Between the Lines

Now that the Syrian authorities have made their bid for Jewish immigration into Syria public, the story can be told.

It is a story of how German Jews — non – Zionists — sent a delegation directly from Berlin to Syria last Summer to approach the Syrian government to permit large immigration of German Jews who have no Zionist ambitions.

The delegation was headed by Dr. Leo Wintz, the publisher of the Gemeindeblatt, the official organ of the Berlin Jewish community. It was met very cordially by the Syrian Arabs and by the government.

SYRIA VS. PALESTINE

Making it clear that Jews will never be permitted to buy land near the Palestine border, the Syrian government, however, expressed its readiness to sell to the Jews a huge stretch of land twice as large as all Palestine and located on the Syria-Iraq border.

The delegation of German Jews became interested in the offer. A special expedition of Arab notables together with the Jewish delegation then left for a trip to the Iraq frontier and spent over a month investigating the territory.

The impression with which the Jewish delegation returned to Germany from the trip was a very favorable one. Dr. Wintz reported that the land which the Syrian government offers on the Iraqian frontier has a very rich soil and is good for agricultural work and intensive colonization. He also reported that the Arabs of Syria would be only too glad to permit the settlement of an unlimited number of German Jews in this territory providing that they do not develop any Zionist activities.

It was upon the request of Dr. Wintz that a committee was formed in Berlin of a group of Jews to further the negotiations with the Syrian government. A proposal was submitted to Count De Martel, the French High Commissioner of Syria, since Syria is under the French mandate.

FRANCE STEPS IN

When Count De Martel came to France on a short visit this Summer, he carried with him for submission to the French government an extensive memorandum on the possibilities of Jewish migration into Syria. He pointed out that many Arab merchants in Damascus have begun to move to Palestine because of the Palestine prosperity. He also pointed out that while the French administration is losing money in Syria, the British administration in Palestine has a tremendous surplus.

As a result of this memorandum, the Syrian authorities have now issued the invitation to the Jews. The conditions attached to this invitation show, however, that the French government is supporting the Syrian nationalist view that the Jews can acquire Syrian land on the Iraqian frontier only.