Art. 3.--PROBLEMS OF THE NEW PALESTINE.

1. England and Palestine. By Herbert Sidebotham. Constable, 1918.

2. Syria: An Economic Survey. By Dr Arthur Ruppin. Provisional Zionist Committee, New York, 1918.

3. Land Tenure in Palestine. By F. Oppenheimer and J. Ettinger. Jewish National Fund, The Hague, 1918. 4. Palestine: The Organ of the British Palestine Committee. Vols. I to IV. Manchester, 1917–19.

5. The Zionist Review: The Organ of the English Zionist Federation. Vol. I. London, 1918.

6. Syria and the Holy Land. By Sir George Adam Smith. Hodder & Stoughton, 1918.

7. The True Boundaries of the Holy Land. By Samuel Hillel Isaacs. Chicago, 1917.

8. Palestine Exploration: Past and Future. By W. Flinders Petrie. Constable & Co., 1918.

THE creation of every new State, each transfer of sovereignty that arises out of the late war, will in itself be a problem, relatively simple; but out of every such creation, every such transfer, there will arise a series of problems that demand solution, the simplest of which will be of considerable complexity. Which group of problems will prove the most difficult of solution it is impossible to say; the answer depends on many factors which cannot be rightly estimated in advance. Thus, whether the Palestine settlement will be an easy one or not, time alone can show. Viewing it, however, objectively to-day, one can indicate and discuss the numerous embryonic difficulties that are already discernible.

The first of the group of problems that demand satisfactory solution, if the future of the land and of its peoples is to be secured, is that of the government or administration to be set up and to remain in control for the first years, at any rate, of the new era. This is, in fact, one of the most complicated and difficult of all the problems. If the country had a homogeneous population it would be easier. But it has not. The people of the land are divided into at least three main classes, widely different from one another in civilisation, in faith, in economic development, in promise for the future. A

further complication is due to the undertaking by the British Government, countersigned by the principal Allies and the United States, to use their best endeavours to establish in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people, while safeguarding the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities in the land. Even the problem of the Holy Places affects the question of system of government, for the rights of the non-indigenous communities in respect of these must also be safeguarded.

If Palestine were a purely Moslem land, inhabited entirely or almost entirely by Arabs, the problem would be relatively simple; but this is not the case. If, again, the intention were to create a Jewish State more or less on the same lines as those of other national States, the problem would not be much more difficult; but such is not the intention. Lastly, if foreign States had no special interests in Palestine apart from those of commerce and of their subjects resident in the land, the problem would be much simplified; but these special interests are only too prominent. It follows that, while recognising the fundamental differences between the various sections of the people and the futility of any attempt to remove those differences, an administration must be set up which will safeguard all the legitimate interests of those populations, delegate to them as wide a system of self-government as is practicable, and yet prevent them from encroaching on one another or obtaining an undue advantage, while at the same time securing the protection of, and free access to, the Holy Places of the three faiths which Palestine enshrines.

It will be granted that there must be a Suzerain or protecting Power. Its first duty will be to appoint an administration charged with all the functions of government that concern the country as a whole and are independent of racial or religious distinctions. This Government will be neither Jewish nor Moslem. If it is British, in accordance with the wishes of the population of the country and of the Jews outside, or, as an alternative, American, it will be neutral as between those rival faiths, and on this account ideally fitted to take charge of those Holy Places-the Christian

-to which there are, as it were, conflicting claims. Only such a Government can hold the balance even between Latin and Greek in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Central Government might resemble generally that of a British Crown Colony, except that it should draw its personnel, so far as possible, from the population of the land. It would naturally handle those affairs which concern two or more national sections of the population. To deal with other matters-religion, education, poor relief, the raising of taxes, etc.national units enjoying the widest powers of autonomy should be created. This national autonomy would not be geographical but cultural; that is to say, all the Jews of Palestine, no matter how scattered or in what surroundings they find themselves, would be grouped together in a national unit; but in those cases in which practically the whole of a group of population is Jewish or Arab-the individual Jewish colonies, for instancethe local government would be Jewish or Arab, as the case may be. This would be inevitable under any system of local self-government; for, if nine-tenths of the population of a town or village is Jewish, under no system of local government in which the population has any voice can the government fail to be Jewish. If the minority thought it ran any risk, there would always be the Central Government as a means of protection. This scheme of self-governing national units would be no innovation in Palestine or the Near East. It would be only a natural development of the Millet system under Turkey, which in practice in Palestine became the system of autonomous government under which the Jewish colonies flourished before the outbreak of War. This system, as described in 'Palestine-The Rebirth of an Ancient People,' * is as follows:

"The Waad, or local council, has a wide scope. It is elected annually by all adult landowners and resident tax-payers of three years' standing, independent of sex. To this council the Turkish Government assigns full powers of local administration. The Central Government, in fact, takes no

further interest in the colony beyond requiring annually the taxation for which it is liable. . .

"The Waad consequently has far greater powers and responsibilities than a town or district council in Europe. The registration of births, marriages, and deaths, and of titles to land, rests with it. It is responsible for the division of both the local and central taxation among its constituents. Schools, synagogues, public hygiene, including the services of physician, chemist and nurse, water-supply, public baths, and many forms of public charity, are under its control. It concerns itself also with the quality of food offered for sale.

'The Council acts through a number of committees, which deal with such matters as finance, education, and public security. An arbitration committee settles any disputes which may arise between settlers. So successful have these arbitration committees been in securing the general confidence that their services are often sought by Arab litigants, not local residents, who are more willing to accept the decisions of these Jewish committees than those of the Government Courts appointed for the purpose of trying their causes.'

Even before the form of administration of the new Palestine is determined, a decision will have to be reached regarding the territorial limits of the State, for these are not beyond question. A literature is arising round this subject which can be discussed from the historical, the economic and the military point of view. On the first aspect much light is thrown by the late Mr Isaacs' 'The True Boundaries of the Holy Land.' Mr Sidebotham, in his 'England and Palestine,' as might be expected of A Student of War,' devotes considerable attention to the question from the point of view of defence. The boundary commission that will undoubtedly be set up should also consult A Note on the Boundaries of Palestine' in 'Zionism and the Jewish Future' (Murray, 1916), and Nos. 13, 14 and 16 of Volume IV of Palestine,' which contains a series of well-informed articles on this subject.

The historical boundaries of Palestine have varied widely. The Kingdom of Israel, at its zenith, extended relatively far to the north and included within the Israelite sphere of influence Damascus and a portion of Syria. At another time the Jewish Kingdom was Vol. 231.-No. 459.

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confined almost to the Judæan hills. The Palestine of 'the Promise' was to extend to the Euphrates; but, except during the reign of King Solomon, this promise cannot be said to have been fulfilled. The limits that have become proverbial are from Dan to Beersheba'; and these, translated into modern geographical terms, may be accepted with slight extensions as adequate for the new Palestine. The ancient Dan lay in a line with the Phoenician port of Tyre; Beersheba is a few miles north of the Egyptian frontier. To the north of Dan lies the Lebanon Province, with well-defined southern boundaries.. Between Lebanon and Palestine there is no room for another State to exist; there can, therefore, be no question that the boundaries of the two States should march together. The Lebanese are satisfied to dwell within their own limits; they have no desire to expand southwards. The northern limits of Palestine should therefore be drawn where those of the existing Lebanon Province end.

A suitable northern boundary would start from the mouth of the Nahr-el-Auwali, a few miles north of Sidon (Saida), running south-east and skirting the southern extremity of the Lebanon and of Mount Hermon, to a point level with Tyre but about one degree east of that city. On the west the boundary is of course the Mediterranean, and on the south the Egyptian frontier, including within the limits of Palestine, however, the port of Akabah (the ancient Ezion-Geber) at the head of the Red Sea, a port just outside the Egyptian frontier which is of little if any value either to Arabia or to Egypt, but which is economically essential to the Palestinian State, inasmuch as it is its maritime gate to the east. The only boundary remaining to be settled is that on the east. Here the natural frontier of Palestine touches the desert; but against the adoption of this limit there are (1) the natural desire of the Arabs for a secure connexion between the Damascus region and the Hedjaz, and (2) the Hedjaz Railway, which, having been built as an act of piety mainly to serve religious ends, has acquired almost a religious sanctity in the eyes of the Moslem. For these reasons it would be very unwise to attempt to extend Palestine to the desert. The boundary should be drawn some distance west of the Hedjaz