Goodbye Forever?

With Big Two agreement on the principle of Palestine partition a fail accompli, whole-hearted British cooperation in the implementation of the plan will effectively disperse all Arab League threats. From an examination of the economic and military foundations of Arab warnings, it is evident that Arab hands are tied without direct or indirect external aid. In brief, it Britain carries out her obligations both as a UN member and withdrawing Mandatory Power, Palestine can avoid major upheavals without calling upon UN police.

Economically, the oil-producing Arab states cannot halt their concessions without severing their supply of dollars. While Arab oil is important but not vital to the United States, American foreign exchange nourishes the power of the Effendi. The recent Arab League decision to postpone discussion of western oil concessions suggests that this Arab weakness is understood at home. A recent Arab threat, close ties with Russia, has evaporated, and never really existed outside the minds of Alice in Wonderland disciples.

Politically, the seeds of Arab disunity over the projected Arab portion of Palestine are already sown. The Hashemite-ruled countries of Trans-Jordan and lraq harbor long-range designs towards Syria as well as Arab Palestine, while the Mufti of Jerusalem sees the new state as the core of an ever-widening personal empire. To the North, the Christian Lebanese prefer a Jewish to a Moslem neighbor, while Ibn Saud of Arabia has already acknowledged that his oil concessions will be continued, whatever the UN decides for the Holy Land. Although the Arabstates could unite against partition, long term objective clashes would dilute their strength.

Militarily, the Arab states alone are a poor second to the Jewish Haganah of 75,000 well-equipped men, many of whom saw war action in Allied armies. General D'Arey, a recent British military commander in the Holy Land, stated that Haganah could defend itself against all external Arab forces for at least one year. Although Arab military manpower approaches 100,000, the quality is poor and it is considered significant that the one force capable of serious military action is the British-trained-and-officered Trans-Jordan Arab Legion.

This last fact is important because British motives in Palestine are not above suspicion. In her desire to keep her oil concessions and an effective Middle-East sterling block, Britain has encouraged and may continue to aid Arab aspirations. British officers, upon discharge, are being advised to enlist with Arab forces, and, of even more concern, is the immediate possibility that Britain will rapidly and unexpectedly evacuate, Palestine, leaving arms and instigators behind in the vacuum.

In the final analysis, Britain can aid in making Palestine partition both the end of a sorry chapter of modern history and the beginning of a series of objective and successful UN decisions. Or White-Hall can obey its more selfish and malicious instincts, compounded of oil and spite, and plunge Palestine into dissension and bloodshed. The UN has already voiced its decision on partition; it can only call upon Great Britain to demonstrate her faith in world majority decision.