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Show v GRAVE SITUATION GRIPSJIOLY LAND Inhabitants of Palestine and Syria Opposed to Zionist Movement. America Said to Be Only Country People Will Accept as Mandate. BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS. (Copyright, 1919. by the New York Herald Company All Rights Reserved.) DAMASCUS, via Cairo, June 5. (Delayed.) (De-layed.) The world will one day awake to the existence of a grave situation here, a situation that is more serious than that in the Adriatic and which, in certain respects, re-spects, is not unlike that in Fiume, was the statement made to me today by an American official who has recently returned re-turned here from Paris. "The peace conference is entirely unit un-it aware of the situation in this country," r he said. "It is moving calmly on its way, apportioning territory among the old and new powers without reckoning on militant local sentiment. "Nobody In Paris.Avith whom 1 talked had any conception of the unanimity of the opposition of the foreigners and natives na-tives in Syria and Palestine to the political polit-ical Zionists. It is simply impossible to turn Palestine over to the Jews without precipitating a great massacre. "Likewise the world outside Syria and Palestine believes that the secret treaty giving Syria to France meets local approval. ap-proval. My judgment is that it would be impossible to carry out this agreement except ex-cept at the cost of a religious war and continual fighting. The clergy and the adherents of the Roman Catholic church are France's only supporters in Syria. The mass of the population Moslem and non-Catholic is bitterly opposed to France. Take Promise Seriously, "Should the peace conference allot Syria to France, reprisals by the Moslem majority ma-jority would quickly extend to the Chris-tiar.s. Chris-tiar.s. "All people here take seriously the promises of the league of nations, contained con-tained in the league's covenant, that the wishes of the people shall be consulted in the matter of a mandatory. The people here are resolved that they will not be turned over to either the Jews or to France. Only tiie censorship keeps the full truth of the situation here from being known to the people of America and FiUrope." Propagandists are working overtime and at present are directing their efforts , toward discrediting the American commissioners, commis-sioners, Henry C. King and C. R. Crane, who are Investigating certain industrial questions here. It has been openly declared de-clared that this commission does not represent rep-resent the peace conference, and came here only as a camouflage to try to "save President Wilson's lace" since France and Great Britain are determined to stick by their bargain. Another report, quite false, quotes one of the commissioners as saying that America Amer-ica would refuse to accept the mandate here. i Another propaganda move urges the natives to support France, since she is the only anti-Jewish nation and would be sure , to suppress Zionism. I - t Still another report is to the effect that France will refuse to abide by the deci- sions of the peace conference unless she 1 gets Syria. I Delegates Arrive. ' j It would be difficult for an American in the United States to realize the extraordinary extraor-dinary impression created in the Holy land by the appearance here of Mr. King and Mr. Crane, who were named by the peace concerence to study conditions In Syria and Palestine. The cities were placarded plac-arded before these commissioners reached this country calling on the people to prepare pre-pare their claims for presentation to them. The excitement was intense and widespread, wide-spread, since the whole future of the hind was at stake. Kvery utterance, every word of the commissioners com-missioners was looked for eagerly and an importance attached to what they sai.d such as these plain speaking Americans never intended should be conveyed. Thus a remark reported made at Jaffa by one of the commissioners started a panicky report that America would not accept any mandates. This at once disheartened dis-heartened the people, who still count on America as the only solution of this critical crit-ical international situation. Tendencies Well Defined. Native tendencies arc well defined. They arc: The independence of undivided Syria, including Palestine. Opposition to the French. Ail American or British mandate. Protection from Zionism and Jewish immigra tion . This last issue is a serious one here. One objection to a British mandate Is ! the promise of Arthur J. Balfour. British foreign minister, to the Zionists. Doubtless when tho prejudice abates somewhat, a compromise will be reached, permitting a realization of the aspirations of the moderate Jews. It is clear to all competent observers hern that the situation in Palestine and Syria Is likely to develop into an armed conflict if the peace conference decides wrongly in connection with the mandates for these lands. |