Page 222 - Gertrude Bell (H.V.F.Winstone)

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GERTRUDE BELL
him Palestine Prima, under the guarantees of the Powers ... *
Now she wrote: ‘By the way, I hate Mr Balfour’s Zionist pro­
nouncement with regard to Syria [Palestine was then regarded by
the outside world as part of Ottoman Syria, over which the French
had assumed a watching brief on behalf of Christian Europe since
the last of the Crusades]. It’s my belief that it can’t be carried out,
the country is wholly unsuited to the ends the Jews have in view;
it is a poor land, incapable of great development and with a solid
two-thirds of its population Mohammedan Arabs who look on
Jews with contempt. To my mind it’s a wholly artificial scheme
divorced from all relation to facts and I wish it the ill-success that
it deserves —and will get, I fancy.’
Her home mail was delivered by Sir Percy who had to make a
sudden dash to England at the behest of Lord Hardingc, who was
involved in the Foreign Office effort to formulate plans for settling
matters which had been arranged in the heat of the moment and
were about to be repented.
One of the letters carried by Cox, dated February 22nd, was
addressed to Lord Hardinge: ‘I must send a word of greeting to
you by Sir Percy. It is an admirable plan to call him in to your
councils ... Fie will give you such a vivid impression of our con­
ditions and his tale will help you to stand out for us. Tilings look
so black now that the fact that we cannot abandon this country
to its fate needs insisting upon ... I should like to tell you what
amazing strides have been made towards ordered government
since last March. Basra vilayet is ... under peace conditions; we
have had almost no trouble in Baghdad vilayet. The frontier tribes,
the people only half in Occupied Territory, have been a little tire­
some, nothing to speak of... and the rest have all come to heel
without a shot fired. There’s no important element against us,
above all no religious feeling ... The stronger the hold we are
able to keep here the better the inhabitants will be pleased. What
they dread is any half measure ... ’ There followed a detailed
analysis of the political and military requirements of British rule,
for the need to keep the two chief vilayets Basra and Baghdad to­
gether, and her assessment of public opinion. There were also
letters to her father and to Domnul. To the former she spoke of
her continuing sorrow. ‘Oh Father, dearest, do you know that
tonight [February 22nd] is just three years since D. and I parted.
I can’t think why the recurring date should bring back old mem­
ories so strongly, but it is so, and I’ve lived again through the