The Turkish Peace — Page 45
45 The people of Iraq have been accorded no say in choosing a government for themselves as certain parts of the German Empire have. Nor have they been consulted over the administration or system of government they would prefer to live under. The Syrians also, despite making it clear they wish to exist as an autonomous state, have been placed under the mandate of the French. Palestine, where Muslims comprise two-thirds of the population, has effectively been declared a new Jewish territory, even though Jews form only one-fourth of its population. This too has only come to fruition since 1878 15 and according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica is ‘consisting principally of refugees from countries where anti-Semitism is an important element in politics’ (such as Russia). To separate such territories from the Ottoman Empire which have majority Muslim populations and give over their control to the [world’s] Jewry so they can find sanctuary there, is perhaps a fitting form of retribution for when the Turks gave shelter to the Jews as they were forcibly turned out of their homes by various Christian states in Europe. Lebanon has met with a similar fate. There is no 15 The year the first Zionist colony in Palestine was established. [Publishers]