the Depart- ment of Antiquities to have this tower specially measured. The last of the towers, upon which the Society was at work in 1922, is the Southwest Tower in which a serious crack showed itself in the summer of 1922. This tower, the fall of which would endanger the minaret, is one of the most distinguished of all the Citadel towers. Though the Society at the time had no money, it was felt that special sacrifices must be made and the $1500 needed for its protection somehow or other found. It will, I think, be agreed that these various works, undertaken at a total cost of about $5000 (the exact figure during the financial year 1921 was $2475, the bal- ance having been spent later, show no mean record of conservation, taken over a period of two years. And, indeed, the work was needed. There had been no repair for more than ten years, and much of the Citadel was in danger of falling. Much yet remains to do, and much of the most interesting work historically is below the ground level or in the blocked-up passages beneath or skirting the glacis, or even under the moat. But the Citadel of Jerusalem is one of those buildings upon which the architect and the archeologist join issue. The archeologist would wish to dig it up and search its origins. ‘To do this he has to kill the building. The architect insists that as the building is still alive and serving a purpose, noble and beautiful, it must be so APPENDICES a. Tower of David. b, Entrance, or Drawbridge Tower, c. Lhe Second Tower d. The South-East Tower. e. The dismantled and ruined Keep. #. The Minaret and South-West Tower. g. The Terrace above the glacis. h. The Mosque. 4. The Hippicus Tower, j. Fosse, new Citadel Garden. k. The Jaffa Gate. 1, The Rampart Walk, m. The Barracks. Key Plan of the Citadel, 235 236 APPENDICES kept. The later periods cannot be disturbed to reveal the earlier. Architecture here is more important than archeology. The work on the Citadel leads inevitably to that of the ramparts. The preserving and opening out of the Rampart, or Sentinel’s Walk, is now to all intents and purposes complete. All encroachments except one have been cleared away; that one, the most difficult of all, is at the two ends of the Haram al Sherif. The difficulty is not technical, it is political and it is greater than it was at the close of the military administration. In tech- nical matters that affect the general welfare or the amen- ities of the whole community alike it was often easier to get things done then than now. The precise way in which it is proposed to solve the problem of linking up the last section of the walk that will pass across the Al Aqsa Mosque is not yet determined. An inconspicuous iron way, skirting the Al Agsa outside, is suggested. The roof of the Franciscan Convent, where a gabled roof had been built over, and a butting upon the Rampart Walk parapet, was, by arrangement with His Reverence the President of the Franciscan Community, brought down to the level of the walk, thus preserving the public right of way. An instance of the manner in which the activities of the Pro-Jerusalem Society have automatically come to be incorporated in the working legislation of the city APPENDICES 237 is furnished by the Latin Patriarchate, with its garden skirting the walk. Beyond is the Citadel with the Hip- picus Tower and David’s Tower. A permit to build had been asked for at a point blocking out the view of the towers from the walk. The Society had nothing to do with the case except through its representative officer, myself, with whom lay the decision as to whether it should be brought up at the Town Planning Commission. With this body, under the new law, rests the final deci- sion as to whether or not permits shall be allowed that affect the town plan. The case was heard, and the com- mission disallowed the permit and ruled that the building- line of the Latin Patriarchate must be followed. A prec- edent of the utmost importance under the new law was thus established which may have the effect of saving large portions of the city from destruction. I now come to the gates. During the two years effec- tive work has been done upon three: the Jaffa Gate, the Damascus Gate, and Herod’s Gate. Over the last of these the Rampart Walk was cleared. At Damascus Gate an important piece of repair work was undertaken on the pinnacles, again with the financial assistance of the Department of Antiquities. Beneath these pinnacles, in the eastern wing of the gate, one of the old guard- rooms was cleaned up and let as a studio. It is now in the occupation of Mr. Melnikoff, the sculptor. The more important scheme of the khan outside the Damascus 238 APPENDICES Gate, which has also been considered by the Society, I shall deal with later, as it affects town planning rather than conservation, though, indeed, the partial opening up of the Roman arch and levels is involved. For the Jatta Gate the Council worked out a definite scheme entailing the removal of the clock-tower. It is now proposed, in deference to wishes of the donors, to re- place it elsewhere. The Rampart Walk was opened out through the Jaffa Gate, an attempt having been made to convert that entrance into private property. In the old sugs and covered ways of the city the So- ciety was unfortunately not able, on account of lack of funds, to do what should be done. One piece of work, however, was well carried through, and this largely ow- ing to the enterprise of the mayor of Jerusalem, Ragib Bey Nashashibi. The matter is one of finance. It is much to be hoped that the plan of the pro-rata levy on property-owners will shortly be worked out. To this could be added, where needed, the sums budgeted for the up-keep of historic buildings in the municipal budget. These ancient sugs of Jerusalem are unique. ‘Their present state and the photographic records scattered up and down the Society’s records should be studied side by side with Pere Abel’s plan of the medieval city. A matter upon which the Society would have liked to take action, but which unfortunately went no further than report and conservative advice, was the state of the APPENDICES 239 houses in the Tariq Bab al Selseleh, the most beautiful street in Jerusalem. Most of these houses are private, and Wakf property; moreover, they are almost entirely Moslem. An occasional bit of pointing, the saving of a stone or an inscription here and there, would be of im- mense, because of timely, help. It is a matter upon which the Pro-Jerusalem Society and the Wakf might cooperate. Here, again, technical matters are often af- fected adversely by political considerations. The New Town Plan. A study in the Council’s work upon the new city during the years 1921-22 becomes inevitably a study in town planning, and town planning of a very practical and direct kind. Not only had a new city to be planned; the law had to be drafted that should make this planning possible, and the machinery set up that should give effect to the law. Moreover, all the remains of the old Turkish order had to be taken over, and this often made direct action or a “clean slate”’ impossible. It was after many informal conferences between mem- bers of the Council, Professor Geddes, Dr. Ruppin, the legal adviser, the governor of Jerusalem, and myself that the law was finally got into shape for drafting, and it was the two years’ experience of the Pro-Jerusalem Society that provided the necessary data, or indicated how much of the modern Western town-planning legis- lation it might be possible to use in Palestine. 240 APPENDICES The Palestine Town Planning Ordinance then may be said to have come into existence largely as the result of the spade-work done in the city by the Council of the Pro-Jerusalem Society. It has been complained that the ordinance is complicated and difficult to understand, that it 1s impossible to render in the three official languages, that it is, in parts, as a*mere matter of machinery, un- workable. Some of these criticisms were found to be just, and in 1922 an amending ordinance was passed to give effect to them. And there is much of real truth in them. Laws and ordinances that are suitable to Western cities, and partly because of the way in which their citi- zens observe and administer them, may not be suitable to Eastern cities, or it may be a very long time before they are. The question whether the work initiated by the Pro- Jerusalem Society in the new town plan succeeds or not will depend very largely upon whether the members of the Town Planning Commission appointed under the ordinance to carry out the town plan understand and can administer the great trust committed to them. It is that commission which has now taken over all the duties of the Pro-Jerusalem Society in respect of the town plan, and their success or failure will largely affect all the other cities of Palestine. There stand to the credit of the Jerusalem Town Planning Commission, which may then be justly claimed APPENDICES 241 as the child of the Pro-Jerusalem Society, four important pieces of work during the years 1921 and 1922. 1. The establishment of the new town boundaries. WN . The zoning of the city in general outline. 3. The first draft of the new body of by-laws and reg- ulations that shall give effect to the law. 4. The lay-out and alining of eight sections of the new city. The now established boundaries lie along the nearest convenient geographical points within the dotted con- taining line, but including the villages of Saafat, El- Isawiye, El-Azarie, Mar Elias, Der Jasin, and Lifta. A word is needed here on the vitally important ques- tion of survey. The Pro-Jerusalem Society fought bravely, and for long unsuccessfully, for a proper sur- vey of the city. Every town planner knows that without the preliminary datum of a correct survey the making of a town plan is an impossibility. The military admin- istration took a different view. They held that the town plan might be made, but refused to sanction any budget for the survey; the municipal surveyor’s office was thus broken up, and the staff discharged. This threw the work back for two years, and it was not until the civil administration was well established that this was rem- edied. On the key plan the central portions of the new city are based upon the municipal survey of Mr. Guini, the outlying portions upon the official survey of Palestine 242 APPENDICES which his Excellency the High Commissioner put at the service of the city. Thus whereas the McLean and Geddes plans are based on incorrect data, the eight sec- tions of the new town plan are fixed upon data that claim to be accurate. Zoning, indeed, as understood in European cities, is hardly yet possible in the East. There is too much medievalism, too much muddle and litter of Western in- dustrialism to be first cleared out of the way, and, above all, the people themselves are not as yet ready to act in accordance with the laws when these are made. They are still too dependent upon orders imposed from above. In some respects this makes our task as town planners easier, but in so far as we try as administrators to en- courage the citizens to think, act, and legislate for them- selves, we are handicapped because an ideal order is postulated. To make the town plan itself ideal predicates a good deal more than town planning. Thus we have after long and careful study to set the roads where they should go, we have to consider all the beauty-spots, we have to save and link up all the historic buildings, we have to tear down and clear away all the ugly things and make the private give way to the public interests. That is the ideal way. The City of Jerusalem is worthy such a treatment. As a matter of practical experience and where there is no money what happens is very different. APPENDICES 243, RoR cia 6 s . \ Be ee eae web nn ee wee BES ry ems reg 7 ee Ssee! Valley of Mes I MMe ¥ Ape f/f / 7 / i) J 7 ie / f iv ah fal 4 WY THY Srl sh PA? No new buildings to be allowed inthis aree,and existing heights not to be exceeded vs, AO ? Lstrine (To be planted caine with itresa) Hypothetical tine of ofd fosse f \ & boundary of Citadel Gardens Engineers \ Piet yee when completed | 1 \ t Cee esl t Jaffe Gate Maidan Improvement Scheme, with Market. SS) 244 APPENDICES It is impossible to get out of the hard rut of existing roads; all we can do is to widen a little. It is difficult, often impossible, to touch buildings that are in the hands of religious bodies. There is as yet neither money nor administrative machinery to keep in repair historic build. ings, and many of the finest of these are in private hands. The real work is, after all, not the drawing of the city plan on paper, nor the description of it in a book, nor the comments on it in an office file, nor even the making of a picture of it for the walls of the Royal Academy. The real work is to administer it intelligently and toward the shaping of a more or less ideal end. The only test of this is the beauty and the comeliness of the city itself. Markets and Khans. The work on the markets has progressed but slowly. There has been no money. And private enterprise does not move readily in a mold meant for public benefit; but Mr. Valero, one of the owners of the Mahanna Yuda property, expressed his willingness to carry out the scheme, and the tenants of the miserable booths which still disgrace the entrance to the modern city from the Jaffa side have been given notice. More important is the scheme of the Jaffa Gate Mar- ket. Here the efforts of the Town Planning Commis- sion, of the municipality, and the Pro-Jerusalem Society, are combined. The inception was with the last. The commission approved the scheme in principle; the work- APPENDICES 245 ing out of the finance, in other words the collection and adjustment of the market dues that will cover the pay- ment of interest on the loan, is with the municipality. When once the market is moved from the Citadel Fosse and the latter opened out, the whole Jaffa Gate improve- ment scheme will be within measurable distance of ac- complishment. This market improvement project should, from the civic point of view, be studied in conjunction with the new ridge road that lies to the north, the Jewish scheme for the new business quarter of Antiochus that lies to the northeast of it, and the new hotel, the site of which will be seen to the northwest. Closely akin to the schemes put up for market improve- ments in the city is that of the proposed khan at Damas- cus Gate, immediately opposite the Governorate. The object here is not only to clear away the unsightly shops and corrugated iron buildings that obliterate the Damas- cus Gate, but also to accommodate the Bedouins and their camels that enter the city here in great numbers. Here, again, the Valero family, who, it is suggested, shall build and hold the khan as a private undertaking, have evinced a sympathetic interest in the work. As the area of the proposed khan is reserved and may not be further built on, and as the corrugated iron when it falls will not, under the ordinance, be renewed, it is to be hoped that in default of other more profitable ventures the build- ing of the khan will materialize. 246 APPENDICES The Naming of the Streets. The record of the civic work of the Pro-Jerusalem Council during the year 1922 would not be complete without an account of the street naming. A special subcommittee was, at the instance of his Excellency the High Commissioner, formed to un- dertake this most interesting and by no means easy task. The names had to be in the three official languages, and the three traditions, Christian, Moslem, and Jewish, had, so far as possible, to be preserved. Not only that, their connotations in the language in which they had no pre- cise meaning had often to be sought out. Here was scope not only for scholarship but acute political division, and the subcommittee had on several occasions to be steered over very dangerous rocks. That was the work of the assistant governor, who was chairman of the sub- committee. The list is full of history, poetry, and folk- lore; there are such names as David Street (Tariq Meh- rab Daud), Street of the Chain (Tariq Bab al Selseleh), Way of Zion Gate (Tarig al Nabi Daud), Street of the Latins (Tariq al Latin), Dancing Dervish Street (Tariq al Maulawiych). Finance. A word in conclusion as to the Society’s finance. The administration gives to the Society dollar for dollar of what it receives in subscriptions and dona- tions. These during the year ending January, 1922, amounted to $6090, so that the income, exclusive of spe- cial grants for education or fresh subscriptions and do- APPENDICES 247 nations, will for the current year be double that sum. As this record is taken up to the end of the second year of the civil administration, i.e., July 1, 1922, it is only possible to give complete accounts to the end of the year 1921. This I do below, showing how the money re- ceived by the Society was accounted for. Receipts Balance in hand from January 1, 1921 $4,285 By grants, subscriptions, and receipts from all sources 26,340 $30,625 Payments By total expenditure for the year $26,380 Balance in hand on December 31, 1921 4,245 $30,625 The Society had liabilities in respect of payments still due before next June 30, contracts with its apprentices, etc., amounting to about $2500. It had assets in the cap- italized value of its rent-bearing properties, its stocks of iron, wood, books, trees, nursery, glass, and museum ob- jects, but of these none except the books and the glass are to be considered as marketable. APPENDIX C COUNCIL OF THE PRO-JERUSALEM SOCIETY Founded September, 1918 Incorporated October, 1920 (under the Palestine Administration ) Honorary President The Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, C.B.E., High Commissioner of Palestine President Sir Ronald Storrs, C.M.G., C.B.E., Governor of Jerusalem Council Honorary Member: The Right Hon. Viscount . Milner, K.G., G.C.B. Members The Mayor of Jerusalem The Director of Antiquities. His Eminence the Rais Al-’ Ulema His Beatitude the Orthodox Patriarch His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch 248 APPENDICES 249 His Beatitude the Armenian Patriarch The Right Rev. the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem The Very Rev. the Custodian of Terra Santa His Reverence the Superior of the Dominican Convent The Very Rev. Chief Rabbi Kuk The Representative of the Palestine Zionist Executive Le Rev. Pére Abel (Ecole Biblique de Saint-Etienne) Mr. C. R. Ashbee, M.A., F.R.I.B.A. (late Civic Adviser) Le Capitaine Barluzzi Captain K. A. C. Creswell, M.B.E. (late Inspector of Monuments, G.S., O.E.T.A.) Dr. M. Eliash, B.Litt. Professor Patrick Geddes Mr. R. A. Harari Muza Kazem Pasha al-Husseini, C.B.E. Mr. H. C. Luke, B.Litt., M.A. (Assistant Governor of Jerusalem) Mr. J. Meyuhas, M.B.E. Mr. E. T. Richmond Mr. D. G. Salameh Dr. Nahum Slousch Mr. Jacob Spafford Le Rev. Pére Vincent (Ecole Biblique de Saint-Etienne) Mr. John Whiting Mr. David Yellin, MB.E. (Vice-Mayor of Jerusalem) Mr. A. C. Holliday, B.A., Civic Adviser (Honorary Secretary ) ep Le "an a Ras ie fiw sce oy Bat At Ae hs il