Sejarah Zionisme, 1600-1918/Volume 1/Bab 29

CHAPTER XXIX.

BRITAIN’S MISSION IN THE EAST

Colonel Charles Henry Churchill—Sir Austen Henry Layard—“The Key to the East”—European Consuls in Palestine—The Hatti Sheerif of Gulharch—Lord Palmerston’s Circular of April, 1841—Mr. James Finn.

The theory of Great Britain’s mission in the East has been put forward by representatives of different classes of English people in different epochs and from various points of view. The idea existed in greater or less degree wherever Englishmen thought seriously about the Eastern problem; it was a flame which was never extinguished.

Colonel Charles Henry Churchill (1814‒1877), a grandson of the fifth Duke of Marlborough (1766‒1840), was a staff officer in the British Expedition to Syria, and wrote one of the best works in English about The Lebanon and its inhabitants. In the “Preface” to which he writes:—

“The genius of England, which seems so peculiarly fitted to lead and govern the populations of the East, has, by the happily-combined influence of arms, commerce, and legislation, established in that quarter of the globe, a dominion which no purely military conqueror could ever have consolidated, much less upheld and sustained.”

“The development of the capabilities and resources of that unparalleled empire in the East, over which England presides—and that without a rival or compeer—has thus become essentially necessary to her national prosperity, it may be to her national existence, and must ever possess imperative, though not exclusive claims upon her national feelings and sympathies.”

“I say not exclusive and advisedly; for the East, to an important portion of which I now invite public attention,—the East, whose shores are washed by the Mediterranean Sea,—the East of rock-hewn cities and colossal tombs, of heavenly poesy and gigantic art, of Jacob’s (2108‒2255 a.m.) might and Ishmael’s (b. 2034 a.m.) wandering power, of David’s lyre and of Isaiah’s (fl. 3140 a.m.) strain, of Abraham’s faith and Immanuel’s love,—where God’s mysterious ways with man begun, and where in the fulness of time they are to be accomplished,—this East, which may yet become the seat and centre of the Universal Reign!—it also has claims on England’s watchful vigilance and sympathizing care....”

After having so forcibly expounded the sentimental side, the author strikes another note, in addition to that so eloquently struck by Disraeli and others:—

“Whatever part England may take in the temporary complication of affairs which will probably ensue on that mighty consummation, which the timid dictates of diplomacy would defer, but which the urgent demands of humanity and civilization would fain accelerate, it must, for obvious reasons, be clear to every English mind, that if England’s Oriental supremacy is to be upheld, Syria and Egypt must be made to fall more or less under her sway or influence.”

He argues then as a military expert:—

“Napoleon declared Acre to be the key to the East, and most correctly did his military genius appreciate the importance of that land into which he vainly sought to enter, as a basis of operations against our Indian Empire.... I call upon my countrymen, therefore, to adopt this political doctrine, and nail it to the National Colours:—That when Palestine ceases to be Turkish, it must either become English, or else form part of a new independent State, which without the incentives to territorial aggrandizement, or the means of military aggression, shall yet be able to maintain its own honour and dignity, and more especially to promote the great object for which it will be called into existence, for which indeed, by its geographical position it will be so eminently qualified; that of creating, developing and upholding a commercial intercourse in the East, which shall draw together and unite the hitherto divergent races of mankind in the humanizing relations of fraternity and peace....”

“... the time is probably fast approaching when Syria, instead of being merely the land of dreamy and luxurious travel,—of exhilarating emotions, and fascinating though transient delights, will have to become one of sound practical legislation, of resuscitating institutions, of vigorous and comprehensive government;...”

At the back of an analysis of the historical and geographical conditions of the country offered by the author is his conviction that Palestine must become and will become the seat of a great, peaceful and prosperous settlement, which must be ruled by England or under English influence, or must have its independence and normal development secured by England. He holds that this position will strengthen England’s power; and he feels subconsciously that England ought to be wherever the greatest interests of humanity are at stake. Similarly he contends that with this object in view England must adopt a very active policy in the East.

Another authority on Oriental politics, Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817‒1894), whose discoveries and investigations in the East are the pride of English Oriental science, expressed his opinion, in a speech delivered in the House of Commons, in very similar words:—

“We should not forget that, although Egypt is a high road to India, Syria and the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates form the high road, and any power holding those countries would command India.”

British diplomacy seems to have been influenced by all these considerations.

Mr. W. Young was the first British Consul in Jerusalem, 1838. As we know from Lord Shaftesbury’s Diaries, this appointment had been made in consequence of his own representations and efforts. France and Prussia followed suit in 1843, and Austria in 1849. A Sardinian Consulate had been founded in 1843, but it was abolished in the year in which the Austrian was established. A Spanish Consulate was founded in 1854.

The two Protestant Consulates, those of England and Prussia, had no share in the altercation about the Holy Places. Their relations with the local government were restricted to protection of the property and persons of their nationals. The Prussian Consulate had at that time but few subjects and small affairs to look after; while the English had its own subjects, both residents and travellers, besides Maltese, Indians, Canadians and other British Colonists, with the Ionians as a protected people, and also a number of protected Jews, together with considerable property, including a church hospital, various schools, and a cemetery, to watch over.

It is interesting to note how British protection for Palestinian Jews, though not formally confirmed, was practically developing. This is the only case in history of Jews enjoying the protection of a great Power without being subjects of that Power. Let us see how this remarkable development took place. In 1838 Lord Palmerston’s directions to his first Consul in Jerusalem were to “afford protection to the Jews generally.” The words were simply these, broad and liberal as under the circumstances they had to be, leaving after events to work out their own modification. The instruction, however, seemed to bear on its face a recognition that the Jews there are a nation by themselves, and that contingencies might possibly arise which might alter their relations with the Mohammedans, though it was impossible to foresee the shape that future negotiations would assume after the impending expulsion of the Egyptians from Syria.

Then came the atrocities of the Passover of 1840 in Damascus, inflicted on the Jews there during the Egyptian régime. A few months later the bombardment of Acre and the restoration of Syria to the Turks took place. The episode of the Egyptian hold upon Syria from 1832 to 1840 came to an end. The Turks were restored at the end of 1840, being then rather more liberal in disposition than they had been before leaving the country, and in the following year the Sultan promulgated the Hatti Sheerif of Gulharch, which conceded equality in theory (but by no means in practice) to all classes of subjects.

The British Government at once brought before the consideration of the Porte the condition of the Jews “already settled, or who might afterwards settle themselves in Palestine.” This was evidently a direct encouragement towards the colonization of Palestine by the Jews, made officially by the British Government. In April, 1841, Lord Palmerston forwarded a circular to his agents in the Levant and Syria, which began by stating that, as far as documents could avail, the law of Turkey had by that time become as favourable as might reasonably be expected to the Jews, but that there remained the difficulty of enforcing an honest administration of that law. The Porte, however, being at that time entirely under the beneficial influence of British diplomacy, had declared its determination that the law should be righteously administered, and had even promised Her Majesty’s Ambassador that “it will attend to any representations which may be made to it by the Embassy of any act of oppression practised against Jews.” The Consul was therefore to investigate diligently all cases of oppression of the Jews that might come to his knowledge, and report to the Embassy, and although he might only act officially on behalf of persons actually by right under British protection, he was on every suitable occasion to make it known to the local authorities that “the British Government felt an interest in the welfare of Jews in general, and was anxious that they should be protected from oppression.” He was also to make known the offer of the Porte to attend to cases of persecution that might be reported to the Embassy.

In 1842 a bad case was represented as occurring at Hebron through acts of violence on the part of Shaiki Baddo and others. In 1847 again it seemed probable that Christian fanatics were about to reproduce the horrors which occurred at Rhodes and Damascus in 1840. The British Consul, James Finn (1806‒1872), then interfered and protected the Jews. In the same year he was again obliged to interfere on behalf of the Jews. In consequence of various occurrences of this kind in Jerusalem, another instruction was issued by the Foreign Office, to the effect that whenever any Austrian, French, or other European Jew was suffering from persecution or injustice, and was repudiated by his own Consul, the English Consul might take up the case, unless the repudiating Consul, when applied to, should assign some strong and sufficient reason for his objection. The spirit underlying this instruction, notwithstanding the establishment, since 1839, of other European Consulates, was in conformity with the rule laid down in that year, “to afford protection to Jews generally.”

One out of many tokens of gratitude from the people so benefited will be found in an address in Hebrew to Her Majesty Queen Victoria (1819‒1901), received from Jerusalem in July, 1849 (Appendix lxii).

There were, as usual, many cases in which the Palestinian Jews needed the official aid of the British Consulate, and numerous documents refer to the instances in which active official intervention with the Turkish Government was exercised on their behalf. Notwithstanding the just jealousy of the Turkish Government, says Finn, there were many individual ways of ameliorating the condition of Jewish Ottoman subjects, as well as of the Jews under British protection.

During the first case mentioned above no other Consul took part in the business, except that the Sardinian Consul assured Finn in private conversation that there could be no doubt about Jews using Christian blood in the Passover rites whenever they could get it, or, at any rate, they did in the Middle Ages.