Five Decade's Warning Unheeded

by Polly Mann, WAMM

I was recently introduced to A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, published in 1927 and written by Harry Emerson Fosdick, an eminent religious leader of the day. While believing in the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, Fosdick warned of the likelihood of future dangers:

"The head of the Zionist Executive in Palestine told me that in half a century he expected two and a half million Jews to be settled there. . . . No one understands the situation who does not see that over half a million Moslem Arabs, who easily constitute 73% of the population, naturally regard with suspicion, if not with rage, the deliberate endeavor to make a 'national home for the Jewish people' in their country.

". . . He [the chairman of the Zionist Commission in Palestine] said there can be only 'one National Home in Palestine, and that a Jewish one, and no equality in the partnership between Jews and Arabs, but a Jewish predominance as soon as the numbers of that race are sufficiently increased.' . . . On the other hand, the moderate Zionists have tried sensibly to save the situation. . . . If a chauvinistic, arrogant, political Zionism obtains control, what started out as a fair dream of a better future for the Jews may easily become one of the greatest Jewish tragedies in history."

Today, Dr. Fosdick's warnings are being played out in Israel/Palestine. While the corporate media emphasize the destruction wrought by suicide bombers, statistics show that the wounded and dead among the Palestinians far exceed those of the Israelis, and the destruction of their homes is immeasurable. No matter what agreement has previously been worked out, the Israelis have not given up one inch of Palestinian land illegally occupied by Israeli settlers. A few months ago Ariel Sharon announced that an additional one million Jews would be immigrating to Israel.