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With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign

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<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> <div class="center">The Fall of Goliath.</div> The violent anti-Semitism shown by General Z at last reached such a pitch that on one occasion (the 16th July to be exact), he rode into camp and, without the slightest provocation, abused and insulted the men, threatened one of them, and actually went so far as to strike an unoffending private soldier with his whip, using at the same time language which would make Billingsgate blush. I was not present at this outrage, but I heard a full account of all that happened from various eye-witnesses who reported the affair, and all I could imagine was that the General must have suddenly gone insane. The whole battalion was in an uproar, and I had much ado to pacify the men and keep things going. The man who was struck was sent to Hospital with a swollen arm, and the other men who were specifically insulted reported to me at the orderly room and complained of the treatment they had received. I forwarded their complaint to General Z, together with the sick report of the man he had struck with his whip. He replied requesting me to have these particular men paraded so that he might speak to them. I arranged for this embarrassing interview, and, to[228] prevent any hostility which the outraged battalion might have shown towards General Z when he entered the camp, I kept the men in their tents, with N.C.O.s in charge of each door, with instructions to see that no untoward incident took place. On arrival the General apologised to the insulted men, but so indignant were they that at first they refused to accept it, or to shake hands when he offered to do so. Finally, after over half-an-hour's persuasion, they agreed to accept his apology, provided it was given publicity, and also to the whole battalion on parade. This he did very fully, and I sincerely hoped that the incident was happily ended, and that for the future, in dealing with us, General Z would see that no injustice was done merely because we were Jews. To compensate for all the misfortunes we were called upon to endure, our life in the battalion itself was quite smooth and happy, all pulling well together. Personally, I took no thought whether a man was a Jew or a Gentile; I remember that an officer joined us while we were serving at the front, and, through some misunderstanding, I took him to be a Jewish officer. He distinguished himself later and earned the M.C., which pleased me very much, for I was always glad when I was able to recommend a Jewish officer for promotion or reward. I sent this officer with nine others to form a "Minyan" (the number required to hold a Jewish religious service) at the burial of a Jewish soldier who was killed on the day we captured the Umm esh Shert Ford, and it was not until after this incident happened that I discovered he was a Gentile. [229] There was one exception, however, to the general harmony and esprit de corps of the battalion. A Staff officer was sent to do duty with us from G.H.Q., where he had been employed for over a year. Some time after his arrival he publicly insulted one of my Jewish officers and refused to apologise. The matter was then brought before me, and, as he still remained obdurate, I brought him before General Z. When asked by the latter why he had insulted the Jewish officer his reply was, "I don't like Jews. The Jews are not liked at G.H.Q., and you know it, Sir." The General ordered him to apologise, which I must say he did most handsomely, but his remarks about the dislike of Jews at G.H.Q., though no news to me or the General, may be somewhat illuminating to the reader! Although we hoped that all unpleasantness with the General was over, I regret to say that this was not the case. I could give many instances of unfair treatment to which we were subjected, but I will not weary the reader by relating them here. After his apology the General never again came near us, and every indignity, slight and petty tyranny that could be invented was put upon the battalion. The whole subsequent attitude of the G.O.C. showed us that his apology was merely eye-wash, and had simply been extracted from him by fear of the consequences of his outrageous behaviour. In fact, in the end, I had to bring his conduct to the notice of the Commander-in-Chief, with the result that he was removed from his Command and no longer troubled Israel. <hr class="chap" /> [230] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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