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Show Shrines and Sacred Places in Jerusalem Birthplace of Christendom Seems the Natural Battlefield oi Racial and Religious Prejudices Land May Be Bought From the Turk by Modern Crusaders. ."' (Special Correspondence.) '' EACE be to you! Thus p Jr ' the angels addressed 'w!!7?,?j the shepherds, anl tnus (tiJ unavailingly have all Vs. jj iC peace-loving spirits ap-'L2.tS? ap-'L2.tS? pealed to the keepers of rffjvj nocliS in tne birthplace VT 51 of Christendom in all v2y ' the generations even ... to this day. By reason' of associations Palestine is the natural battlefield of racial and religious prejudices. A strange irony of fate has placed the sacred soil for many centuries under the rule of an alien . and -barbarian race. Nothing ive participation in the seizure of the coveted territory. The Jewish Colonization Coloni-zation Society attracted to itself at once the poets and dreamers of its race, and the Nordaus and Zangwills are lifting high the emblems of their ancient rule in the far-away biblical retreats. A new light in the East lures the hope of 5,000,000 of oppressed in Russia and as many more, less unhappy, un-happy, in other lands where the nationless na-tionless wanderers roam. Millions of gold -to tempt the sultan's sul-tan's greed surely he must sell! "With vast wealth in our ranks, we will pave the way with gold, if need U'hjjkt .,. ..'rVirl ----- SA"' terM h ; uV l I v; f h -' ' - " - tv- L-v v,A,'?,jr"" vr - Jjt w "'" , Damascus Gate. could be more foreign to Ju-dean Ju-dean or Christian possession than its ownership by the Turks. It is the object of a triangular lust. Five crusades of the united European nations under the sign of the cross were unable to dislodge the Mohammedan Mohamme-dan invaders, and the star and crescent cres-cent still floats defiantly over the domes of Jerusalem. There is nothing in the physical geography of the Holy I.ai.: to writs the struggle for its ownership by at least three sects, which is deepening with the years. Hard, mountainous, scant of soil and desert-like, to it is added a climate rather to be avoided than sought. No part of the earth is less adapted to successful colonization. coloniza-tion. It was the scene of Jewish sorrows sor-rows for generations, of Christian persecution in later times and of Turkish misrule and greed ever since. Even the latter could hardly desire to hold it, except for the gain they receive in hard barter with visiting pilgrims and travelers. For ages no marked change has come over its people or products, and advancement shuns the unfertile spot. Yet envious eyes are turned thitherward, and new crusades of Jew and Christian seek to dislodge the Mohammedan and each other. The fanaticism of a hundred hun-dred millions of religionists of the various creeds involved are centered on a tiny country not so large and infinitely in-finitely less fertile than the smallest state of our own land. But that small area is studded with the shrines of Moslems, Jews, and of Catholics be redeem our old estate, rebuild Jerusalem, restore the Temple reestablish re-establish Zion." - With this prayer and end in view tin work and agitation now goes for-vard. for-vard. Religion is a vigil; it does not sleep. Thus the activity of the re-enforced Jewish Colonization Society has served to make alert all other interested inter-ested crecr! arrives. Chief among these are the powers of Rome: Already Al-ready in the field, a new and vigorous vigor-ous campaign of holding and getting has been outlined, and the dislodg-ment dislodg-ment of -Roman Catholics Latin or Greek from their citadels in the holy places would seem to be a task beside which the razing of Gibraltar would be a child's pastime. The special order or-der for this defense and for further foothold in Palestine is established in Washington, and is called the Commissariat Com-missariat of the Holy Land. On its books are enlisted a million new soldiers sol-diers of the cross mostly youth and under the title of promoters they regularly reg-ularly contribute "to the preservation of the glorious monuments of our religion, re-ligion, to the maintenance of the faith in the home of Christ and the civilization civiliza-tion of the East." Quite as well organized and well supplied with the sinews of war, the Crusaders of the Commissariat are stimulating the lives and work of their Franciscan fathers and more secular agents in every possible place sanctified sancti-fied by the Lord in the land of His birth. Reports received indicate great t Mosque of Omar. Roman and Greek as -well as Protestants Prot-estants of all denominations. When the late Baron Hirsch left his millions to further the restoration of Palestine to the Jews a new element ele-ment and interest was aroused to act- earnestness in reclaiming or endeavoring endeav-oring to buy back from the Turks every place sacred to the history of the church. Opposed to both the Jews and the Franciscan interests, however, are the Greeks. |