If Germany had won the World War, the Jewish National Home in Palestine would have been impossible, declared General von Kressenstein, commander of the Turkish forces in Palestine during the War, in a remarkable interview in the “Palestine Daily Bulletin.”
If there would have been no Jewish National Home, neither would there have been an Arab national movement, he said. “Had the Turks remained there would have been a more intense Turkification and we could not have given the Jews special rights in Palestine because of the treaty by which we undertook not to convert any parts of the Turkish Empire into German colonies. I believe that the Jews realized that Germany could not give them a National Home, and therefore they sided with the Allies.”
General von Kressenstein expressed admiration for the progress Palestine has made in the decade since he fought here. He had special praise for the Rutenberg works. He was greatly touched at the friendliness of the British authorities. The former military ruler of Palestine expects to write a book on the Turkish campaign in Palestine.
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