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VOL. IV. No. 10.
JUNE, 1930.
TTTF
SYRIAN WORLD
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE IN ENGLISH DEALING
WITH SYRIAN AFFAIRS AND ARABIC LITERATURE
CAN THE SYRIAN RACE SURVIVE IN AMERICA?
REV. W. A. MANSUR
THE SYRIANS IN AMERICA
DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS
<si
ALEPPO, METROPOLIS OF NORTHERN SYRIA
SALLOUM A. MOKARZEL
3L
LOVE AMONG THE ARABS
(SHORT STORY)
LEBANON MOUNTAINEERS TAKE UP
HEALTH INSURANCE
STUART CARTER DODD
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA
THE COPY 50c
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THE
SYRIAN WORLD
"Published monthly by
SALLOUM
A.
THE SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRESS
MOKARZEL,
Editor.
I
104 Greenwich St., New York, N. Y.
By subscription $5.00 a year.
Single copies 50c.
Entered as second-class matter June 25, 1926, at the post office at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879.
VOL. IV. No. 10.
JUNE, 1930,
CONTENTS
PAGE
Can the Syrian Race Survive in A merica?
REV.
W. A.
5
MANSUR
Reconciliation (Poem)
12
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
The Syrians in A merica
13
DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS
Aleppo, Metropolis of Northern Syria
SALLOUM
A.
16
MOKARZEL
On Hatred
28
KAHLIL GIBRAN
Love Among the Arabs (Short Story)
29
�•'
•'"•
'
—
^
*
CONTENTS (Continued)
PAGE
On Temper (Poem)
J. D.
34
CARLYLE
Lebanon Mountaineers Take Up Health Insurance
35
STUART CARTER DODD
The Prophet (Poem)
40
THOMAS ASA
Editorial Comment
41
Another Milestone
41
Syrians Only
41
Talent Available
42
Organization
44
Publication Dates
\
1
44
Spirit of the Syrian Press
45
Political Developments in Syria
48
About Syria and Syrians
53
i
-—
�—
MM
IN THIS ISSUE
REV. W. A. MANSUR discusses a question that should
seriously engage the attention
of every thinking Syrian in the
United States. "Can the Syrian
race survive in America?" he
asks, and proceeds to give his
weighty reason for an affirmative answer. Our readers know
the scholarly merits and sound
reasoning of the Rev. Mansur.
Not a statement does he make
but gives for its support ample
quotations from the most competent authorities. Especially is
his article in this issue instructive. We would ask our readers
to give serious thought to the
question raised because the situation becomes more and more
critical. Should we endeavor to
maintain a certain form of separate identity, compatible, of
course, with our spirit of loyalty to our adopted country, or
shall we go down in defeat and
admit our unworthiness? Read
the able article in question and
see if you can agree with the
erudite writer. * * * DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS has long
since expressed an opinion that
not only conforms to that of
the Rev. Mansur but even goes
much farther in certain particulars. Few are those among
students
of
contemporary
American literature who do not
know who Dr. Williams is,
especially that he was so influential in shaping the course of
American literature by his
direction of the School of Journalism at Columbia University.
One is almost tempted to make
the assertion that Dr. Williams
holds a much higher opinion
of us than we do of ourselves.
Also that he entertains of us
much stronger hopes. Else what
could account for the apparent
lethargy noticeable in our racial
affairs! Dr. Williams' article
should prove a strong stimulus
to us in efforts of that nature.
It also contains invaluable material for quotation whenever a
Syrian finds himself in a position of self-defense. We cannot too strongly recommend a
most attentive reading of this
article. * * * THE EDITOR
takes you in the current installment of his travel articles
through northern Syria as far
as the ancient and romantic city
of Aleppo. Would you visit a
typical Oriental city such as you
find described in the Arabian
Nights? Then here is where
you may have your wish fully
gratified. A great city without
taxis, with covered bazaars,
vaulted streets that run in a
baffling maze like a catacomb,
open-air gardens with dancers
and singers and audiences fresh
HHR
�from the desert. All this you
will find described in a vivid
narration interwoven with exceedingly interesting historical
facts. The trip to Syria with
the editor is well-worth taking.
* * * STUART CARTER
DODD, professor of sociology
at the American University of
Beirut, discusses a most interesting experiment in health insurance undertaken" by a Lebanese physician who graduated
from the American University.
Dr. Rasheed Ma'took, the
physician in question, is unquestionably a benefactor to his
town and district. The account
given by Prof. Dodd of his activities is most interesting. Perhaps the example set by Dr.
Ma'took will before long be
emulated throughout Lebanon
and Syria. It is a novel case and
a noble experiment for the detailed description of which we
feel grateful to Prof. Dodd,
and which we feel confident
our readers will thoroughly
enjoy. * * * THE FICTION
in this issue is not really fiction. It is facts told in a romantic manner and dealing with
the general subject of love
among the Arabs and the case
of two famous lovers in particular. Arab chivalry is here
portrayed in its noblest methods of expression. The principals are a lad, a lassie and a
mare. Readers will profit much
by enlightening themselves on
the details of courtship as it
existed among the Arabs of olden days, and which persists to a
certain extent to our day. * * *
THE EDITORIAL COMMENT in this issue is a discussion of many timely and pertinent subjects. We would call
particular attention to the suggestion of enlisting able native
talent for our better representaton at all public functions.
* * * THE SPIRIT OF THE
PRESS is ever teeming with
topics of interest because it is
a condensation of the best comment appearing in our native
press. From this department
the reader can glean much information on subjects nowhere
else discussed. * * * POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
in Syria should be of more
than usual interest at this time
because of the great upheaval
taking place in the country. In
this department we give a comprehensive summary not only
of cable dispatches but of the
reports of the native press.
Nowhere else in English could
students of political affairs in
Syria find such a wealth of information, because we are in
direct touch with original
sources. Syria proper, Lebanon
and Palestine are all covered in
this department. * * * In all,
every endeavor is being made
to make of THE SYRIAN WORLD
a medium of information
meeting every need of SyrianAmericans and those interested
in Syrian affairs.
�THE
SYRIAN WORLD
JUNE, 1930.
VOL. IV. No. 10.
Can the Syrian Race Survive
in America?
By
REV.
W. A.
MANSUR
IN an article on The Future of Syrian-Americans which appeared
in THE SYRIAN WORLD the writer raised the question of the
survival of the Syrian-American race. "Shall they be as the proverbial 'lost ten tribes'? Shall they be destroyed through race
destroying factors in the modern social order? Or, shall the present Syrian-American generation realize its racial self-consciousness, bring about a healthy adjustment to the new situation, and
enhance the renaissance of the Syrian spirit in all its glory in the
future Syrian-American?" (Syrian World, Sept., 1927.)
In an able article in THE SYRIAN WORLD on Syrians* Future
in America George A. Ferris says, "In studying the history of
foreign minorities in the United States, it would seem to indicate
that separate, distinct, racial groups are doomed to be absorbed
into the body politic leaving little, if any, traces of their racial
characteristics." His conclusions are that while the Syrian race
will make its contribution to the upbuilding of the American
nation, it is nevertheless "bound in the process of time to lose" its
"racial identity." (Syrian World, May, 1929.)
S. A. Mokarzel, editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, asks the following provocative questions in an editorial on Future of the
Race, "Shall we drift aimlessly, letting matters take their course,
which we may well admit is being determined by the organized
efforts of other groups, or shall we make an equally conscious
effort to assert ourselves?" "In other words, are we to assert our
racial characteristics, and in the latter case, what are the best
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
M?y,S192V)e
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The writer believes in the future survival of the Syrian race
in America. He believes that the inherent race vitality, race pride,
and race progress are already resisting the absorption of the Syrian race by other races in America. He is persuaded there are
forces now at work that are making for the preservation of the
Syrian race. He is convinced that Syrian-American pioneers, Syrian-American leadership, and Syrian-American race awakeninhave already established a determined race consciousness, pride*,
and hope that mark the stemming of the tide of race amalgamation, race absorption, and race extinction. The writer suooorts
PP
his conviction by the following considerations:
/•
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because its Background Is a
Religious Philosophy of Life.
the nl ^°StOV;z"ff ^ jj. hi,S Rome in the chaPter on Causes of
t*?<u7 °f ATentA Cwdizati > "!" the East we never obwh rU
KgCnera and Permanent ch^"ge of mental attitude
which ,s characteristic of the West-that Oriental culture was
based on a dehnite view of religion, which survived all change
ofde
ta,KeS and SaVCd mCn fr m fallin
°
S
int
°
the
«
The strongest factor in the preservation of the Syrian race in
America is the Syrian religious philosophy of life. Permeadng
our economic, educational, social and political views of life S
rflin?,^ exP^"g itself in a spiritual evaluation
relitLeusltldtfwg,VeS
th£ H,gheSt mea,li g t0 life is a
"
*y
The Syrian race is pre-eminently the race of prophets seers
i§
prets"hin:nanS: °f ^ "&»*
^ m*ral
^
,g] US aUd
VdueS
'£? inter-'
thl?r£
ZtlT
^ relationships
.°
°and progresst0in]ifeterms
- Ij ofis
he race that
defines things,
he highest welfare to all of life. In this vitality! inherent" th
race of a religious philosophy of life, lies the future survival of
the Syrian race in America.
//.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because of the Renaissance of
Race Consciousness, Race Talent, and Race Greatness.
The Syrian race consciousness began to be born in the decision
of Syrian-Americans to make America a permanent homeland!
�JUNE, 1930
7
It is now being organized in the mind and heart of the Syrian
people. It is now showing signs of fruitfulness through the rise
of Syrian-American leadership. Already Syrian-American youth
are successfully answering the challenge of the hour by splendid
achievements.
The leader of the Syrian-American awakening, S. A. Mokarzel, editor of THE SYRIAN WORLD, said in A Call to Form a Federation of Syrian Societies, "During the past two years there hai>
been increasing evidence of a healthy awakening of racial consciousness among the younger generation of Syrians in the United
States. From every section of the country comes news of the
formation of new societies of our young people among both sexes.
Where once there had been suspicion of indifference, even hesitancy and reluctance to admit one's racial extraction, we have in
these societies proof positive that our young generation is beginning to show genuine pride in its origin." (Syrian World, Nov.,
1928.)
The Syrian race awakening is inspired by intelligent understanding of our glorious race inheritance. There is evidence in
education, commerce, religion and civilization of the rising tide
of Syrian race talent. There is rising on the horizon the rising
greatness of a SYRIAN WORLD EMPIRE. In the rise of a
common race re-birth, common race re-juvenation, and common
race achievement lies sufficient community interest to hold together our race, perpetuate race identity, and promote race pride,
inheritance and greatness.
///.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because Race Persecution
Has Aroused Our Race to Self-Defense.
The World War brought the nations, races and languages of
mankind to grips with one another. Self-determination has become the watch-word of the times. Race equality has become a
race issue. Language became the accompaniment of the national
and racial questions.
Bishop J. H. Oldham says in Christianity and the Race Problem, "A claim to permanent domination exclusively on the ground
of race is bound to be resisted by other peoples with all their
force. A thoroughgoing racialism cannot be advocated on one
side without provoking an equally intense racial consciousness on
the other."
Ameen Rihani said in an address Americanism and Native
II
�8
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
Culture, "Every people, ladies and gentlemen, has a certain culture, which reflects the best of its racial heritage; and the nation
in which these various cultures abound and are incorporated harmoniously into its own spirit, without losing altogether their
original identity, is destined to become the greatest nation in the
world." "On the other hand, the foreign-born and their descendants in this their adopted country, cannot better perform their
duties as citizens than by preserving their native culture and
keeping alive all that «s good in their racial characteristics." (Syrian World, April, 19^9.)
The race struggle in America brought on a wave of race
defamation, race disparagement, and race depreciation. It aroused
the various races in America to self-defense. The Syrian-Americans began the study of their race history, their race talents, and
their race achievements. It awakened them to the glory of their
forefathers in navigation, trade and commerce; in religion, morals and philosophy; in mathematics, law and civilization. With
enlightenment regarding Syrian race heritage arose race pride,
race defense, and race organization. Due to our sufferings because
of race prejudice we are compelled to struggle for individual and
race survival. Due to hindrances because of race defamation we
are forced to develop the racial talents within us. Due to our
children because of the equal right to equal opportunity we are
urged to push forward for the sake of our posterity. In the
memory of the Syrian-American race, in the mind of our children and our children's children, and for many generations to
come will live the story of the struggle of the Syrian race in
America, its sufferings, and its sacrifices, which in turn will ever
promote the future survival of the Syrian race in America.
IV.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because Disillusionment Regarding Western Races Has Accentuated Our Appreciation
of Syrian Race Virtues.
Bishop John Francis McConnell says in Human Needs and
World Christianity, "The war itself led to disillusionment."
The World War brought to a climax complete disillusionment about Western nations, races and religion. It was realized
the Western civilization was established on a triumvirate of military power, material exploitation, and race aggression. The Russo-Japanese war smote the first blow to Western claim to superiority. The rise of nationalism smote the second blow to western
�JUNE, 1930
9
greed. The World War smote the third blow to western aggression. Western nations, races and civilization are being weighed
in the balances in the Near-East, the Far-East and through the
nations of mankind. Western thought on the race, home, religion,
education, commerce, marriage, democracy and nationalism are
being weighed in the balances of justice among the races, nations
and peoples of earth.
Syrian-Americans are finding their race to be of the highest
intellectual ability, possessing great religious and moral capacity,
and capable of a tremendous urge for progress. They are finding
their racial character to be one that makes for the highest homeloving, liberty-loving, law-abiding and industrious-living citizens
in America.
The self-appreciation of their race by Syrian-Americans
will create a high sense of enjoyment of their race qualities, hold
together the various scattered elements, and promote the preservation of the Syrian race as a race identity in America.
V.
The Syrian Race Can Survive Because of the Establishment
of Syrian Denominational Churches in America.
The establishment of Syrian denominational churches in
America is a social insurance for the preservation of Syrian race
identity.
"Where there is a difference in religion, religious loyalty
may suffice to keep communities distinct; in India Hindus and
Mohammedans retain their separateness," says Bishop J. H. Oldham in Christianity and the Race Problem. "In Ceylon Tamils
and Singhalese live side by side and intermarriage between the
two communities seldom takes place. In Switzerland the German-speaking and French-speaking communities preserve their
distinctness though they belong to the same nation. The Jews
have for centuries maintained their identity while living in the
midst of other peoples j religion has no doubt been a powerful
factor in bringing this about, but a sense of racial community
seems also to be involved, since the separateness is maintained
even when religious fervor dies down.
The founding of Syrian churches in America marks an important factor in the preservation of our Syrian race distinctness.
Investigation will reveal a most powerful factor in the awakening of race consciousness, race pride, and race defense. It will
be discovered that there are Maronite Churches, Greek Catholic
�-
"'Sa
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THE SYRIAN WORLD
Churches, Antiochan Greek Orthodox Churches, Syrian Greek
Orthodox Churches, and Syrian Protestant Churches. It will be
found that Mohammedans, Druze and Mitwalites, though small
in numbers, have such meetings as meet their religious needs.
Let it be remembered that these churches and religious organizations are shepherded by native priests, ministers and sheikhs.
Through the Syrian churches in America there is being awakened by education appreciation of Syrian race inheritance, being
urged the emulation of our glorious ancestors, and being promoted the upbuilding of our Syrian race legacies for the preservation of the Syrian race. The following statement is taken from
an address by S. A. Mokarzel which was delivered to the United
Maronites Society in Brooklyn: "With the present generation
this precious heritage (referring to Maronite heritage) seems to
be safe, but the concern is for the future and it rests upon the
coming generations to insure the continuity of the work that has
so far endured for nearly sixteen centuries." "It is to be hoped
that they will imbue coming generations with this same sense of
obligation towards a sacred cause, to the end that this noble heritage which has come down to them through the ages will endure
to the lasting glory of a valiant race and a most worthy saint anc1
reformer." (Syrian World, March, 1929.)
The Syrian churches in America because of their religious
ritual, their training of the young, and their appeal to pride in
racial heritage and supported by centuries of historical background in present day world wide organizations will ever make
for the survival of the Syrian-American race.
VI. The Syrian Race Can Survive Because the World Has Become a Community Through Modern Invention, Discovery
and Transportation.
The discovery of the New World by Columbus began the
process which made the world a neighborhood of nations and
races. The modern missionary impulse is making the world a
brotherhood of all people. The rise of the machine is now making the world a community of citizens.
"The mechanical revolution," says H. G. Wells in The Outline of History, "the process of mechanical invention and discovery, was a new thing in human experience, and it went on
regardless of the social, political, economic and industrial consequences it might produce." The advent of the steamship, the
�* •
JUNE, 1930
n
railroad, telephone, telegraph, automobile, and the airplane is
shrinking the world, demolishing barriers, and destroying provincialism everywhere. The myriads of inventions, discoveries,
and modern methods are making education universal, luxuries
common to all, and speedy travel within the enjoyment of all
people.
Early immigrant communities were isolated from their native
homelands because of their remoteness. Scattered individuals
and families, because of high cost of travel, were largely dependent on other racial groups for social intercourse. The advanced
in education, business, and prestige sought social contact with individuals of like standing among other people.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century there began
he impulse which brought into full swing the mechanical, industrial and social revolution of our times. The coming of Syrian
immigrants to America dates about the eighties of the nineteenth
century. During that period began the acceleration of popular
education, increase of railways, invention in the mechanical, electrical and various scientific fields. With the aid of native language
publications, newspapers, magazines and books: with the helo of
modern means of travel, by railroad, automobile and airplane;
with possibilities of immediate communication, by telephone
telegraph and radio, the Syrian race in America is holding itself
together during the transitional period, and thereby maintains
Syrian race identity in America.
With the modern means of communication, transportation
and information the Syrians in America, whether'in cityPor counm^/?UPS °rM f!?11' as.illdividuals or as families, are within
immediate possible fellowship with their countrymen at, practically, any time or place. With the automobile they are within
treVw?, f^ t0,Syrlan fellowshiP- With the telephone they
are within talking distance with Syrian people. With the radio
hey are within hearing distance of Syrian leadership. With
television they are within seeing distance of their loved ones
friends and others With the airplane they are within flying 2sance to Syrian fellowship friendship and society in America, and
soon among the nations of earth. Social intercourse among the
Syrian-Americans is now an every day practical possibility: is
promoting Syrian race solidarity, race pride, and race progress
is preserving Syrian race identity; and is making for Syrian race
survival for all time in America.
The writer has stated the factors and forces whose cumulative
�12
THE SYRIAN WORLD
power will preserve Syrian race identity in America among the
races of the nation. For it is our belief that the day is coming,
(may Heaven speed the way!) when for one to say "I am a Syrian-American" will be more glorious than the Roman Eagle,
more honorable than the Star and Garter, more desired than the
riches of Croesus, and more noble than the Lordly Caesars. It is,
therefore, our purpose to plant in the body, mind and heart of
Syrian-American youth intelligent understanding regarding the
glorious history of our ancestors, their benevolent influences upon
mankind and their superior race talents and thereby arouse race
enlightenment concerning the greatness of our race among the
races in America. It is our desire that our descendants shall ever
remember their race identity, race heritage and race talent and
preserve the same to the lasting honor of our glorious Syrian
race. It is our commission to our Syrian posterity that they preserve our race identity, uphold our race legacies, and defend our
race honor in America through race enlightenment, splendid
achievement, and race loyalty to our American homeland.
Reconciliation
By
DR. SALIM
Y.
ALKAZIN
O come, and let us turn this leaf,
And cover this disfigured page;
Disputing not the cause of rage,
Nor whose the balance of the grief!
Or if thou must, then gently chide;
For wert thou wholly innocent,
Or I alone on mischief bent—
But why by troublous tales abide?
Come, let us dash this cup of pain
To earth, and on its fragments rise,
And with life's beauty fill our eyes,
And lure dead love to life again.
I
�j;
13
JUNE, 1930
The Syrians in America
AN APPRAISAL OF THEIR CHARACTER
AND HISTORY
By
'
DR. TALCOTT WILLIAMS
CYRIA and Syrians constitute the first land and the first people
in Southwestern Asia who have entered into modern civilization. They stand alone in this. If Syria were an islanded-land,
instead of being four thousand years a thoroughfare of conquering peoples, swept by many tides, it would be, in its place, as
striking an example of progress as Japan.
Southwestern Asia begins with the fringe of the vast tableland
of the Central Asia steppes, lifted into an Arctic air, a vast desolation. The Khanates of Turkestan have changed the drill of
their soldiery and are responsive to Russian administration; but
they are as they are, imitating and not well the flaming architecture of the days of Tamerlane and still walking in the track of
the Institutes of Bokhara. The book shops in the city of that
name are still the great center of the book-buying of Islam. If
the Emir of Afghanistan has his aeroplanes, Cabul could neither
make nor repair them. Beluchistan is where it always was. The
lithographed pages of the newspapers of Persia are a pathetic
proof of a land still in the age and bondage of the written word,
not having attained the full liberty of print. Mesopotamia, were
the English troops withdrawn, would be where Mosul was when,
as a child, I saw its gates nearly seventy years ago, as far as the
real life of the desert, the town and the rivers twain are concerned. The Armenian Soviet Republic has far more self-government than the Russian province of Erivan in 1913. Armenians
are scattered over the trade of the world. They almost monopolize in some of the cities in Europe and America the trade in
Asiatic rugs, but they have not taken a place in European banking as has Greece, nor is their trade as far-flung as that of the
Syrian merchant. Nor has the Armenian created a new literature
on the same scale as has Syria and the Syrians. The strength of
Angora is to-day the strength of the past rather than of to-day
or to-morrow. To me, the Angora group as I meet the few I
�14
'THE SYRIAN WORLD
have come in contact with, follow their work and see their utterances remind me more of the old Turkish Pashas whom I saw
as a boy after the Crimean War, than of the young Turks of
the past fifteen years, whom we once believed and hoped, alas,
m vain would recast the Ottoman rule. I am strongly inclined
to think that Mustapha Kemal Pasha would have felt much
more at home with Barbarossa, or the greater viziers of the past,
than he has with Envers Bey or even Talaat.
The Syrians have in the last seventy years added a new chapter to the loftier tone of the Arabic literature. I can myself remember seeing even Moslem eyes brighten as the poems of Nasif
el Yaziji were adequately read; how hard a task and how difficult
to achieve. A new field of fiction has been created in Syria which
influences the Arab world as a whole. Modern journalism in
Arabic has been almost wholly created by Syrians. A Syrian edits
the organ of the Shareef of Mecca, who sits in the seat of Muhammad. The leading magazine at Cairo, foremost in the Arab
world, was brought into being by Syrians. Wherever there are
newspapers in Arabic, they are generally, not always, edited by
Syrians. The new literature of the Arab tongue, in science, in
history, in the discussion of modern issues, is by no means as
large, as effective or as widespread as the like literature in the
newly awakened peoples between the Aegean and the Baltic but
the output of Syria on modern topics and the progress of to-day
exceeds that of any land or people in Southwestern Asia.
This is not due simply to access and position. Egypt has access
and position as much as Syria. Persia has as lofty a tradition. Intellectual ability is still high in Mesopotamia. Narrow as is its
intellectual tradition, cramped as it has been by fanaticism, yet
no one can fail to see that the Khanates have powerfully influenced Moslem legalism. Let us not forget, this is one of the
great systems of law, the weight of whose codes, statutes, traditions decisions and precedents are still cited and argued, and
establish property and personal rights, from the Judicial Committee of Privy Council of Westminster to the far-flung frineine
palms of the Malaysian Archipelago.
But the trading instinct of the Phoenician has carried the Syrian trader over both North and South America as well as Africa
and Southern Asia. He has penetrated to the head-waters of the
Amazon, he is to be found in all parts of the West coast of Latin
America and more than one national legislature and city ordinance
has acknowledged the superior commercial ability of the Syrian
�JUNE, 1930
15
by trying to exclude him altogether. The trade of Brazil passes
more and more into his hands and every year there appear at
Beirut from the very ends of the Western world and the outer
Eastern coast of Asia, the sons of the alumni of the American
University at Beirut returning each autumn to share the education of their fathers, at the site of the greatest university of the
Mediterranean, since the Roman Empire reached its utmost
bounds from Bactria to Britain, from the great Atlas to the
North Sea.
This cosmopolitan note lends significance and weight to the
Syrian migration of our day. I know no American city where I
have not spoken Arabic and no port on the Gulf or the Caribbean
where the Syrian is absent. Twenty-five years ago, I found a
Syrian in command in the Southwestern corner of Morocco, north
of the Atlas, of an outpost, awaiting an attack from the locally
independent tribes of Wad Sur. No more intellectual immigration has come to us in the fast forty years. None more swiftly
feels the American sprit or retains more tenaciously the sprit
of Syria and the Syrian. No melting pot is the United States.
It never has and it never will reduce our population to a common amalgam. The stocks of many European peoples and most
of the Mediterranean races have been grafted on our national
stock. There they will remain and retain their old life, strength,
genius and flavor. They all, if they abide in belief in liberty,
shall be grafted in and grow, maintaining an identity through
centuries to come.
So after three centuries, Hollander, Huguenot, men of the
Palatinate and both banks of the Rhine, of Brittany and of
Sweden and Switzerland retain their identity in their descendants.
The descendants of Baron Graffenreid of Berne who founded
Newbern are still among us. What would we not give if we had
a close and contemporaneous study of the Huguenots who came
here two centuries ago in such throngs that a sixth of Philadelphia spoke French when Franklin began his work there as a
printer? A like service has Dr. Philip K. Hitti done in his
book "The Syrians in America." His intimate acquaintance
with Syrian immigration, his sympathy with the life from
which this addition to American life comes, all these things
enable him to understand, to appreciate and to describe the Syrian in America. For all these Syrian traditions I have the deepest sympathy. There I was born and there to-day the youngest
of my father's descendants are passing their childhood days.
�16
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Aleppo, Metropolis of Northern
Syria
A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE
EDITOR'S TRIP ABROAD
IX
By
SALLOUM
A.
MOKARZEL
I^ATAKIA could have claimed more of our time by virtue of
its being the capital of that district of Syria which Renan once
described as the treasure house of the archaeologist. Its interest
lies not alone in the fact that it was a flourishing Phoenician settlement fifteen hundred years or so before Christ, but in its
checkered career during all the succeeding centuries. Relics of
Seleucides, Romans, Arabs and Crusaders in and around it are
still to be found in great abundance, and the strife of which it
was once the scene between Moslem and Christian a thousand
years after Christ forms a bloody, yet most interesting, chapter
of history. The cynical poet Abul 'Ala, who saw only with the
eye of reason, once wrote of it:
Latakia is the scene of constant strife
Between the hosts of Mahomet and Christ.
While these ring bells and cause a steady din,
The others send loud shrieks from minarets.
Each claims his faith the greatest of the two.
Granting their claims, I wonder which is true?
But our present trip was only in the nature of a reconnoitering tour and, considering the limitation of time, our itinerary
had to be carefully planned so as to permit a visit to all parts of
Syria. Our reliance was on the smattering knowledge of the historical background of the country to render the visit, short as it
is, more proportionately profitable.
Accordingly, we planned to leave Latakia as early as possible
in the afternoon in order to insure arrival at Aleppo by daylight,
and we gave our chauffeur instructions to that effect. But the
half-breed was not unlike the proverbial sailor, with a cause for
�JUNE, 1930
I
!
17
delay in every port, and a faculty for inventing for his tardiness
the most ingenious excuses. This was our first experience with
him on this score, and, unfortunately, it was not destined to be
the last.
Finally the swarthy, diminutive Lebanese-Mexican-Indian
came driving madly to the hotel. He greeted us with a broad
diabolical smile and the provoking question: "Are you ready?"
To which we could only answer in a disgusted, searching look.
But the scoundrel would not be abashed. He hastened to explain:
"\ ou see," he said, "we are about to travel in an extremely
hazardous country. Not that we are in danger of attack by highwaymen, for the roads are perfectly safe in this respect. But we
shall have to travel over mountains and through valleys where
the winds blow with the fierceness of winter gales. I know these
sections well and you can't find in all Syria another chauffeur to
compare with me in experience. Considering which I had to take
the necessary safeguards, and the cause of my delay was to secure
rope to protect my car."
Surely enough, the canvas top of the open car was securely
tied to the iron frame in all the vulnerable places. We had no
further reason to question the cause of his delay, but we were at
a loss to account for the necessity of such precaution.
To give the devil his due, we will readily admit that in this
instance the action of the chauffeur was fully warranted. We
had no sooner left the plain of Latakia and begun the ascent of
the mountain leading to the plateau of the Syrian hinterland than
we realized the truth of his prediction. The wind that played
around the barren hills and forced its way through the narrow
valley.s attained at times the velocity of a hurricane. But it was
a scorching wind which smote our faces like blasts from a raging
furnace. We had to hold handkerchiefs to our mouths and noses
as a protection against the dust and sand. It was an unconscious
imitation of the Arab in completely covering his face when caught
in a sandstorm.
But in~spite of all this discomfort, the chauffeur insisted on
talking and extolling his .foresight and his many other virtues,
gesticulating the while and lapsing into his wonted habit of relinquishing his hold on the wheel while driving at 110 kilometers.
What would my companion have given just to be able to talk
back and tell that crazy driver where he belonged. But howcould he when he was huddled in the corner of the open car
almost at the point of suffocation from the heat and the sand
�•*
•-4.
Co
o
Panoramic view of Aleppo, showing the towering form of the great fortress dominating the city.
mmm
jsmm
O
"• M^ —!
rr* rr\ * >.
'—
r\
'-.:-
in
b
�JUNE, 1930
19
and the pressure of the handkerchief. I was in a like predicament
and all we could do was to exchange occasional glances laden
with reciprocal sympathy for our common suffering.
Once across the mountains conditions became more bearable
and we began to take notice of the landscape. We could not help
admiring the fine condition of the road which was being kept in
constant repair by gangs of workmen at regular distances. We
noticed here what we had failed to see in almost all other parts
ot byria, namely milestones along the way and conspicuous road
signs inscribed in both Arabic and French at all intersections.
We crossed the Orontes over the Shagour bridge at a point
sixty-hve kilometers from Latakia. It was the first time we had
come to this historic and famous Syrian river, and the setting was
well calculated to give emphasis to the mental picture we had
formed of it. If anything, Shagour is a perfect relic of the
medieval ages. Its closely huddled houses of massive masonry
and flat roofs formed but a slight break in the uniformity of the
terrain panorama. Only the bridge was impressive by its stupendous size and the pnmitiveness of its construction.
Then began a monotonous drive through the plains of Syria
across immense stretches of fields presenting a most desolate
aspect after the harvest. Now and then we passed an isolated
town of low mud huts of conical shape, but what was most conspicuous by its absence was forestation. Both in this section and
m the vast ondulatmg territory between Aleppo and Horns and
Hama hardly a tree is to be seen except on the banks of the
Orontes or in the immediate vicinity of Muarrat Nahman A
tired laborer or a weary traveler could not find a shady nook for
scores of miles around to protect him from the scorching ravs
of the Syrian sun.
Late in the afternoon we had ample compensation for the discomforts of the journey by the welcome sight of Aleppo. The
impressive appearance of the city as one approaches it from the
west justifies its claim to the proud title of Queen of Northern
Syria. The uniformity of its attractive white buildings is broken
by its numerous mosques with their stately minarets, while dominating the city, and almost in its very center, looms the huge
form of its famous citadel. The great expanse of the city bespoke
its importance from time immemorial as the emporium of Northern Syria.
We passed through a residential quarter which in point of
modernity would compare favorably with any section of an Amer-
�=SBBgg— WA
20
mmmmmmmsBBSBssm
THE SYRIAN WORLD
A typical view of Aleppo. The mosque in the foreground being
the traditional spot where Father Abraham had his sheep pen.
ican or European city—wide streets, spacious side-walks, and so
many balconies that further carry the picture by giving the impression of fire-escapes. The streets were also uniformly clean,
even the covered bazaars presenting the appearance of extreme
care and orderliness. Here, as in Beirut and Damascus, the work
of destruction and reconstruction is going on apace, many old
quarters giving way to wide, straight boulevards.
The Hotel Baron was recommended to us as the best in the
city and thither we went to secure accommodations. The registration blank we were requested to fill is a valued memento of
our experiences. "Police regulations," the affable clerk apologetically explained when he noticed our surprise, adding that we
�JUNE, 1930
21
had the option of giving
the information in either
Arabic, English, French
or Hebrew. Here was
our "third degree."
1. Name in block capitals. 2. Nationality. 3.
Occupation. 4. Residence.
5. Date of Arrival. 6.
From where. 7. Proceeding to. 8. Ultimate destination. 9* Signature. 10.
Room No. 11. Date of
Departure.
*
Having gone through
the ordeal, we decided to
dispense with any serious
business for the evening
and see the life of the
town. I made short shift
of washing and dressing,
more especially because
of the din of a gasoline
motor which sounded as
if coming from the adjoining room. Inquiry, A detail of the fine Arabesque designs
however, brought the as- done in mosaic in one of the mosques
suring information that
of Aleppo, formerly a church.
the motor was the hotel's electric generating plant, located within the building. But in order to insure
the comfort of the guests, there was an auxiliary motor outside
the building to relieve the regular "inside" motor in night duty.
That news was certainly relieving, for how could a person
sleep with the constant detonation of a gattling gun beside his
pillow!
After the trying drive of the day we had dismissed our chauffeur and counted on going about town with a native taxi driver.
Inquiry at the desk, however, elicited the information that in the
great city of Aleppo there were no taxis. The only means of
getting about, sir, is in the reliable old horse carriages, dependable hacks of proven merit, which can take you through the tortuous, narrow alleys of the old quarters as well as through the
�22
THE SYRIAN WORLD
wide, straight boulevards
of the new quarters. And
the price is very reasonable, only three mejides
per hour (about $1.50).
Having resolved to see
the town, we figured it
would be better to see it
slowly, and slowly we
did. Everything seemed
to keep pace with the
horse, even the action of
the dancers 'and singers!
The driver informed
us that the f a m o u s
Egyptian singer, Saleh
Abdul Hay, was in the
city. The opportunity was
exceptional. Would we
want to profit by it? We
did and the driver drove
us about until the hour
set for the opening of
the performance,
The Perfumery Bazaar in Aleppo, a 9 o'clock. The theatre
typical street of the old city totally was an open-air cafe to
which the admission was
stone-vaulted.
one mejide. It was packed to overflowing with
pleasure-loving Aleppian music enthusiasts. Small and large parties were clustered around tables heaped with arac glasses and
the indispensable maza. Circulating coffee servers went about
offering their commodity to the wanting, free, in common cups.
Others carried braziers full of Jive coals to add to the waning
fire of your arghile. While still others peddled delicacies to the
fastidious.
The scene was certainly one of quiet and dignified merriment.
Not a sound was heard but that of the click of glasses and the
melodious chant of the venders. Here was a real night club of
an Oriental city but without the boisterousness of an American
or European gathering. But where was the public entertainment?
The opening was scheduled for 9 o'clock, and here it was ten-
�n
**""*'1*'
JUNE, 1930
23
thirty, and the principal
has not appeared. Could
it be that he has met with
an accideent? We were
about to leave when at
last the famous singer
made h i s triumphant
entry! He was-dressed
in impeccable European
fashion with the tarboush
as his only Oriental distinguishing mark. He
took his seat between the
oud, kanoun and violin
players amidst .deafeningapplause. It was another
fifteen minutes before he
warmed up to begin.
"Ya Leil," he began
and paused. "Ya Lei
he continued and paused
longer. And "Ya Leil/'
he repeated betwee n
1 o n g and short pauses
until more than fully
The Red Slipper Bazaar in Aleppo,
twenty minutes were conso railed because it is the centre of
sumed without him "bethe shoe trade.
ginning his song. But
such is the accepted manner of Oriental entertainment, and whoever disapproved could
leave. And that is exactly what we did because of our having lost
the Oriental sense of evaluating time. We paid a mejide each
to hear a single "Ya Leil."
Our trusted hackster, whom we found waiting at the gate,
offered to drive us to a real native resort, where there was action
and motion. The place proved to be arfother open-air cafe where
a woman sang and danced with what the natives appeared to consider a good deal of spirit. But neither her words nor her motions conveyed the suggestive interpretations one encounters on
the American vaudeville stage.
The surprising feature of this second visit was that most of
the audience were bedouin Arabs—young men in aba, koufia and
�24
THE SYRIAN WORLD
The fortress of Aleppo viezved from the main entrance showing
the tzvo gates and the bridge over the moat.
ighal and patent leather pumps. They displayed all the primitive
qualities of the sons of the destrt in these urban surroundings and
appeared to thoroughly enjoy the performance.
The night at the hotel was a truly miserable one. The sheets
were clean and the bed comfortable. But the din of the infernal
dynamo was not conducive to sleep. True, they had shifted from
the one inside to the one outside, but the change did not improve
the situation. The night motor was directly below my window!
Next morning we were up, perforce, bright and early, and
we decided to take a stroll for a further and fuller inspection of
the town. We had not reckoned that there would be many others
up and about much earlier than we. We had gone less than half
a square when we were accosted by two little tots in rags who
appeared to be not much older than six and four. Their disheveled long hair hung over their shoulders and their dirty dresses,
made apparently of plain sacks, trailed on the ground. They
were on the side of my companion, and the elder, with one hand
holding on to his baby brother, and the other outstretched in begging appeal, mechanically repeated: "A small barghout, a small
barghout," this being the smallest monetary denomination. The
alms given them was not a small but a big barghout. But I could
�ir >
JUNE, 1930
IUMIBW
25
Close-up of the main tower at the entrance of the Aleppo forttress showing some details of the fine work in what once formed
the^ residence of the lords of the city.
see that the effect of this early scene on my companion was anything but favorable. It was but natural to feel pity for the sad
plight of two children of such tender age, but the mind of the
business executive wandered in other fields. John began to reason: "Why should the government permit such vagrancy? Both
from humanitarian and utilitarian considerations orphanages or
asylums should be provided to care for destitute children, where
they could be taught some trade for their future self-support.
Where in civilized countries are such young children permitted
to drift about and subsist by begging? Much reform seems to be
still needed in this land!"
Later in the morning I visited the office of At-Takaddum,
the daily Arabic paper of Aleppo. I hope I am not betraying
any confidence by echoing the complaint of the editor that its
circulation is shamefully small, barely reaching 1500, for a city
of the size of Aleppo which claims a population of almost 200,000. The explanation was equally surprising: The lower classes
seemed to have a certain apathy for reading, while the educated
L.
�26
"THE SYRIAN WORLD
class read almost exclusively foreign papers. In all, the proportion of the patrons of the press could scarcely rise over one or
two per cent.
To one who had had the preconceived notion that Aleppo
was a city of arts and letters these revelations were shocking.
But perhaps the interest of the people was directed into other
channels. I had known that the Maronite bishopric of the city
enjoyed a long and brilliant record of scholarly pursuits and
achievement, and I would visit its press which I was told was
located in the "Crusaders' " Street, an odd name for a street in a
city located so far in the interior of Syria and never occupied
by the Crusaders. Here I was pleasantly surprised to discover
the nearest approach to a modern press among all the native
printing establishments in Syria. I was advised that the press
is maintained by a special trust fund which yields an adequate
income. Its specialty is religious and scholarly publications. My
visit later to the bishop's house further confirmed what I had
learned of the sustained interest of this religious institution in
scholarly pursuits. Bishop Michael Akras had his secretary, Father Elias Galy, conduct me to the formal reception hall opening on the patio of the building. The room proved to be
nothing less than an immense treasury of rare manuscripts carefully sorted and catalogued. All around ran bookcases reaching
to the ceiling with here and there a few portraits of former
bishops of the diocese. It was evident from the atmosphere of
the place that the arts and letters were fully appreciated in this
institution where such traditions have been maintained in unknown continuity since the time of the famous Arabic poet and
scholar Bishop Germanos Farhat, who lived about a century and
a half ago. In a prominent position on the wall hung a life-like
painting of St. Elias, patron saint of the cathedral, which the
admiring guide told me dated from 1489. It was executed on
parchment, making possible the finest shades and details. Other
objects of art were to be seen all about the room.
Such, then, is the setting in which the Maronite bishop of
Aleppo holds formal functions and receives distinguished visitors.
We had reached the bishop's residence through a covered
street lighted, even in daytime, by kerosene wall lamps. It is a
peculiarity of this old quarter of the city that most of its public
streets are in the form of underground passages. But once within
the gate of a residence you emerge into a spacious court flooded
with sunshine and smiling with shrubbery and trees. In places
�JUNE, 1930
27
the streets are not on an even level and as one peers through the
semi-darkness, with the flickering light of the street lamps creating fantastic shadows, one cannot help imagining oneself in some
sub-terranean passage of an immense medieval fortress or in the
intiricate maze of a catacomb. Strategic reasons undoubtedly
forced the building of the old city in this manner.
Even the square of the cathedral, which we had to pass on
our way out, was completely inclosed, access to it being available
only through vaulted passages, commonly called streets.
What perhaps is the most impressive sight in Aleppo is its
famous fortress. The main gateway and the ramparts are in a
fair state of preservation, and the purity of its Arabic architecture
is a delight to the eye. The perfectly smooth sides of the hill
on which the fortress stands attest the truth of the contention
that it is mostly artificial, so raised as to dominate the city. Facing the main gate is an immense open square that has withstood
building encroachment, but in other directions building has been
carried to the very edge of the driveway skirting the deep moat.
We arrived at the fortress shortly before noon and the Senegalese guards, after much persuasion, would permit us access
only to the second gate across the bridge.
Public visits are permitted only at 4 in the afternoon, and
although we could have applied to Mr. Lavastre, local representative of the High Commissioner to whom I had been recommended, for a special permission, we decided that possible formalities might delay our departure which we had planned for
the early afternoon considering the long distance we had to cover.
What we had already seen of the immensity and ornate decorations and vestiges of former splendor of this great fort was considered sufficient reward for anyone's pains to travel any distance
to see. After all, the finest specimens of art work are in the
facade of the main entrance. The outer tower guarding the bridge
is imposing as a piece of masonry, but the architect's and the decorator's art is chiefly in evidence at the main gate and the huge
building rising over it. King Al-Zaher, son of the famous Saladin, had lavished untold wealth on improvements in the fortress
which he meant for his official residence at the time he considered
making Aleppo the capital of Syria. Additions and decorative
details were later introduced by Sultan Kalil ibn Kalaoun about
1250. Throughout the decorative details, the nail and horseshoe
motif predominate.
Running along a section of the fortress is a broad boulevard
�11
'
28
"" '"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lined with tall shade trees. Here one comes across a scene that is
typically Oriental in its picturesqueness and a relic of the ages of
long ago. In the cool shade, lined against the wall of an old
barracks, are the curators of that old Oriental institution known
as "public scribes." There they are with all their versatility waiting to write you anything from a letter to an absent husband or
son, to a petition to the governor. In former days they used to
squat on the ground and hold court wherever convenient. Now
they are assigned definite places and enjoy the luxury of a desk.
Modern conditions have not succeeded in completely eliminating
them, however. They are there to this day and seem to be enjoying a thriving business.
On Hatred
By G. K.
GIBRAN
Oftentimes I have hated in self-defense; but if I were
stronger I would not have used such a weapon.
*
*
*
How stupid is he who would patch the hatred in his eyes
with the smile of his lips.
*
*
*
Only those beneath me can envy or hate me.
I have never been envied nor hated; I am above no one.
Only those above me can praise or belittle me.
I have never been praised nor belittled; I am below no one.
*
*
*
Your saying .to me, "I do not understand you," is praise
beyond my worth, and an insult you do not deserve.
�29
JUNE, 1930
Love Among the Arabs
A SHORT STORY
Adapted from the Arabic Original.
THE Arabs of Al-Jahiliat, or pre-Islamic era, were noted for
the fierceness of their zeal in guarding the honor of their
women. A girl would be trusted to wander alone in the wilderness shepherding the flocks, but once she was suspected of contracting a secret friendship, she was immediately and mercilessly
secluded. If her love affair attained such proportions as to become
a topic for public gossip, the cruel custom prevailed of interring
her alive. The father would resort to this method as a last extremity in expiation for the family honor and the tribe's good
reputation.
This custom of burying alive maidens suspected of straying
on the hazardous road of romance before marriage was later so
modified as to only ban the marriage of offending couples. Most
of the love epics among the Arabs are based on such cases. The
famous case of Majnoun Lila, who when forbidden from meeting his beloved, deserted civilization and roamed for the rest of
his life among the wild beasts, affords the most striking example.
Kais Ibn Al-Molawah, the real name of Majnoun, which is but
a nickname meaning "madman," was one of the foremost Arab
poets who sang of tragic love and the pangs of separation.
To this common rule there were, however, some noteworthy
exceptions. The love affair of gallant Mussab and beautiful
Rihana was one such. The happy ending of the courtship was
due mainly to the self-assertion of the lady and her insistence
on marrying only the man of her choice.
This tale of romantic courtship and happy marriage abounds
in incidents indicative of the finest Arab virtues. It is here told
in strict conformity to the spirit of Arab chroniclers who revel in
lauding the chivalrous and the beautiful.
The persona; dramatis of the play are the two young people
directly involved} the father of the maiden, a prince of his tribe;
a troubadour poet who was instrumental in bringing about the
meeting of the principals, and last but not least, a famous mare
of a powerful chieftain which was required of the aspiring young
man as a dowry.
�HMHMHMMMMHMMMMHMfHMMH
30
THE SYRIAN WORLD
Following is the manner in which the tale is told in the
Arabic original:
Providence had been most generous to Mussab, a scion of the
powerful tribe of Beni Sakhr, in gifts of personal distinction. In
hospitality he was unexcelled, in war he was ever victor, in debate
and in conversation he possessed the strongest argument and the
most captivating charm, and in physical appearance he was the
handsomest of men.
But Mussab was not of princely blood nor of exceeding
wealth.
In the north of Arabia Emir Faiz ruled over a powerful
tribe. His only daughter was Aida, a maiden of extraordinary
intelligence and charm, who had been wooed by many but accepted none. Her people were extremely proud of her and looked
up to her with the reverence of subjects to their queen, although,
in her extreme affability, she treated them as brothers. They
called her "Rihana", a term applied to aromatic flowers.
There also lived in those days a certain troubadour whose
name was Sayyah and who roamed the land singing the praise
of princes and chieftains of distinction among the Arabs. At regular intervals he alternated his visits between the tribe of Beni
Sakhr in the south and the tribe of Emir Faiz in the north. In
his accounts of his experiences he unfailingly lauded to the Sakhrs
the virtues of Emir Faiz and particularly his gifted daughter
Rihana, and to the tribe of Emir Faiz he was loud in his praise of
the extraordinary qualities of Beni Sakhr and particularly their
idol and youth without peer, Mussab.
In this manner he was unconsciously instrumental in kindling
the fires of love between Mussab and Rihana. Often, at the request of Mussab, Sayyah would spend nights giving accounts of
the extraordinary qualities of Rihana both from personal knowledge and current legend.
Mussab felt a strong urge to ask for the hand of Rihana in
marriage and was restrained only by the fear of being refused
owing to his station in life. To him who was the strongest in
battle and the most open-handed in hospitality such a blow to his
pride would be well nigh unbearable.
Rihana, on her part, had innumerable offers of marriage.
Many were the princes and men of great wealth who sought her
of her father but were refused because the proud princess had
formed the decision that only Mussab was her worthy mate.
Her father had left her destiny in her hands, and she abided her
�JUNE, 1930
31
time and awaited the periodical visits of the roaming poet with
increasing impatience.
One day Sayyah made an unexpected appearance at the camp
of Beni Sakhr. This time he was louder than ever in his praise
of Rihana. To the interested group of men that gathered about
him he repeated the verses which he said Rihana was fond of
reciting lately, to the effect that
Heed not the accident of birth, but let good deeds
Replace the honor of a noble blood.
The man is what he rriakes himself, not he
Who can but boast of what his father was.
Mussab took sufficient courage from this quotation to overcome his timidity—Rihana was bidding him overlook the causes
which had so far prevented him from seeking her hand. She was
far above considering the mere accident of birth a valid reason
for overlooking the merit of personal achievement. And he
forthwith prepared himself for the journey to the country of
the Arabs of the North.
Incognito, Mussab sought hospitality at the tent of the Emir.
There he remained three days receiving treatment as an honored
guest without a question being asked as to his motives or his
identity. Feasts were spread and conversations held but without
the slightest infringements on the accepted proprieties of hospitality. The guest was found to be of a most charming personality and entertaining manner, and Rihana always took a position behind a partition in the tent where she could hear and see
without herself being observed. She very soon came to the conclusion that if she were to marry any other than Mussab, her
choice would be this fascinating guest.
At the conclusion of the prescribed three days of hospitality,
Emir Faiz asked of his guest, "Who may be the brother Arab
whom we have the pleasure of entertaining?" And Mussab revealed his identity, and was received with further expressions
of welcome. Then the Emir asked, "And what may be the object
of the guest's visit?" To which Mussab replied, "To become
unto the exalted Emir like one of his sons."
No more welcome news could have been broken to Rihana,
but to her father it was the cause of a perplexing dilemma. How
could he consent to giving his famous daughter to an Arab of
common birth after having turned down many wealthy notables
and powerful emirs? In personal qualifications, Mussab was
�32
THE SYRIAN WORLD
fully acceptable to Emir Faiz, but have not the Arabs said:
"Marry your son to people of might, but your daughter to people
of position and wealth?
Not willing, however, to definitely refuse such a sterling
man without plausible excuse, the Emir finally asked of him as
dowry for his daughter the famous mare Nuhama, the pride of
all Arabia, belonging to Emir Malik of the powerful tribe of
Beni Aida.
Plead as he may, Mussab could not shake Emir Faiz from
his decision. He then realized that the request was but to test
his courage and resourcefulness and resolved to secure the coveted mare whatever the cost.
Without returning to his tribe, Mussab made directly for
the Valley of Beisan, the camping ground of Emir Malik. He
loitered for several days around the camp in the hope of scenting
news of the Emir and his famous mare, and what he discovered
only tended to add to his difficulties. For the Emir could not be
conquered in battle, nor was his vigil over the mare ever relaxed
sufficiently to permit of her being stolen. Still Mussab would not
despair.
One day Mussab learned that the Emir was about to visit
some of his outlying districts alone, and he laid his plans carefully to profit of this singular opportunity. He therefore inquired
about the route that the Emir was to follow, and laid in wait
for him on the way. He would resort to a ruse so long as the
mare could not be taken otherwise.
Noticing the Emir approach, Mussab began to roll on the
ground as if writhing in pain. The Emir dismounted and offered
assistance to the extent of having the supposedly unfortunate man
mount the mare while he led her by the halter. But Mussab
would have none of that: "Is it not enough that so exalted a prince
should walk while I ride that he should also lead himself the
mount of one who is not fit to be his servant?"
The ring of sincerty in Mussab's speech was so convincing
that the Emir reluctantly released the halter, at which the supposedly helpless sufferer immediately stiffened in the saddle and
Nuhama's fleet feet soon left the bewildered Emir far behind.
In bitter remorse, Emir Malik bit his fingers until they bled,
but before Mussab was out of hearing he called on him to halt
for a parting word.
"What is the wish of my lord the Emir?" asked Mussab.
'You well realize, brother Arab," pleaded Emir Malik, "what
�JUNE, 1930
33
every Arab's horse is to him, particularly what Nuhama is to me.
I beseech you to return her to me and ask what you will in money
or cattle."
But Mussab could not at that time think of Emir Malik's
loss in Nuhama as much as of his own loss in Rihana. Here was
a princess and a mare placed in the balance, and to the lovestricken Mussab there was no price too great for winning the hand
of his beloved. The plea of Emir Malik fell on deaf ears.
But as he again turned to go the Emir begged of him to listen
to a final word, and while Mussab remained mounted and at a
safe distance, he said:
"Now that you are in possession of Nuhama I willingly relinquish to you all right in her. Take her and may Allah reform
your ways. But when you reach your people they will surely
insist upon you telling them how you came by this highly prized
horse. Now take my advice and conceal the truth. For if you
tell them that you won her by a base ruse you will set a disreputable precedent among the Arabs, and owing to the result of your
deception and perfidy, no one would thereafter be willing to
lend a stricken wayfarer a helping hand. This would kill every
emotion of honor in the breasts of men. But what I advise you
to do is to say that you have met Emir Malik in fair combat and
killed him and won his mare. By this you will preserve my honor
and yours and maintain unsullied the record of Arab chivalry."
Up to this time Mussab had only thought of Rihana, and of
the mare as but a means of winning her hand. But at the words
of the Emir the chords of his nobler feelings were touched, and
for a few moments he was the prey of the most conflicting emotions. Should he, the chivalrous Mussab, be guilty of such a base
trick for the sake of a girl? Not on the honor of the Arabs! And
he forthwith dismounted and returned the mare to the astonished
Emir, remarking: "Not even for Rihana will I take Nuhama.
Much above both do I value my honor."
Emir Malik soon extracted from the confused young man
the full story of his rash and desperate action, but whatever the
causes, the valiant Emir could not conceive of anything nobler
than the return of Nuhama after once having had possession of
her, and his admiration of Mussab was beyond bounds. He insisted that he return with him to his camp, and there displayed
to him the extreme of hospitality. And at the end of three days
Emir Malik further surprised his guest by declaring that he
�34
THE SYRIAN WORLD
would accompany him in person to Emir Faiz and seek for him
the hand of Rihana.
Needless to say that Emir Faiz received his guests with the
greatest manifestations of joy and hospitality, and one evening,
while all the notables of the Arabs of the North were gathered
in the tent of Emir Faiz, Emir Malik solemnly recounted to
them the peerless deed of Mussab. Then addressing Emir Faiz
he said: "If thy demand for Nuhama is a test of Mussab's courage and resourcefulness, thou shouldst realize that his character
should be above such tests. But if in truth thou desirest Nuhama
as dowry for thv daughter, then both the mare and her owner
are at thy disposal. If I were the father of Rihana and had such
as Mussab ask for her hand I would give her to him in preference
to a hundred Arab emirs of noble blood."
To which Rihana's father replied: "If such is thy sentiment,
O noble prince, and such the chivalry of Mussab, I shall not be
the knave among the three. From this moment Rihana is Mussab's bride, while Nuhama remains thy proud property, and from
this day till the day of judgment there shall be peace and friendship between the tribe of Beni Aida and the Arabs of the North."
The festivities attending the nuptials of Mussab and Rihana
were unequalled in splendor among the Arabs of that age. After
which Mussab returned with his bride to his tribe of Beni Sakhr,
while Emir Faiz rode at the head of a chosen band of his men
to escort Emir Malik to his country in the Valley of Beisan.
On Temper
Translated from the Arabic by J. D.
CARLYLE
Yes, Leila, I swore by the fire of thine eyes,
I ne'er could a sweetness unvaried endure;
The bubbles of spirit, that sparkling arise,
Forbid life to stagnate and render it pure.
But yet, my dear maid, tho' thy spirit's my pride,
I'd wish for some sweetness to temper the bowl;
If life be ne'er suffer'd to rest or subside,
It may not be flat, but I fear 't will be foul.
i
�I
JUNE, 1930
35
Lebanon Mountaineers Take Up
Health Insurance
By
STUART CARTER DODD
Professor of Sociology, American University of Beirut.
J7IGHT years ago a young Syrian doctor, a graduate of the
American University of Beirut, settled in his native village
of Duma in the Lebanon. Gradually he acquired the confidence
of the people and came to be familiar with the sicknesses and
pains of every one of them.
One day Dr. Rasheed Ma'took suggested to the father of
one family that they arrange a group fee for the doctor's attendances on his family, instead of paying for each visit. He pointed
out that his family was large and when sickness came several of
them were apt to be ill at once. He found it difficult to pay the
fees when so many came at once, but could do it well if scattered
over the year. The doctor knew that on the average the total,
number of calls during a year to such a family did not vary
greatly. So they arranged an annual fee in return for which the
doctor was to care for all sickness in that family. The father now
could set aside a certain amount from his income each month, or
pi the annual harvest time when cash could be in hand, to pay
for health care of his family.
The idea was passed around of an evening on the village
doorsteps or under the walnut tree in the vineyard of a Sunday
afternoon. Other heads of families observed how the doctor
would go to that family without the father having to think of
the fee each time. They saw how the doctor would stop there
and advise what to do to keep the rest from catching some current sickness. Soon other families had made similar bargains
with the doctor to care for their health on an annual salary basis
The community was a typical Lebanon mountain village. One
half of its nominal population of 5,000 had emigrated to better
their fortune in foreign continents. But most of these still called
this "home" and returned to marry, or die, or to visit their relatives and childhood home. On any doorstep your host would
hail passing villagers and introduce his guest—a cousin returned
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
36
from twenty years in the Klondyke, a neighbor who had made
his fortune in Australia, a friend who was studying medicine in
America, an ex-cowpuncher from the Argentine, an ex-boss in a
steel mill in Pittsburgh, or his nephew away at school in Beirut.
Education had come to the village seventy-five years ago and
become a cult. Now sixty to ninety per cent, of the people of
Duma are literate in a country without free public schools and
a very low general literacy rate. In the smaller villages where
there is no school, the literacy is very much less.
The villages depend mostly on silk worm culture. A little
wheat is grown on the floor of the valley, olive trees and grapevines for local use surround most of the houses, and sheep and
goats are herded over the barren mountain slopes. The ancient
cedars and all the forests have long since gone and only diligent
terracing holds enough soil to grow anything. Most of the land
is devoted to raising mulberry trees whose leaves support the
silk worms. Wealth is reckoned by the yardstick of "He owns
so and so many mulberry trees." At one tree every three meters,
this measures acreage. The harvest season is June when the
cocoons are ready for sale and cash is in hand to pay all debts.
There are now six hundred families that are insured. This
means around six thousand individuals, as with the patriarchal
joint family system persisting, the average family is large. This
is about one-half of the population of the twelve villages in the
valley. Two hundred families pay two Turkish gold pounds
(about $9.00) each a year, two hundred pay one gold pound,
one hundred pay half of a gold pound, and one hundred are
included free. The amount to be paid by each family is determined, neither by the size of the family nor by the frequency of
sickness it has had in the past, but, by the ability to pay. Each is
assessed according to the number of mulberry trees, cattle or
other sources of income it possesses. The village meets in caucus
and then the elders draw up the neatly handwritten list in Arabic
script informing the doctor how the village will collect their
share of his annual stipend.
Generally no difficulty is met in collecting the amount, because its charges are less than former doctors' fees. The public
opinion strongly sanctions payment. Dr. Ma'took firmly believes
that the scheme is worth continuing because of its good effect
upon the general health, but, unfortunately, he had kept no statistical records of sickness to demonstrate the results in an objective form.
:f Bl— —
�——
JUNE, 1930
-"
37
One big difficulty presents itself at the start and serves to
deter neighboring doctors from adopting the plan more widely.
When payment is no longer proportionate to the number of calls,
anyone can call on the doctor for every little ache and pain and
enormously increase his work. This happened to Dr. Ma'took.
But instead of giving up the plan it drove him to a defensive
adaptation of a distinctly social sort. He proceeded to educate the
villagers to take care of themselves. Whenever he was called for
a child's digestive upset, he would call in the whole family and
the neighbors and tell them what to do for such symptoms and
how to feed children properly. When he visited a malaria case,
the neighbors as usual would gather and he would instruct them
in the use of a thermometer and quinine so that only in the most
serious cases need they call for him to come riding five or six
miles over the mountain trails. For contagious cases, he instructed
the headman about isolation and simple disinfection techniques
so that the neighbors would insist on a child with measles being
promptly isolated from the other children. This campaign of!
education proved successful to the point where now the number
of calls upon him per month is less than formerly under the feeper-visit system—and the villagers have learned hygiene.
From the social point of view the complete shift of emphasis
from curative to preventive medicine is the biggest feature to
consider in evaluating the plan. Flis selfish interest as well as
his altruistic impulses are lined up behind preventive work of
educating people in hygiene and sanitation. It will mean less
work for him in the future if the villagers eliminate a source
of mosquitoes and malaria; it will mean a more loyal clientele
if he inoculates them for small pox and they see that only clients
of other doctors get the disease; it will mean not only fewer calls
but public prestige when he insists that the school management,
in order to reduce colds and measles, establishes proper hygienic
precautions among the children. When the influenza swept
through the country he rode from doorstep to doorstep advising
the families how to guard themselves. His authority and intimate
touch with the simple villagers enable health education that no
amount of public print, lectures, or posters could accomplish. He
advises both the children and the parents in the home itself,
knowing its conditions and traditions. He is thus able to attack
the whole situation and not the ailment or defect of one member
of the family, which may often be but a symptom of the habits
in the home. The family doctor, in short, has become completely
�38
THE SYRIAN WORLD
"socialized."
But he is not a public health officer salaried by the government. He can be economically supported in a community too
poor to pay taxes to support a Public Health department. But
more important is the motivation which is retained by this plan
and may be lost in a government official, appointed or elected by
devious ways. Here the doctor must keep the confidence of each
family and give service that satisfies it or at any time it may leave
the annual payment basis and revert to a fee-by-the-visit basis
with a rival doctor. But without being a government official he
acts as such, for his selfish interest in his practice is best prompted
by interceding with the government to improve health conditions—whether the need is a mosquito campaign, free vaccine,
hospital care of a destitute tubercular or insane case, or literature
on baby welfare.
In evaluating the factors that make this insurance plan work,
the factor of the personal qualities of Dr. Ma'took needs investigation. How far is the plan feasible elsewhere and how far is
its success here due to his particular qualities? For evidence on
this point some cases of the doctor's personal leadership will be
described and then a case of the plan worked out by a different
doctor.
The health insurance plan is only one among several projects
through which Dr. Ma'took is striving towards his avowed life
purpose—to create co-operation among the different sects and
factions in his villages towards the public welfare. The project
of controlling the floods of the river is famous all over the Lebanon. A rock ledge blocks the valley and prevents the swift
mountain torrent from washing the deforested hillsides out to
sea as fast as they erode. Behind this ledge silt has been deposited until a strip of land two miles in length has been built up.
This strip is flat in remarkable distinction from all the other rugged valleys of the Lebanon. The stream used to change its channel during the Spring rains and flood the floor of the valley,
killing the wheat, yellowing the mulberry leaves till the worms
even turned against them, and covering the fertile land with a
layer of pebbles often a foot deep. Dr. Ma'took succeeded in
collecting the villagers and organizing their desire to straighten
and deepen the channel. The banks were bound by planting willow trees along them and by throwing up dykes of pebbles. Here
and there a sluice gate of sticks would allow the water with its
silt to run over the land under control while sifting out the
HHiHnanHD
i
�MM
JUNE, 1930
39
pebbles. Each property holder in the valley was assigned a share
to be paid in money or labor as he preferred. Each Spring after
the rains the doctor appoints a day when the villages will gather
and inspect the damages, decide on repairs, and allocate shares
in proportion to property ownership. The government has nothing to do with the scheme; the enforcement of the decisions
upon the lazy is accomplished by the force of public opinion
brought to bear in very personal and forceful ways by the neighbors and the doctor himself. Its proven advantage in enabling
wheat to be grown between the mulberry trees on the valley floor
and in improving all crops is the chief incentive, however, to
every man to contribute his share.
Another illustration of the personal leadership factor in the
success of the insurance system was the case of the telegraph
service. Negotiations had been made with the Government which
had agreed to furnish the wire and a wireman, if the villages
would furnish the poles and labor to bring the telegraph line
from the plain up two thousand feet to the valley where Duma
and the other eleven villages were situated. But the villages
could not raise the money. Several attempts had been made and
each time the official had pocketed the contributions collected.
So Dr. Ma'took decided to get action in a form which was not
open to being frustrated by official corruption. One morning the
village saw him walking down the road with a pick over his shoulder. On being questioned he replied he was "going to dig a hole
for a telegraph pole." Others followed the example of the idolized professional man turned day laborer. The idea caught hre
and within two weeks, with the co-operative labor of the whole
village, four hundred poles had been cut and planted and the
telegraph line was brought to town.
It is quite characteristic also of Dr. Ma'took that he does not
believe in settling troubles and disputes among the people
through the court. He aims at reconciliation and mutual understanding. His personality and prestige enabled him to assume
the position of judge for the farmers and many a story is being
told of how he peacefully settled a bitter quarrel. It is for this
purpose that he is now studying law two months a year in the
University of Damascus.
His future plans are still more adventurous. He is planning
to have the villages send one of their boys to specialize in agriculture, then come back and scientifically develop the production
of the valley. Building a modern hospital for the district is being
�40
THE SYRIAN WORLD
thought of and discussed. Perhaps still bolder than any of these
is his idea of turning the richly endowed Lebanon Monasteries
into centers of education!
Dr. Ma'took's own evaluation of the personal factor is worthy of being quoted. "The urgent need of my country is not for
educated young men, but rather for those few of them who are
willing to go back to their villages and are able to win the public
confidence in leading the people to act in co-operation for the
common welfare."
Advocates of social insurance, national health insurance, and
such measures may well consider this type of insurance. It works
in a community where insurance by the government or a company is unknown and would make no headway. It comprises personal elements of confidence and individual advice and group
education which no large organized insurance project can hope
to include to such a degree. Under such a prospect, practice in
rural regions which is now avoided by young medical school
graduates, may acquire a new dignity and attractiveness.
The Prophet
By
THOMAS ASA
To G. K. G.
A trackless empire hearkened to thy word,—
Rose from primordial dust to dreaming spires;
Infused it with the voice of Godly lyres,
Lead by the vision of the sacred Bird
Of Heaven, whose message thou hast heard}
And from thy heart emerged the fusing fires,
And love divine in sodden minds inspires;—
Rule thine own people, in one nation gird.
And thou hast formed in thy short span of life,
From Sedrat's shaded desert thou hast made,
An ever-shining beacon to thy fame;
That all the world may wonder that the strife
Of thine own musing, God-like soul hast laid
The enduring wisdom of thy noble name.
�I
41
JUNE, 1930
EDITORIAL COMMENT
ANOTHER
\
MILESTONE
YY/ITH this issue THE SYRIAN
WORLD passes another milestone on the road of public
service. It has completed its
fourth year and now enters
upon the fifth. On its past record we shall refrain from any
comment, leaving to our readers the responsibility of judging its merits, its accomplishments and its earnest effort at
improvement. Nor shall we
dwell upon the discussion of
whatever plans we may have
for the future. What we may
be permitted to say, in all modesty, is that we have always
striven to give of our best in
the past, and that we shall continue to bend all our energy
and devote all our resources
towards continued and progressive improvement in the
future. We shall not, however,
venture on the hazardous path
of making any definite promise. Our record of sustained
and unstinted effort during the
past four years should be sufficient proof of our intentions.
Still it should be no secret
that, owing to difficulties of
various natures, the travel so
far has been extremely arduous. This should not imply,
however, that these difficulties
are insurmountable. THE SYR-
* KSoSfctafra , .
IAN WORLD is already an established institution which should
endure for the proven moral
prestige it brings to our race in
America. And endure it shall
because the will to continue it
exists, and the way should not
be difficult to find.
To that group of loyal
friends who have constantly
given of their encouragement
and collaboration goes our
heartiest gratitude. They shall
always be remembered as having most liberally contributed
to the success of the movement
for the Syrian reawakening.
A detailed account of their individual contributions will be
given in due time. They were
the first to grasp the importance
of the mission of THE SYRIAN
WORLD and the strongest to
foster and sustain it, and future
generations should always remember them in the fullest
sense of appreciation and gratitude.
We shall enter upon our
fifth year strong in the faith
of their continued support and
growing interest.
SYRIANS ONLY
A LTHOUGH written some
six years ago as an introduction to Dr. Philip K. Hitti's
book "The Syrians in Amer-
�E
42
ica," Dr. Talcott Williams'
eulogistic appraisal of the SyrSan people should always be
timely, especially to the Syrians themselves, and for this
reason we are reproducing it
in this issue. We would call on
our readers to ponder well the
statements of Dr. Williams,
whose place among American
educators and thinkers was appropriately recognized by his
appointment as director of the
School of Journalism at Columbia University, which office
he filled until his death.
Coming from such an authority, the testimony as to their
glorious past should be fully
appreciated by the Syrians, as
well as the. evaluation of their
splendid qualifications as desiralile immigrants.
What should be more relevant in the thesis is the author's
opinion on the supposed function of the so-called melting
pot. The lesson the Syrians
should derive from the writer's
trend of reasoning is obvious.
He answers for us the question
as to whether or not we should
forgo our rightful name or our
racial heritage. Certainly, as
would seem plain from the
study of our past history and
from our record in America,
we have every reason to be
proud of our race and of our
name. We have our place in the
sun and we should adhere to it
and defend it. We have estab-
THE SYRIAN WORLD
lished for ourselves a name
that we should not trade for
another. The Syrian should be
proud to be called Syrian and
to work to add lustre to the
name. For the last half century
we have been known in America as Syrians, and as Syrians
only we should continue to be
known. It is an admission of
inferiority to countenance a
change.
TALENT AVAILABLE
brilliant success of the
T HE
convention of Syrian societies held under the auspices of
the Syrian-American Society of
New London, Conn., at the
latter city on June 22, gives
rise to a timely and pertinent
suggestion. Why not call on
our best talent, wherever and
whenever available, to fittingly
represent us at such gatherings
when Americans are invited to
participate, or to insure the full
moral benefit of such meetings
when Syrians alone attend? The
question, we believe, is worthy
of serious consideration.
At the convention of SyrianAmerican societies at New London, the mayor and many other
high officials of the city attended. What they saw and heard
tended to confirm their belief
in the high moral standard of.
the Syrians, their industry, lawabidedness, integrity and desirability as stock for American
citizenship. Syria's place in
�HBi
JUNE, 1930
history, old as it is, was made
evident anew to the mixed
audience, inspiring in Americans a higher respect and in the
Syrians themselves a fuller
sense of self-esteem. This is a
most constructive method for
making better citizenry.
The presence of N. A. Mokarzel, editor of Al-Hoda; of
Ameen Rihani, well-known
author, lecturer and traveler}
of Faris Maloof, prominent
Syrian lawyer of Boston, as
well as of many other distinguished visitors swelling the
ranks of delegations from nearby and distant cities of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New
York, afforded a material contribution to the already fine
representation of the host society.
For having shown such
broad vision, intelligent initiative and befitting racial pride
in our native talent, the SyrianAmerican Society of New London is to be highly commended.
We Syrians in America are
comparatively a very small
group, and, aside from those of
pivotal centers, few Syrian
communities in the United
States number more than a few
hundred. Nevertheless the necessity exists that they should be
properly represented. They
command higher respect and
enhance their local prestige
when outstanding individuals
of their race are called upon
to assist in their public functions. Furthermore, such policy
would materially assist in
building up the prestige of the
race nationally.
THE SYRIAN WORLD offers
its services to communities and
organizations to promote work
of this nature by being ready
to supply necessary information on the availability of native
talent for public functions.
There are among us many lawyers and able public speakers
who we are sure will subscribe
to the idea. We may be able to
advise .applicants on the availability of talent perhaps in their
immediate locality, thereby dispensing with the necessity of
calling them from distant
places.
Although these remarks are
made in their broadest sense,
we would illustrate by citing a
case in point. We now have
among us our celebrated author
and lecturer, Ameen Rihani,
who by his lectures at universities and before the most
intellectual and critical audiences throughout the United
States has brought much honor
to the Syrian name. We maintain that if he is so appreciated
by others he should be more
so by us. His presence is bound
to lend prestige to every gathering and we would be passing
by a rare opportunity by not
profiting of his cooperation
during his stay among us. Sure-
�""*
THE SYRIAN WORLD
44
ly his convenience will have to
be consulted owing to his heavy
speaking program, but we cannot conceive of the possibility
of his refusing invitations from
his own people whenever feasible. In case of necessity we
can draft him to the service of
our common cause. His sense
of racial duty, however, renders such a course unlikely.
Another outstanding figure
is our scholar and historian Dr.
Philip K. Hitti of Princeton
whom we know to be much
sought after as a speaker to the
most select audiences. He also
should be drafted to the service of the common cause. We
have a right to the services of
such of our distinguished men
and they should not evade the
call to duty. The Rev. W. A.
Mansur of Nebraska is another
able representative who should
be available within a certain
radius from his city, and we
feel confident that he can do
honor to every public occasion.
Only when these and others,
too numerous to be here mentioned,find it impossible to respond should we forgo the advantage of their presence. We
should awaken to the necessity
of mobilizing our native talent
for the most effective service
they can give. It would be gross
negligence on the part of our
scattered Syrian communities
not to avail themselves of such
opportunities.
'
ORGANIZATION
HERE is an object lesson
to the Syrians of America
in a recent example set by the
Jews. The number of Palestinian Jews in the country does not
exceed five thousand, yet they
have formed a national federation of their societies at a convention held in New York and
attended by one hundred delegates. Could not the Syrians be
brought together to work in cooperation and harmony when
their number in the countrv
exceeds 250,000?
T
PUBLICATION DATES
pOLLOWING the precedent
etablished last year, THE
SYRIAN WORLD will suspend
publication during July and
August of this year also, as well
as during each following year
until further notice. This would
make the regular year of THE
SYRIAN WORLD ten months, a
practice followed by many other publications of a special
character.
Owing to the editor's absence
in Syria last year we had fallen
behind our regular publication
dates. This delay will be eliminated in the future when we
hope to resume our former
method of publishing each issue at the beginning instead of
at the end of its particular
month. The coming issue for
September will therefore appear early in that month.
I^^M
-•
�.—m
JUNE, 1930
45
Spirit of the Syrian Press
Under this caption we hope to present from time to time a microcosmic
picture of the Arabic press, not only in this country, but wherever Arabic
dailies and magazines reflect the opinions of responsible, thinking writers
who are treating the different problems that confront the Arabic-speaking
world from all conceivable angles. Needless to say, we will take no part in
the discussions reproduced, nor assume any responsibility. Our task will
simply consist in selecting, to the best of our knowledge and with utmost
sincerity, what we think is representative of the public opinion as expressed
in these editorials.
Editor.
PALESTINE DELEGATION
MAKES GOOD POINT
A point well taken in the statement of the Palestine delegation
now visiting in the United States is
their exhortation of their fellow
countrymen to retain their lands
and other property, and to acquire
what there is of such lands for sale,
in order to prevent its falling into
the hands of the Jews. This would
seem to be the only safe and sane
course to follow, as no benefit could
accrue from inciting to riot and
bloodshed. Violence is calculated to
benefit only the wealthy classes in
that it would bolster their prestige
and strengthen their hold on the
ignorant.
The only recourse of any country
boasting of independence in an effort to ward foreign penetration
should be the encouragement of
agriculture, industry and mining,
and the establishment of a system
of public education that would be
truly non-denominational, such as
now exists in the United States and
in France. The separation of civil
government from religious influence
cannot be too strongly emphasized.
This, and not the mere sending of
delegations to collect funds, should
be the supreme goal of those who
would see their country free from
any outside interference or tftie
danger of foreign invasion.
AI-Hoda, N. Y., May 10, 1930.
ARMENIANS IN SYRIA,
JEWS IN PALESTINE
The proportionate number of Armenians in Syria, we believe, is
much larger than that of the Jews
in Palestine, yet between the immigration of the two groups there is
a vast difference. The Armenians
came to Syria as honest immigrants
with the will to toil in contentment
and share witJh the natives some of
their privileges and gifts of life,
while the Jews came not as immigrants, but as usurpers who would
impose themselves on the country
not by their might but by their
financial influence on European government, especially the English government, one of whose spokesmen
lately stated that the Balfour declaration was a war necessity designed to influence Jewish financiers
in Germany against subscribing to
the war loans of their government.
The Armenians in Syria came to
�mm
46
settle in the land and earn their
living by the sweat of their brows,
but the Jewish influx into Palestine
was of a decidedly different character—they came from the ends of
the earth with the fixed purpose of
establishing a Jewish state.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
SYRIANS' PROGRESS
IN THE UNITED STATES
Every day we have a new proof
of the progress of the Syrian and
Lebanese immigrants in the United
States. This progress, it should be
borne in mind, is not restricted to
Under the circumstances Syria's the commercial field; it has encomlot is much better than that of Pal- passed every field of human endeaestine, because the Armenians are vor and is cogent proof of the native
peaceful and industrious and are Intelligence,
resourcefulness and
proving a potent factor in the eco- versatility of our immigrants. We
nomic rehabilitation of the country. now find amongst us many men of
They did not advance any claim on standing in science, in arts, in letSyria. They did not boast that they ters and even in politics. Many are
had a right in the land which they those who have become recognized
came to claim. All they did was to writers of high standing in the Engenter into competition with the na- lish language. We also have lawtives which is a natural right of all yers, architects, physicians
and
immigrants who abide by the laws dentists. We can also count several
of the land.
bankers. And this in spite of the
Not so are conditions in Palestine fact that our immigration dates
where no sooner had the Jews made back to no farther than forty years.
Perhaps the outstanding achievetheir entry than they began laying
claims to the legal possession of the ment of the Syrians is in the field
country, its holy places, its govern- of commerce. Not only in New York
ment and its resources. They had but everywhere throughout the
their language proclaimed as an of- United States they have succeeded
ficial one and bent every endeavor in establishing flourishing business
to revive and impose their tradi- enterprises which bear testimony to
tions from which they will not move their inherent ability and sustained
a single iota. This has resulted in energy and industry.
We would rather say that our
bitter enmity between them and the
brothers
in the interior have scored
natives.
an advance over us in mingling
Had the Jews sought to settle in with Americans and sharing in the
Palestine in the same spirit that the social and political life of the comArmenians came to Syria there munity. There is hardly a city in
would have been none to bear them the interior where we do not find
enmity or wish them ill. Instead, the Syrians prominent in civic mattheir presence has been cause for ters and well known by the authorioting and bloodshed at every op- rities and the community at large.
portunity. Such is the result of the
We are prompted to these reaggressive policy of their leaders marks by the success of the Syrianwhich aimed to usurp the country Lebanese community of Worcester,
from its inhabitants by force and Mass., in capturing second prize in
succeeded only in gaining the enmi- the celebration held by that city on
ty of the country which they sought the occasion of the tercentenary of
to settle.
its foundation.
The Syrians and Lebanese posAs-Sayeh, N. Y., July 3, 1U30.
-
I
WJ
�2£^
JUNE, 1930
sess a moral force of whose existence many of us seem to be unconscious. This force is what preserved
the life of the nation throughout the
centuries in spite of the many vicissitudes which befe'l it. And this
latent force is what the Syrians and
Lebanese should rely upon and cultivate for the enhancement of their
prestige in this country. This should
be a powerful weapon in their hands
which they could wield in self-defense and which is more potent than
any material power they could muster.
It is gratifying to see that the
Syrians and Lebanese are gradually
awakening to the potentialities of
this latent force, and that they are
having recourse finally to the only
method which insures their benefiting fully by it. We refer to the
steady and growing formation of
Syrian-American societies which at
once preserve out entity and permit
our participation as a racial unit in
Hie life of the nation. Our wholehearted participation in all phases
of American public life should be
t once admitted beyond argument.
Organized, our participation will be
more beneficial and effective both to
ourselves and to the Americans who
should be convinced that our loyalty
to our adopted country is equal to
theirs.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., June 28, 1930.
47
be in a much better condition than
the one we are in now.
During the Turkish regime our
rulers sought to fan the fires of
religious and sectional prejudice in
pursuance of the policy of keeping
us divided, but what excuse have we
now in continuing such practices?
As Syrians, we should confine our
discussions to our national problems without touching on creeds,
and as Arabs, the interest of the
whole Arab race should be our concern regardless of geographical
divisions.
Europeans and Americans despise
us only as a result of our dissensions and divisions, and the mandatory powers offer no excuse for the
continuation of their occupation of
our country except that of protecting the minorities owing to the
danger of conflict between Christians and Moslems.
The Arabic press has been grievously responsible for this condition.
The Moslem and the Christian press
share the blame in an equal degree.
This is a sad commentary on the
mentality of a people who claims
the right of independence. If we
would be truly free we should free
ourselves first from the pernicious
influence of re'igious prejudice, allowing to the Christian and the Moslem the right to worship God in his
own way but joining hands in matters affecting the national welfare.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y. July 1, y930.
RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE
OUR NATIONAL EVIL
&
Is there no means of preventing
the Arabic press in general from indulging in discrimination between
religious creeds amoeg the Arabicspeaking peoples? Religious prejudice has been at the root of our
misfortunes and without it we would
MUCH ALIKE
Truly Beirut is the Paris of the
East. Do we not see how cabinets
rise and fall with the same quick
succession that such events take
place in the Paris of France.
As-Sayeh, N. Y.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
46
settle in the land and eam their
living by the sweat of their brows,
but the Jewish influx into Palestine
was of a decidedly different character—they came from the ends of
the earth with the fixed purpose of
establishing a Jewish state.
Under the circumstances Syria's
lot is much better than that of Palestine, because the Armenians are
peaceful and industrious and are
proving a potent factor in the economic rehabilitation of the countryThey did not advance any claim on
Syria. They did not boast that they
had a right in the land which they
came to claim. All they did was to
enter into competition with the natives which is a natural right of all
immigrants who abide by the laws
of the land.
Not so are conditions in Palestine
where no sooner had the Jews made
their entry than they began laying
claims to the legal possession of the
country, its holy places, its government and its resources. They had
their language proclaimed as an official one and bent every endeavor
to revive and impose their traditions from which they will not move
a single iota. This has resulted in
bitter enmity between them and the
natives.
Had the Jews sought to settle in
Palestine in the same spirit that the
Armenians came to Syria there
would have been none to bear them
enmity or wish them ill. Instead,
their presence has been cause for
rioting and bloodshed at every opportunity. Such is the result of the
aggressive policy of their leaders
which aimed to usurp the country
from its inhabitants by force and
succeeded only in gaining the enmity of the country which they sought
to settle.
As-Sayoh, N. Y., July 3, 11)30.
SYRIANS' PROGRESS
IN THE UNITED STATES
Every day we have a new proof
of the progress of the Syrian and
Lebanese immigrants in the United
States. This progress, it should be
borne in mind, is not restricted to
the commercial field; it has encompassed every field of human endeavor and is cogent proof of the native
intelligence,
resourcefulness and
versatility of our immigrants. We
now find amongst us many men of
standing in science, in arts, in letters and even in politics. Many are
those who have become recognized
writers of high standing in the English language. We also have lawyers, architects, physicians
and
dentists. We can also count several
bankers. And this in spite of the
fact that our immigration dates
back to no farther than forty years.
Perhaps the outstanding achievement of the Syrians is in the field
of commerce. Not only in New York
but everywhere throughout the
United States they have succeeded
in establishing flourishing business
enterprises which bear testimony to
their inherent ability and sustained
energy and industry.
We would rather say that our
brothers in the interior have scored
an advance over us in mingling
with Americans and sharing in the
social and political life of the community. There is hardly a city in
the interior where we do not find
the Syrians prominent in civic matters and well known by the authorities and the community at large.
We are prompted to these remarks by the success of the SyrianLebanese community of Worcester,
Mass., in capturing second prize in
the celebration held by that city on
the occasion of the tercentenary of
its foundation.
The Syrians and Lebanese pos-
�JUNE, 1930
<;l
sess a moral force of whose existence many of us seem to be unconscious. This force is what preserved
the life of the nation throughout the
centuries in spite of the many vicissitudes which befe'l it. And this
latent force is what the Syrians and
Lebanese should rely upon and cultivate for the enhancement of their
prestige in this country. This should
be a powerful weapon in their hands
which they could wield in self-defense and which is more potent than
any material power they could muster.
^ It is gratifying to see that the
Syrians and Lebanese are gradually
awakening to the potentialities of
this latent force, and that they are
having recourse finally to the only
method which insures their benefiting fully by it. We refer to the
steady and growing formation of
Syrian-American societies which at
once preserve out entity and permit
our participation as a racial unit in
the life of the nation. Our wholehearted participation in all phases
of American public life should be
t once admitted beyond argument.
Organized, our participation will be
more beneficial and effective both to
ourselves and to the Americans who
should be convinced that our loyalty
to our adopted country is equal to
theirs.
Ash-Shaab, N. Y., June 28, 1930.
47
be in a much better condition than
the one we are in now.
During the Turkish regime our
rulers sought to fan the fires of
religious and sectional prejudice in
pursuance of the policy of keeping
us divided, but what excuse have we
now in continuing such practices?
As Syrians, we should confine our
discussions to our national problems without touching on creeds,
and as Arabs, the interest of the
whole Arab race should be our concern regardless of geographical
divisions.
Europeans and Americans despise
us only as a result of our dissensions and divisions, and the mandatory powers offer no excuse for the
continuation of their occupation of
our country except that of protecting the minorities owing to the
danger of conflict between Christians and Moslems.
The Arabic press has been grievously responsible for this condition.
The Moslem and the Christian press
s'hare the blame in an equal degree.
This is a sad commentary on the
mentality of a people who claims
the right of independence. If we
would be truly free we should free
ourselves first from the pernicious
influence of re'igious prejudice, allowing to the Christian and the Moslem the right to worship God in his
own way but joining hands in matters affecting the national welfare.
Syrian Eagle, N. Y. July 1, y930.
RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE
OUR NATIONAL EVIL
Is there no means of preventing
the Arabic press in general from indulging in discrimination between
religious creeds among the Arabicspeaking peoples? Religious prejudice has been at the root of our
misfortunes and without it we would
MUCH ALIKE
Truly Beirut is the Paris of the
East. Do we not see how cabinets
rise and fall with the same quick
succession that such events take
place in the I'aris of France.
As-Sayeh, N. Y.
�THE SYRIAN WORLD
48
Political Developments in Syria
SYRIANS PROTEST
NEW CONSTITUTION
Hold Public Demonstration in
Damascus and Other Cities.
High Commissioner Ponsot Leaves
for France.
Instead of pacifying the Syrians
the proclamation of a republic
has only tended to reawaken their
militant spirit and prompt them to
take energetic measures of protest.
Syrian papers reaching the United
States bearing dates as late as June
15 depict the country as being in a
tense state of excitement, with public demonstrations of protest and
encounters with the police taking
place in Damascus, Aleppo and
many other cities.
The apparent placidity with which
Ihe Syrians first received the proclamation of the new constitution
would seem to have been the result
of astonishment which atrophied
the populace into inaction. What
they were given was completely out
of harmony with what they had expected. After a patient wait of almost two years following the suspension of the Constituent Assembly, they were nursing the hope of
being given something that would
at least serve as a basis for a possible solution. The result was a further curtailment of their liberties
and an offer of new elections which
would aggravate the chaotic conditions prevailing in the country. The
present situation is seething with
elements of danger.
The new constitution having been
proclaimed on May 22, no definite
action was taken until a fortnight
later when Fakhry Bey Baroody, a
Nationalist leader and Secretary of
the Constituent Assembly, called a
meeting of his Nationalist colleagues
to meet at his house on June 11.
The provisional government, still in
control and opposed to the Nationalists, sought to prevent the meeting
on the pretext that no permit had
been granted for holding it. Police,
militia and firemen laid siege to
the house of Baroody and blocked
all access to it. The encounters which
ensued with the demonstrators resulted in several casualties. But the
Nationalists outwitted the forces of
Ihe government and the meeting
was held on schedule at the house
of Jamil Bey Murdam, another Nationalist leader. Fiery speeches were
made by Fares Bey Khoury and
others, and the following resolutions adopted and sent to the High
Commissariat, the French Foreign
Office and the League of Nations,
signed by Murdam:
"I am authorized by the throngs
gathered today in a public demonstration of protest, and who have
the support of the whole city which
has declared a general strike, to dispatch a strong protest to the League
of Nations against: 1, the action of
the authorities in preventing the
Constituent Assembly from pursuing
its natural functions; —2, the proposed division of the country and
the bestowing upon it of five different
and separate constitutions; —3, the
inclusion of Article 116 which nullifies the constitution and our national independence; —4, maintaining in power a provisional govern-
t
�i
JUNE, 1930
ment which has held office for years
against the will of the people; —5,
denying a large number of Syrians
the right of return to their country;
—6, the government action in restraining the liberty of the people
in their own homes by force of arms.
They wish to declare themselves as
determined against recognizing any
action or treaty that does not emanate from the people or their lawful
representatives."
J
Other than the above, no official
reply to the action of the High
Commissioner has been issued from
Nationalistic sources. The nearest
approach to any such action is the
press interview given by Fakhry Bey
Baroody denying the existence of
dissension in the ranks of the Nationalists and asserting that the
country would never acquiesce in the
administrative
arrangement
decreed by the new draft of the constitution. "Even a superficial comparison between our constitution
and that of the mandatory power,"
he said, "will demonstrate the utter
impossibility of the people's acceptance of it. It irrevocably decrees
the division of the country into separate states when we demand unity.
It makes of the temporary arrangement a permanent institution and
thereby perpetuates the illegality
first committed. The Provisional
government owes its existence to
the will of the Mandatory Power
which has ignored the desires of
the lawfully-elected representatives
of the people. Furthermore, the proclamation of the new draft of the
constitution was undertaken without the consent of the Constituent
"\ssembly."
Baroody Bey makes by this deca ration a direct contradiction to
the High Commissioner's statement
i which he asserted that the sec-
''
"' "
49
retariat of the Constituent Assembly was consulted before action was
taken on the constitution and that
it had tentatively subscribed its
approval.
What is considered of paramount
importance in the statement of the
Syrian Nationalist leader is his unequivocal declaration of the Syrians'
desire to be a part of the pan-Arab
movement! Hjis exact words are:
"Arab unity is the goal of every
Arab. If efforts are directed towards
its materialization then the nation
may be said to have discovered the
right path leading to the fulfillment
of its aspirations. I, personally, will
not deviate a hair's breadth from
pursuing the strict line of pan-Arab
policy, and I trust that the whole
nation realizes that the policy of
decentralization and regional divisions is doomed to failure."
The Nationalists' spokesman here
took pains to deny that any serious
difference on matters of policy had
arisen in the ranks of the party and
attributed rumors to that effect to
the malicious intentions of persons
in alliance with the "colonists."
The nature of these rumors is,
indeed, disturbing. They represent
President Tajeddin as having succeeded in splitting the Nationalists
by a tentative coalition program
which would admit some Nationalist
leaders into office. This arrangement
would leave Tajeddin at the head of
the government while Jamil Bey
Murdam (Nationalist) would be offered the Premiership and Hashim
Bey Atassi, President of the dissolved Constituent Assembly, would
be made President of the coming
Representative Assembly.
Some sort of verisimilitude is
lent these rumors by the fact that
the Nationalists called a convention
for June 9 to be held at Aleppo,
when it was expected they would
deliberate their future policy and
�.
-,
50
issue a formal statement on their
stand in the face of the new developments. This failed of materialization
and rumors went abroad that dissension had arisen within their
ranks.
Royalists Active.
There is now in Syria, on the
other hand, a royalist party which is
said by its adherents to be gaining
in strength the more the people
realize their unpreparedness for a
republican form of government. The
acknowledged leader of the Royalists, Aref Pasha Adlebi, proceeded
to Beirut soon after the declaration
of the Constitution and lodged a
protest with the mandatory authorities against proclaiming Syria a
republic. His contention is that the
overwhelming majority of the population favors a constitutional monarchy, asserting that if the coming
elections are free from administrative interference fully seventy-five
per cent, of the deputies elected will
be of his party. The Royalists' candidate for the proposed throne is
Ahmad Nami Bey, erstwhile President of Syria, who is said to be
the only man able to bring harmony
between the Syrians and the French
on one hand, and between the large
bedouin element and the urban population on the other.
Clearly, as some Syrian papers
comment, not a single element of
the Syrian population is satisfied
with the result of the latest move
of the French High Commissioner.
Meanwhile, M. Ponsot sailed for
France on his annual vacation and
for the purpose of being near to
give advice when the question of the
new political arrangement in Syria
comes up for discussion in the
League of Nations. Already the
French representative on the Mandates Commission has submitted to
THE SYRIAN WORLD
his colleagues the drafts of the new
constitutions for the several Syrian
States and the general expectation
is that they will be approved.
What is claimed by the correspondent of Al-Ahram of Cairo to be
authentic information is that the
Syrian Nationalists have finally decided to take part in the coming
elections on three conditions, namely, the issuance of a general amnesty, dismissal of the present government, and appointment of a neutral
government to supervise the elections. These conditions are said to
have been submitted by Hashim Bey
Atassi to the French authorities.
CONDITIONS IN LEBANON
The economic situation in Lebanon, as well as in all other parts of
Syria, is far from being satisfactory.
The French authorities
called a conference early in June
to discuss means for improving
conditions and tentatively decided
lo lower the tariff. The unstability
of the political situation in Syria
has tended to aggravate matters
already acute.
Lebanon depends on the summer
resort industry as one of its chief
sources of income, and the native
government had taken extra pains
to attract residents and tourists to
the country this season. The main
dependence is on Egypt whence
thousands of families come to Lebanon each year for the summer,
and a special Lebanese representative was sent thither to lecture and
otherwise
conduct
propaganda.
Prospects had been exceptionally
good until an order was issued requiring every Egyptian coming to
Xebanon to be inoculated with anticholera serum due to the discovery
of a few cases of bubonic plague in
Egypt. This immediately raised a
storm of protest which caused the
�1
JUNE, 1930
'
51
Lebanese authorities to rescind the to the growth of home industry.
harmful requirement. It later trans- The native governments of the varpired that the native Lebanese gov- ious Syrian States have been reernment had no part in, or even quired to take over the property of
knowledge of, the issuance of the the dissolved Regie at a figure fixed
order. The health authorities at the by the French authorities, while
headquarters of the High Commis- charters are being issued to foreign
sariat had done so on their own interests to compete in the tobacco
initiative. When the Arabic papers trade of the country. The Regie, as
of Egypt condemned the action the a result, may be reorganized to enter
President of Lebanon went in per- the field after having .disposed of
son to see the acting High Commis- its old stock and obsolete machinery
sioner and made strong representa- at a handsome price and enter into
tions to him. It is a sad commen- competition with the natives with
tary indeed on conditions in the decided advantage.
country that things have to be done
in such manner. Still the necessary
PALESTINE
rectification of the matter was made
before much damage had been done.
Case of the Wailing Wall—Arab
The new developments in the SyrExecutions.
ian political situation had a depresThe International Commission apsing effect on Lebanon. The papers
pointed
by the League of Nations to
of Beirut, almost of one accord, disinvestigate
the Moslem and Jewish
approve of the French High Comclaims
to
the
Wailing Wall was remissioner's plan for solving the
ported
in
press
dispatches from
tangled problem. Many are boldly
Jerusalem
on
June
25 to have opencommenting on the inadequacy of
ed
its
hearings.
The
Jews presented
such half-way measures and cite the
ineffective and unsatisfactory work- a lengthy memorandum establishing
ing of the Lebanese constitution as their right to worship at the Wall
an example of the one proposed for from time immemorial, a right
which the Arabs denied. The ComSyria.
mission is still conducting its hearLebanon seems to be doomed to ings.
continual political upheavals. The
The fortress city of Acca in Palpress criticism directed at the cabi- estine was the scene on June 17 of
net of August Pasha Adib fore- the execution of the three Arabs
bodes ill for it. Some observers
condemned for participation in the
would see in the growing volume bloody riots of August 23 of last
of criticism signs of an approaching
year. The original number of Arabs
crisis bound to result in the cabi- under death sentence was twentynet's downfall. It has already been five, but a reprieve was granted in
in office three months and has the case of twenty-two. The Arabs
achieved nothing.
Three to six of Palestine mobilized the whole
months has been the average life of Arab world to intercede for the
Lebanese cabinets in the past few other three, influencing King Feiyears.
sal of Iraq and Emir Abdullah of
Although the Regie, or tobacco Transjordania to send telegraphic
monopoly, has been terminated in petitions in their behalf to King
Syria and Lebanon, the result has George, but all to no avail.
not been found very encouraging
On the day of the execution all
�MII1UL »LH 11II. JIIIWIUH.JHH1.t
52
Palestine went on strike, and although the day passed without serious disturbances, a British police
officer was stabbed by a Moslem in
Jaffa.
Commenting on the execution, the
Arab national organ Falastin, in its
English edition of June 21, declares
that the three executed men are "in
the eyes of their countrymen martyrs to the National cause. It has
been suggested that murders do not
make martyrs. It is a misreading of
history. To take a comparative recent instance, the man Who murdered the Archduke of Austria and
was the tangible cause of the Great
War, was honored by his government officially, after his death. It
Is another thing to judge a man objectively, in cool moments, with
the ordinary law. But when nations
are sold away for selfish ends by
mightier powers; when they are
economically murdered as foully as
any physical murder; when theirs
and their children's bread is snatched
under treaties to which they are not
a party; when an alien people -is set
amongst them to insult them every
day by different means; when all
attempts to redress the wrongs
have failed; then human beings do
not use the ordinary weapons or
submit to be enslaved, but strike
back blindly, passionately and cruelly. * * * These three Arabs could
not be treated like ordinary criminals. *** If the government thought
these men very dangerous, it could
easily save society by keeping them
7n prison. To disregard all the passionate appeals (of Arab rulers) is
to show the value it sets on the
friendship of those who tried to intervene. Can it then wonder if the
Arabs pay back in similar sentiments and hug closer their dead
Che more to nurse the bitterness of
humiliation?"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PALESTINE MARTYR'S WILL
Fuad Hijazi, one of the three
Palestinian Arabs executed at Acca
on June 17, was an educated young
man and a government employee.
Before going to the gallows he is
reported to have addressed the
British officials present in their own
language condemning the policy of
their government in Palestine and
warning them of the consequences
of their tyranny, asserting that the
Arabs did not fear their might.
In his last will he addressed each
member of his family personally,
admonishing one of his brothers
against "disturbance of the peace
and all other activities liable to impede his success in life." To his
brother Ahmed he says: "I was exceedingly touched by your vow of
yesterday to avenge my death.
Know, my beloved brother, that this
matter should not be your personal
concern any more, because I am become the son and brother of the
whole nation."
In addressing his mother he expresses himself as follows: "Grieve
not over my death, but rather wish
that you had a thousand sons who
would offer their lives for the nation. Your son Fuad is not des.d. I
have become immortal, thanks to
God, and my name shall be handed
<Town from generation to generation.
You should rejoice that your son
Fuad has achieved such distinction
and died before passing the second
decade of life.... A nation is deserving of life in proportion to the number of its sons willing to offer the
supreme sacrifice. The nation that
meekly submits to oppression and
tyranny should have its name stricken from the book of life... . Behold
how I offer my life as a cornerstone
in the foundation of the independence of Palestine within the Arab
federation."
I
�Ill III"
I
JUNE, 1930
53
About Syria and Syrians
SYRIAN CELEBRATION
AT NEW LONDON
The Syrian-American Society of
New London, Conn., held its annual
celebration at Wendell's Pavillion on
the afternoon and evening of Sunday, June 22, and made of the occasion a great success. The mayor and
many other officials and notables of
the city, as well as numerous delegations and representatives of Syrian
communities in other cities, were
present.
The program called for an afternoon session, which was conducted
in Arabic and at which N. A. Mokarzel editor of Al-Hoda, presided,
and for an evening session conducted in English at which the editor of
The Syrian World acted as chairman.
N. A. Mokarzel read an original
poem in Arabic which he composed
for the occasion. The list of the
Arabic speakers included Joseph S.
Hage, President of the Syrian-American Society; Rt. Rev. Antoun Anid,
Syrian pastor of New London; Fred
Hashim, President of the LebaneseAmerican Club of Poughkeepsie, N.
Y., and head of a visiting delegation; Esper Ganim of Bridgeport,
Conn., who although a boy of fourteen and American-born, spoke in
English on the necessity of the perpetuation of the Syrian heritage in
America; Ameen Rihani, author and
lecturer; Rev. Louis Eid of Fall
River, Mass.; A. Rustum of Orange,
N. J.; Farris S. Maloof, attorney of
Boston; S. P. Hamrah of Hartford,
Conn., and Elias S. Hage of New
London.
During intermissions Mrs. Julia
ssia sang Arabic selections to the
accompaniment of B. Hallal on the
oud. American music was supplied
by Shepard and Swanson Orchestra.
Speakers at the evening session,
besides the chairman, were Hon. C.
D. Twohmey, mayor of New London; Homer K. Underwood, Headmaster of Bulkley School; Deputy
Judge John McGarry; Prosecuting
Attorney Max Boyer; Ameen Rihani
and Farris S. Maloof.
The Syrian speakers acquitted
themselves most creditably on this
occasion and the society is to be
highly complimented on its good
judgment in inviting them.
The success of the celebration may
be judged by the visiting delegations
which came from New York City,
Syracuse and Poughkeepsie, N. Y.;
North Adams, Boston, Fall River'
New Bedford and Springfield, Mass.;
Providence, R. I.; Torrington, Danbury, Waterbury, Bridgeport, New
Haven, Ansonia, Willimantic and
Norwich, Conn., and from as far as
New Jersey.
The delegates were banqueted at
noon at the home of A. J. Maloof,
an ex-President of the society, and
in the evening, at the Pavillion.
The Syrian-American Society of
New London has done much during
its short existence to enhance the
prestige of the Syrian community
in the city and state. Its word of
greeting appearing in its program
is illuminating. It says in part:
"While our society came into
existence as an organized body only
a few years ago, the SyrianAmerican community of New London has been at all times striving
toward the fulfillment of the ideal
for which their society stands,
�T
52
Palestine went on strike, and although the day passed without serious disturbances, a British police
officer was stabbed by a Moslem in
Jaffa.
Commenting on the execution, the
Arab national organ Falastin, in its
English edition of June 21, declares
that the three executed men are "in
the eyes of their countrymen martyrs to the National cause. It has
been suggested that murders do not
make martyrs. It is a misreading of
history. To take a comparative recent instance, the man Who murdered the Archduke of Austria and
was the tangible cause of the Great
War, was honored by his government officially, after his death. It
Is another thing to judge a man objectively, in cool moments, with
the ordinary law. But when nations
are sold away for selfish ends by
mightier powers; when they are
economically murdered as foully as
any physical murder; when theirs
and their children's bread is snatched
under treaties to which they are not
a party; when an alien people-is set
amongst them to insult them every
day by different means; when all
attempts to redress the wrongs
have failed; then human beings do
not use the ordinary weapons or
submit to be enslaved, but strike
back blindly, passionately and cruelly. * * * These three Arabs could
not be treated like ordinary criminals. *** If the government thought
these men very dangerous, it could
easily save society by keeping them
7n prison. To disregard all the passionate appeals (of Arab rulers) is
to show the value it sets on the
friendship of those who tried to intervene. Can it then wonder if the
Arabs pay back in similar sentiments and hug closer their dead
{he more to nurse the bitterness of
humiliation?"
THE SYRIAN WORLD
PALESTINE MARTYR'S WILL
Fuad Hijazi, one of the three
Palestinian Arabs executed at Acca
on June 17, was an educated young
man and a government employee.
Before going to the gallows he is
reported to have addressed the
British officials present in their own
language condemning the policy of
their government in Palestine and
warning them of the consequences
of their tyranny, asserting that the
Arabs did not fear their might.
In his last will he addressed each
member of his family personally,
admonishing one of his brothers
against "disturbance of the peace
and all other activities liable to impede his success in life." To his
brother Ahmed he says: "I was exceedingly touched by your vow of
yesterday to avenge my death.
Know, my beloved brother, that this
matter should not be your personal
concern any more, because I am become the son and brother of the
whole nation."
In addressing his mother he expresses himself as follows: "Grieve
not over my death, but rather wish
that you had a thousand sons who
would offer their lives for the nation. Your son Fuad is not des.d. I
have become immortal, thanks to
God, and my name shall be handed
uown from generation to generation.
You should rejoice that your son
Fuad has achieved such distinction
and died before passing the second
decade of life.... A nation is deserving of life in proportion to the number of its sons willing to offer the
supreme sacrifice. The nation that
meekly submits to oppression and
tyranny should have its name stricken from the book of life.... Behold
how I offer my life as a cornerstone
in the foundation of the independence of Palestine within the Arab
federation."
�" "
.
——^M^—
JUNE, 1930
53
About Syria and Syrians
SYRIAN CELEBRATION
AT NEW LONDON
The Syrian-American Society of
New London, Conn., held its annual
celebration at Wendell's Pavillion on
the afternoon and evening of Sunday, June 22, and made of the occasion a great success. The mayor and
many other officials and notables of
the city, as well as numerous delegations and representatives of Syrian
communities in other cities, were
present.
The program called for an afternoon session, which was conducted
in Arabic and at which N. A. Mokarzel editor of Al-Hoda, presided,
and for an evening session conducted in English at which the editor of
The Syrian World acted as chairman.
N. A. Mokarzel read an original
poem in Arabic which he composed
for the occasion. The list of the
Arabic speakers included Joseph S.
Hage, President of the Syrian-American Society; Rt. Rev. Antoun Anid,
Syrian pastor of New London; Fred
Hashim, President of the LebaneseAmerican Club of Poughkeepsie, N.
Y., and head of a visiting delegation; Esper Ganim of Bridgeport,
Conn., who although a boy of fourteen and American-born, spoke in
English on the necessity of the perpetuation of the Syrian heritage in
America; Ameen Rihani, author and
lecturer; Rev. Louis Eid of Fall
River, Mass.; A. Rustum of Orange,
N. J.; Farris S. Maloof, attorney of
Boston; S. P. Hamrah of Hartford,
Conn., and Elias S. Hage of New
London.
During intermissions Mrs. Julia
Assia sang Arabic selections to the
accompaniment of B. Hallal on the
oud. American music was supplied
by Shepard and Swanson Orchestra.
Speakers at the evening session,
besides the chairman, were Hon. C.
D. Twohmey, mayor of New London; Homer K. Underwood, Headmaster of Bulkley School; Deputy
Judge John McGarry; Prosecuting
Attorney Max Boyer; Ameen Rihani
and Farris S. Maloof.
The Syrian speakers acquitted
themselves most creditably on this
occasion and the society is to be
highly complimented on its good
judgment in inviting them.
The success of the celebration may
be judged by the visiting delegations
which came from New York City,
Syracuse and Poughkeepsie, N. Y.;
North Adams, Boston, Fall River,
New Bedford and Springfield, Mass.;
Providence, R. I.; Torrington, Danbury, Waterbury, Bridgeport, New
Haven, Ansonia, Willimantic and
Norwich, Conn., and from as far as
New Jersey.
The delegates were banqueted at
noon at the home of A. J. Maloof,
an ex-President of the society, and
in the evening, at the Pavillion.
The Syrian-American Society of
New London has done much during
its short existence to enhance the
prestige of the Syrian community
in the city and state. Its word of
greeting appearing in its program
is illuminating. It says in part:
"While our society came into
existence as an organized body only
a few years ago, the SyrianAmerican community of New London has been at all times striving
toward the fulfillment of the ideal
for which their society stands,
�54
namely, to promote the civic welfare of the Syrian and Lebanese
people in this country. Coming from
a race which has given much to the
world, it is our ambition to give to
America the best that is in us of
our racial heritage by making every
effort to be loyal American citizens."
RIHANI LECTURES
AT CHAUTAUQUA
Ameen Rihani, noted Syrian traveler, author and lecturer, has beer
invited to give a series of lectures
covering the whole week of July
20-26. He is, to our knowledge, the
first Syrian to appear on the Chautauqua platform for such a long
engagement. The Syrians are to be
congratulated on the distinction
achieved by one of their most brilliant sons in America.
Prior to his appearance at Chautauqua, Mr. Rihani is expected to
take part in the Syrian pageant at
the tercentenary celebration of the
city of Boston by invitation from
the local Syrian community.
WORCESTER SYRIANS
WIN SECOND PRIZE
The city of Worcester, Mass.,
celebrated on June 28 the tercentenary of its foundation, by a historic
pageant in which all racial groups
took part.
The Syrian community, under the
leadership of the recently organized
Syrian-American Club, contributed
a float representing an American
historical scene. They won the second prize consisting of a state flag.
The first prize was won by the
Greeks who represented the progress
of civilization and the prominent
part Greek culture played in its acceleration. The prize consisted of a
gold cup.
THE SYRIAN WORLD
VISITING EDUCATOR
RETURNS TO SYRIA
Having wound up her campaign
for the Ahleyah School in Beirut,
Miss Marie Kassab will sail for
home about the middle of July.
During her stay in the United
States she visited the principal Syrian centers and succeeded in raising
a fund exceeding $6,000. She returns
by way of France where she expects
to spend some time studying modern
and improved educational methods
for introduction in her school.
BRILLIANT SYRIAN SCHOLAR
Having won his Ph. D. at Princeton at the age of twenty-one, Costy
Zrike of Damascus, sailed for Syria
early in July to take up his duties
as Assistant Professor of Oriental
History at the American University
of Beirut.
Dr. Zrike's scholastic record has
been a most brilliant one. Having
made his studies in Arabic in one
of the native schools of Damascus,
he won a scholarship at the American University where higher studies
are conducted in English. During the
summer recess the boy set about
studying English and passed his
examinations for admission to the
elementary school. In five years he
had graduated with high honors and
won another scholarship Which
brought him to the United States,
where he studied at the University
of Chicago, Columbia and Princeton.
FIRST LEBANESE IN
BRAZILIAN CONGRESS
The Sphinx, an Arabic-language
paper of San Paolo, Brazil, reports
that Dr. Jose Petro Abi Deeb has
been elected a member of the Bra-
t
�1
JUNE, 1930
zilian congress for the State of
Espirito Santo.
Dr. Deeh is of Lebanese origin,
his father having migrated from
Zgharta in North Lebanon and settled in Victoria, capital of the Brazilian State of Espirito Santo. He
is, according to the statement of the
paper, the first Lebanese to hold
such office.
LEBANESE GIRL
BEAUTY QUEEN
Arabic papers of South America
report that as a result of competition in a beauty contest held in the
sixteen states of the Uruguay Republic, a Lebanese girl, Miss Aneesa
Juan Antoun of Gouma, Lebanon,
won first prize in the state of San
Jose and was consequently given the
title of "Miss San Jose."
Now the Lebanese girl is entitled
to enter the national contest for the
selection of the beauty queen of the
whole republic. Her chances are
strong for being selected as the Uruguayan representative at the world
beauty contest to be held in Rio
Janeiro, Brazil.
PALESTINE JEWS
FORM FEDERATION
/
A national federation of Palestinian societies was formed in New
York early in July at a convention
of more than 100 delegates of local
organizations of Jews who were
born in Palestine, according to a
report of the New York Times. The
delegates, Who came from Chicago,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and
several other cities, gathered at
the Pennsylvania Hotel, where messages of greeting were read from
Felix M. Warbrug, national chairman of the Allied Jewish Campaign
'
55
for Palestine and other prominent
American Jews.
Joseph Gabriel of New York, who
opened the convention, pointed out
that there were more than 5,000
Jews in the United States who had
been born in Palestine and that
many of them wished to return to
their native land.
The significant point in this news
item to Syrians is that the Palestinian Jews who number but 5,000
should have so many societies as
to send a hundred delegates to a
national convention. Granting that
the Syrians have societies in the
same proportion, will they respond
to a call for a federation in the
same manner?
DAMASCENES INCENSED
AT POLICE HELMETS
Aleph Ba, a leading paper of Damascus, reports that a good-sized
demonstration was staged by ulemas, merchants and artisans to protest the action of the police in wearing cork helmets during the summer
season.
The demonstrators are reported
to have first visited the mufti of
the city hoping to induce him to
voice their protest to the authorities, but he refused to take an active
part in the matter. Undaunted, they
marched to the Saraya and complained personally to President
Tajeddin, demanding that he issue
peremptory orders prohibiting the
innovation. Their argument was
that the heat was no excuse for
breaking age-long traditions held in
high reverence by the Moslems.
Members of the police force, they
claimed, could wear the kerchief
and ighal or otherwise adhere to
the tarboush. .
The President calmed the excited
demonstrators by promising to con-
�56
THE SYRIAN WORLD
duct an investigation into the matter, stating that the action of the
police was taken without the knowledge or sanction of the government.
It will be recalled that Dr. Ayub
Tabet, when Minister of the Interior
in Lebanon, forced the police to wear
the helmet over the protest of the
reactionary element.
tion. Many articles, especially statues of the Pharaohs, bore hieroglyphic inscriptions and were traced
to about 2,000 B. C.
All the newly discovered objects,
coming under twelve categories,
went to the National Museum, none
having been permitted to leave the
country.
SEVENTY ALAOUITE FAMILIES
CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY
DR. FORD'S COLLECTION
BEQUEATHED TO LEBANON
The majority of the inhabitants
of the villages of Taffaha and Jenainah, in the district of Tartous,
in the Alaouite State of Syria, comprising about seventy families, are
reported by the Syrian press to have
embraced Christianity at the hands
of a Jesuit missionary.
The religion of t'he Alaouites is
Islam of the Shiite sect, or followers of Imam Ali. They are bitterly
opposed to the Sunnites, or Moslems
of the orthodox faith.
Following this group conversion,
attacks on the converts are reported
to have been made by some of their
neighbors before the authorities
could intervene and furnish adequate
protection.
A most valuable addition to the
National Museum of Beirut 'has been
made possible through the generosity of Dr. Ford, an American missionary who lived in Sidon for nearly fifty years.
At a time when the natives knew
little or nothing of the value of the
antiquities which were to be found
in large quantities in and around
Sidon, once the flourishing capital
of the Phoenicians, Dr. Ford was
patiently and persistently gathering
his collection. Some of his articles
are invaluable as relics of Phoenician
civilization. The collection is carefully arranged and stored in a building of fifteen rooms.
Soon after the declaration of the
Lebanese Republic, the Lebanese
government was anxious to secure
the Ford collection for the National
Museum and bid for it $200,000. Dr.
Ford, however, set a price of $500,000.
Dr. Ford has since died, and when
Sis will was probated it was discovered that he had left his whole collection outright to the Lebanese government with the only condition that
it be preserved complete at the National Museum without permitting
a single object to leave the country.
The Council of Ministers at Beirut
ffeliberated the offer and voted to
accept it on the donor's conditions.
Out of gratitude for so great and
BYBLOS YIELDS
MORE TREASURES
Archaeological research at Jebail,
in Lebanon, on the site of the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos, has
yielded recently much
valuable
treasures, according to a report of
the curator of the National Museum
at Beirut.
Among the discoveries were several bronze statues of sacred cows
covered with gold leaf. Some of the
objects were in a fine state of preservation while others had rotted
beyond the possibility of redemp-
t
r
�1
JUNE,
1930
valuable a gift the government bestowed its highest decoration on
Dr. Ford's widow and on the American Consul General in Beirut.
SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES
DISPLAYED AT YALE
mmmm
57
the Syrian sun god about 2,500
years ago. Material of great importance in tracing the history of
the old Syrian city and the religious
cults of Syria before the advent of
Christ was found during excavations
in private houses and in the towers
of the city walls.
A rare collection of antiquities,
the fruit of two years of excavations SYRIAN PUPILS
in Syria, was placed on public exWIN FIRST HONORS
hibition for the first time at the
The Montreal correspondent of
Yale Gallery of Fine Arts as part Meraat-Ul-Gharb sends a glowing
of the commencement celebration, account of the extraordinary success
according to reports in the American of Syrian pupils at a certain public
press. The collection comes from school of that city at the last comSyria, where the historical objects mencement.
were found after being buried in
In the East side of Montreal, he
sand for several thousand years.
states, where live most of the SyrRare idols of worship are included ians, there is a public school whose
among the collection. There is also pupils number 1,000 drawn from all
a fine bas-relief of Atargatis and nationalities. The annual prizes of
Hadad—a copy of what is believed the school are equally divided beto be the great cult statues at Baal- tween the boys and the girls, four
bek; a Parthian altar with bas-re- for each group.
liefs; a head of a man sculptured in
Out of the thousand or more atstone; and
several inscriptions, tendance the Syrian pupils count
pieces of pottery, coins and some about fifty. But in the distribution
specimens of unusual jewelry.
of medals and prizes they won five
The finds were made during ex- out of eight, a very high percentage
cavations in the last two years at fndeed considering the large attendDoura-Europos, on the Euphrates ance and their relatively small numRiver, a place famous in olden times ber.
before it was buried under a heavy
The winning Syrian pupils were:
blanket of sand. With the permis- Olga Salim Kassab, Edna Abi Kasion of the Syrian Government, ex- lam, Adeeb Nicola Tannaj, Shafic
cavators from Yale University have Zerebtani and Kalil Hajje.
worked with a scientific group representing the French Academy on
the ancient fortress, and with outSYRIAN CANDIDATE
standing success.
FOR CONGRESS
The famous Temple of Artemis
has now been partly uncovered. This
A Syrian paper of New York refamous institution had been located ports that Sassin Letaif, a Lebanese
previously by Professor F. Cumont resident of Cross Plains, Texas, has
of the French Academy and beside been nominated by the Democratic
it a Temple of Atargatis and Hadad Party for congress. His chances of
was also discovered. Atargatis was success are excellent owing to the
sung as the Syrian goddess of fer- strength of the Democrats in the
tility and Hadad was worshiped as South.
—•-.
�BOOKS BY SYRIAN AUTHORS
To recommend to Syrians the acquisition of books
in English by Syrian authors would seem superfluous,
especially when the books are such as to cause every
Syrian to feel proud of the fact that their authors are of
his countrymen. All the books listed below have been
exceptionally well received by American critics, some of
them gaining national and even international distinction.
Not alone as a matter of racial pride, but also as a valuable addition to every modern library and as an indispensable medium of wider culture all Syrian homes should
have all or most of these books.
All prices quoted include postage.
Books by Ameen Rihani
Maker of Modern Arabia
The Path of Vision
A Chant of Mystics and Other Poems
$6.00
1.25
1.25
Books by Kahlil Gibran
Sand and Foam
Prophet—Reg
The Madman
The Forerunner
Jesus, The Son of Man
2.25
2.75
2.00
2.75
3.75
Books by Dr P. K. Hitti
As-Suyuti's Who's Who in the 15th Century (Arabic)
Pap<;r Cover
Usamah, an Arab-Syrian Gentleman and
Warrior of the Crusades
Syrians in America
Syria and the Syrians (Arabic)
History of Syrian Commerce in the United
States (Arabic; Illustrated)
By S. A. MOKARZEL.
Immortality (By DR. I. G. KHEIRALLA)
3.50
3.00
4.75
1.25
1.10
3.25
1.25
/I
�1
i
JUNE, 1930
59
(
[
SYRIA, LEBANON, PALESTINE, EGYPT
OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE
NEAR EAST
Can Best Be Known by
VISITING —SEEING
Our native staff is in a position to give you first-hand
information on any of these countries, as well as expert
advice on planning itineraries that will afford the max
imum of benefit for the minimum of expense.
A. K. HITTI & COMPANY
83 WASHINGTON STREET
NEW YORK CITY
Phone Bowling Green 2765
!
�60
THE SYRIAN WORLD
*<<«<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
THE LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
3 1 9 FI FTH AVENU E,
COR. 3 2N D STREET
Legal Depository of
The United States — New York State — New York City
Member of
The Federal Reserve Bank — New York State Bankers
Association — American Bankers Association
4y2% INTEREST
We are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has decided to raise the rate of interest on savings
accounts from 4% to 4^2%, computed every three
months, which raises the rate considerably above 4^4%
ptr annum.
On check accounts, interest will be paid at the rate of
2% for daily balances below $5,000, and 3% for daily
balances of $5,000 and over.
a
The Lebanon National Bank inaugurates the return
of control to its original founders by this liberal policy
of sharing profits with its depositors. Out-of-Town accounts are solicited on the same basis. We shall be glad
to correspond with anyone, anywhere, interested in availing himself of our facilities and liberal terms.
BANKING BY MAIL is a conception of good business.
You can begin at once to enjoy the facilities of
our "Banking by Mail" department.
THE LEBANON NATIONAL BANK
"THE BANK OF FRIENDLY CO-OPERATION"
319 FIFTH AVE., Corner 32ND ST.,
New York City
i
*»>»>»>>>»»»»»»>>>>>>»>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>»> »frg
�IY
JERE J. CRONIN
FUNERAL DIRECTOR
MORTUARY CHAPEL
Local or Out of Town Funerals Personally Attended to:
LADY ATTENDANT
Expense a Matter of Your Own Desire
115 ATLANTIC AVENUE
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
The large amount of business we do permits us to buy caskets
in large quantity which enables us to give the best funerals very
reasonable. We carry a complete line of the very best manufactured
caskets at $45.00 up. We pay no agents to secure funerals for us but
only give the family who has sorrow the very best of service, reverence
and economy. Our aim is to help those who are in trouble at a verj
little cost. No charge for use of our services or funeral parlors.
Telephone—MAIN 1398-1399-8130-3655
THE
MOSLEM WORLD
A Christian Quarterly Review of
Current Events, Literature and
Thought among Mohammedans.
Editor: SAMUEL M. ZWEMER
It is the only magazine published
in English, which, from a Christian
standpoint, has dealt exclusively
with the Moslem problem in all its
phases in all lands for two decades.
It is indispensable to those who
are students of Mohammedanism
and who need authoritative and
complete information for their own
use or to interest others.
MISSIONARY REVIEW
PUBLISHING CO.
156 Fifth Ave.,
New York City
TWO DOLLARS A YEAR
SHEIK
RESTAURANT
A well-appointed Syrian restaurant in the heart of the
Syrian Quarter, in lower Manhattan, where you and your
friends can enjoy the most
delectable
Oriental
meals
amidst the charm of an Oriental atmosphere.
PARTIES CATERED TO
Kirdahy & Esper, Props.
65 WASHINGTON ST.,
New York
�•
THE ARABIC
LINOTYPE
in the FAR EAST
From the Far West of the Old World, Morocco, Tunis,
etc., to what is known as the Far East, the Arabic Linotype
is coming into general use. It has covered not only the
countries that speak Arabic as a native language, but those
speaking various Oriental languages using the Arabic
characters. There are around two hundred and fifty millions coming under this category.
The Malayan language was one of those to benefit by
the adaption of the Linotype to Arabic, and the government of the Federated Malay States was quick to avail
itself of this modern, economical, and versatile type composing machine. In the Government Press at Kedah there
are now two American Model 14 Arabic Linotypes setting
Malay Arabic, and having all the distinctive features
known to the wonderful Arabic Linotype.
QRflDE LI N OTYPE
K
)
MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, U. S. A.
CABLE
~ LINOTYPE
~
NEW YORK
LINOTYPE CLOJSTLR SERILS
<
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�64
THE SYRIAN WORLD
ALPHABETS, NUMERALS AND
BANK ACCOUNTS
i
Just as languages must have alphabets and mathematics figures, likewise you must have pennies to accumulate the dollars.
If you don't save the ten dollars you will never have
the hundreds, and by saving the hundreds you will
have the thousands.
If you fail to begin today in saving the dollars, the
tens, and the hundreds, you will never have the thousands.
In fact if you fail to accumulate you will lose.
The best way to save is to open a savings account
with Faour Bank and be thrifty, as the proprietors of
Faour Bank are themselves a model of thrift.
Faour Bank is always ready and willing to counsel
and assist you to the best of its ability.
Let your dollars be the beginning of your wealth
as the alphabet and figures are the foundation of literature and mathematics.
The dollar you will save is your best friend, particularly when old age and misfortune occurs through
illness, etcetera.
The deposit you have in the bank will be your best
friend, and you can depend on it for help.
Faour Bank accepts time deposits from $5.00 to $10,000.00 at 4^2 per cent, interest per annum.
Checking accounts and thrift accounts may be opened
by mail, as well as in person.
FAOUR BANK
D. J. FAOUR & BROS.
Established 1891
Under Supervision of New York State Banking Department
85 WASHINGTON ST.,
•
NEW YORK,
N. Y.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Syrian World Newspapers
Description
An account of the resource
<h4>Biographical/Historical Note</h4>
<p>Salloum Mokarzel, a Lebanese American intellectual, founded<em> The Syrian World</em> in 1926. Salloum Mokarzel was the younger brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of the Arabic-language newspaper <em>Al-Hoda. </em>Together, the Mokarzel brothers ran Al-Hoda Publishing, and in 1909, they published <em>The Syrian Business Directory.</em> </p>
<p>Mokarzel created <em>The Syrian World</em> in order to document and celebrate the culture and history of "Syria." At the time, Syria referred to the modern-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. The publication was primarily aimed towards second-generation children of immigrants, but Mokarzel hoped that it would also appeal to the general American public.</p>
<h4>Scope/Content Note</h4>
<p><em>The Syrian World</em> was published between 1926 and 1932 as a journal. In 1932, the format was changed from an academic journal style to a newspaper style, which continued until the periodical's end in 1935. After the death of his brother Naoum, Salloum took over the publication of <em>Al-Hoda.</em></p>
<p>The articles in <em>The Syrian World</em> cover a variety of topics spanning from the practical to the theoretical. Practical subjects include international and domestic travel, historical and contemporary Arabic and Arab-American art and literature, and the mental and physical health and hygiene of immigrants. More theoretical, philosophical, and ideological subjects include ideologies of race, the changing role of women, the formation of Syrian and Lebanese-American societies, and the political and psychological relationships between immigrants and their countries of origin.</p>
<p>All issues of <em>The Syrian World</em> are available, along with full indexes for the first four volumes. For volumes five and six, there are tables of contents at the start of the issues.</p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Arabs--United States
Arabic periodicals
Newspapers
Arab American Newspapers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Salloum A. Mokarzel
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New York Public Library
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1926-1935
Relation
A related resource
<em><a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/41" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Syrian Business Directory</a></em>
<a href="http://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/44" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mokarzel Family Papers</a>
<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11299/175685" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annotated Index to the Syrian World, 1926-1932</a> at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center Archives
<a href="https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/collections/show/58" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Al-Hoda Newspapers</em></a>
Language
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English
Contributor
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Processed by Claire A. Kempa, 2015-2017. Collection Guide written by Claire A. Kempa, 2017.
Collection Guide updated by Laura Lethers, 2023 August.
Rights
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The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.
These materials are digital copies of an original resource held by another institution. The KCLDS Archive often works with other institutions to make digital materials available online to the public. KCLDS is not able to grant permission to use or reproduce these materials. The KCLDS Archive strongly encourages users to contact the holding institution for permission to use or reproduce materials from their holdings.
Identifier
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NS 0002
Access Rights
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This digital material is provided here for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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TSW1930_06reducedWM
Title
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The Syrian World Volume 04, Issue 10
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1930 June
Description
An account of the resource
Volume 4 Issue 10 of The Syrian World published June 1930. The issue begins with Rev. W. A. Mansur's engaging question, "can the Syrian race survive in America?" He proceeds to give his concise response with sound reasoning, crafting an article that is certainly meant to make readers think deeply on the question. Dr. Salim Y. Alkazin is next featured with his poem titled "Reconciliation," which discusses forgetting the past in lieu of forgiveness. Dr. Talcott Williams continues on the topic of Syrians in America. Salloum Mokarzel then continues to relay his travels in northern Syria and the city of Aleppo in a vivid narration interwoven with the region's history. Kahlil Gibran is featured with another piece titled "On Hatred." There are a number of fiction pieces in the issue described as "not really fiction," but a formation of facts told in a romantic way, dealing with attributes like chivalry, love, and courtship. Finally Stuart Carter Dodd, a professor of Sociology at the American University of Beirut, writes the last article presented in this issue. He discusses an experiment regarding health insurance undertaken by Lebanese physician Dr. Rasheed Ma'took. After a poem by Thomas Asa titled "The Prophet," the issue concludes with excerpts from the Arab press and more on political developments in Syria.
Subject
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Arabic literature--History and criticism--Periodicals
Arabs--United States--Periodicals
Lebanese-Americans--United States--Periodicals
Language
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English
Creator
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Salloum A. Mokarzel
Syrian-American Press
Source
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New York Public Library
Publisher
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Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Coverage
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104 Greenwich St., New York, NY
Format
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Text/pdf
Type
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Text
1930s
Kahlil Gibran
Lebanon
Medical
New York
Reverend W.A. Mansur
Salim Alkazin
Stuart Carter Dodd
Syria
Talcott Williams
Thomas Asa