[To THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR."] San,—Surely the Jewish Peril
is not a remote question—it is with us- now. Nothing -could more surely set the Moslem world in a religious blaze than the recent appointment (if it is per- sisted in) -of a Jaw to rule in Palestine. Me is an estimable man of proved capacity and ability, but this counts as nothing to a Moslem, to him a. Jew is the Jew he knows, -held accursed and unspeakably unclean, from the time of the Prophet to the present day. To send a man -of this religion to represent us in Palestine, who would -dominate (however tactfully and wisely) that -most sacred pilgrimage resort, the Mosque of the Dome (to which no Jew has ever knowingly been admitted), almost as sacred to Moslems the world over as is Mecca or Medina, is in Moslem eyes desecration of the most awful kind. Unfortunately, experience shows that the Jbw as a. class, while peaceful in adversity, becomes turbulent and arrogant when he thinks he is dominants very little display of this habit will make the most harmless Moslem " see red" and kill as long as he can strike a blow, and once started where will it end? How would our clergy like it if an able and conscientious Jew had been given the Bishopric of Durham? and to the Moslem mind this would be a very similar proceeding. We cannot afford to repeat the disastrous mistake we made in India, of which we have yet to see the end. An English Christian administrator, especially a soldier, is looked on as a necessary evil, and dislike of his faith is mitigated by his reputation for strong impartal rule. In other words, they are accus- tomed to him. I write in no spirit of hostility to the Jewish faith or people. Let those who wish to settle in Palestine do so, just as any other people can do, and all may be well, but if they go with a Jewish ruler, big words and a flourish of trumpets, there will be trouble, and lots of it.—I am, Sir, &c.,
JAFFA.
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