Sheikh Saleh's Compound in Deir Ghassaneh Photo by Suad Amiry - Archives The Last Feudal A village like no other. A city that is not urban…a feudal family that Lord in has no rural traditions. Castles and fortifications and mansions that rise high above the peasant dwellings…. Men and women The memoirs of Omar es-Saleh, attired in a manner that is at odds grandson of the last lord of Deir with their neighbours. Foods that Ghassaneh, Sheikh Saleh Abdul Jaber al- Barghouti (1819-1881),1 and son of transcend the local cuisine. A town Sheikh Hussein es-Saleh (died 1919), that is an oasis in a desert, and a provide us with a unique window to the family that is uprooted from its final days of the feudal lords of central Palestine in the middle of the 19th century- urbane roots and replanted in this just as Ottoman regulations began to remote mountainous range, away privatize the ownership of land. Deir from the city and the sea... […] T Ghassaneh was the throne village of Bani he visitor to this town astounded Zeid, north of . Its multazims (tax farmers) ruled over the estates of by his encounter with these great twenty villages, which separated the mansions and its fortifications. He northern part of the Jerusalem hills from wonders whether he is in a village Jabal , and wielded immense power over the region's peasantry. or in a city. He is further perplexed The life of Omar es-Saleh is of great as to why these constructions interest because he articulated, over five appear in this particular place and 1 The dates are not certain, and are derived from oral not in neighbouring villages. sources cited by Fathi Ahmad (see below). I would like to thank Suad al-Amiry and Rema Hammami for their O.S.B., Al-Marahel critical comments on an earlier draft of this review.

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Spring.p65 27 13/09/23, 01:33 ã decades, the transition from demonstrating a clear pride in local aristocratic privilege, to adopting urban nationalist affinities and accompanying life-style. His Jerusalem- based affinities led him through a number of political shifts: adopting the path of Ottoman de-centralization, followed by total immersion in Palestinian Arab nationalism. After joining the Istiqlal party, he became a leading opponent of the leadership of Haj Amin al-Husseini.2 Following the 1948 War, his career was closely associated with the Jordanian regime, despite his criticism of King Abdallah, and he served as cabinet minister in two successive governments. His activity against the Zionist project and agitation against British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel led to his exile to Akka in the 1920s. But Omar was also a scholar and militant advocate of educating women in the liberal secular tradition. In 1919, he Entrance to the Palace co-edited Jerusalem's Mir'at al-Sharq, one Photo by Suad Amiry - Riwaq Archives of the most influential newspapers in legal publications including the Index of Palestine at the time. His books include Laws and Statues of Palestine in 1931. The History of Palestine (with Khalil Omar's memoirs vividly demonstrate Totah, 1923), Studies in Palestinian that the transition from tax-farming, Customs and Folklore (1922), Bedouin officially abolished in 1858, was Law in Palestine (1929), al-Yazuri: the prolonged and protracted and left Unknown Vizier (1948), History of the substantial privileges in the hands of the Ummayad Califate (n.d.), and several lords of Bani Harith, Bani Zeid and Bani works of fiction and unpublished historical Murra regions long after formal manuscripts.3 During the Mandate he termination. These privileges included the studied law and became a law professor in continued collection of the tithe in the the Palestine Law Institute (Ma3had al name of the Sublime Porte,4 the Huquq) where he authored a number of adjudication of territorial disputes, the

2 Amin al-Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem during the meting out of traditional justice, the Mandate, and leader of the Palestine Arab Party, the ownership of household slaves and various main oppositional force to the British authorities during administrative duties delegated by the the 1930s. modernizing authority from Istanbul. They 3 For a list of these publications see Ya'coub 3awdat, Min A3lam al-fikr wal adab fi Filasteen, Third Edition, 4 The Sultan as representative of the Ottoman State in Jerusalem, p. 43. Istanbul. 28

Spring.p65 28 13/09/23, 01:33 ã also demonstrate that the rich and complex depiction of daily life in the Palace of relationship linking through marriage Sheikh Saleh, Omar's grandfather, and his bonds and mutual support the feudal lords father, Sheikh Mahmoud, through the last of Bani Sa'b - the Jayyusi clan, Bani Zeid, days of the sultanate make these memoirs Bani Harith, among others - with the a historian's treasure. patrician elites of Jerusalem and Nablus, But the memoirs' significance goes even were much stronger than is often assumed beyond their ethnographic details; they in the literature. Barghouti claims in this offer the rare opportunity to examine a context that his clan's power originated in new class in the making. Omar es Saleh is Jerusalem itself,5 where it was charged probably the only diarist who recorded the with control over entry to the city through critical transformation of the scions of the Da'ya Gate (later the New Gate) when the major feudal lords of nineteenth century Sublime Porte sub-contracted the family Palestine from the twenty-odd throne with the tasks of tax farming, on behalf of villages to the cities of Jerusalem, Nablus, the state, a large area that covered the Bani Jaffa and Haifa - the major urban centres Zeid, Bani Murra, Bani Salem and other of the country. There a new urban areas extending as far as the hegemonic class was emerging from the Mediterranean shores.6 More interesting, combined networks of mercantile groups, however, is the impact of these urban notables, and absentee landlords transformations on the lives of members arriving from their rural domains. The of this rural aristocracy, who have just Tuqans, Abdul Hadis, Qasims, and begun to move to the district centers and Jayyusis represent this latter segment with other major cities of Palestine - in this whom Omar as Saleh was intimately case Jerusalem. Even though the clan acquainted, as in-laws, future business history presented on these pages is partners, and political allies and contested, Omar's memoirs are important adversaries. because of their subjective and lived In the first book of his diaries, Omar narratives.7 The vivid and detailed recalls the great divide that separates the dwellings of the Baraghteh from the rest of the village's peasantry. His father's 5 These claims and many others are challenged by several historians, including Ihsan an Nimer. For a mansion, built originally in 1011 A.H., sustained critique and an alternative perspective on the was divided into three compounds: the origins and status of the Barghouti family see Fathi Ahmad, History of Rural Palestine in the Ottoman 7 One should obviously take Barghouti's narrative about Period, , 1992, Chapter 6, "Tribal Conflict in his clan's history with great caution. Fathi Ahmad, who the Bani Zeid Region", pp. 175-217. wrote a history of the Bani Zeid region, correctly points 6 Omar Saleh al-Barghouti, Al-Marahel, p 33. The out that Barghouti virtually ignores his family's main memoirs were edited by Rafif al-Barghouti and rivals for feudal power in the region, the Sihwail clan published by Al Mu'assasah al-Arabiyya LilDirasat wal in 3ebwein. He also considers the Barghouti's lineage Nashr, and , 2001, 739 pages, 24 claims to Khalid ben al Walid, and his tracing of the photographs, five appendices. A sad reflection of the family's origins to Jerusalem notables as purely current prevailing conditions is that it is virtually putative and invented. Ahmad published these impossible to buy this book unless the reader goes to comments before al Marahel was published; he was , since the book is not available in Jordan referring to Barghouti's History of Palestine (written (where it is banned), and in Palestine (where it cannot jointly with Khalil Totah), but the publication of al be imported), the two countries of its main potential Marahel, in my opinion, does not change the basis of readership. this judgement. 29

Spring.p65 29 13/09/23, 01:33 ã The upper floors had its windows perched high above the village with its famous laced windows (mashrabiyyat) where the women of the household could see but not be seen. On top of that hung the eliyyeh, the Sheik's retreat and resting place overlooking his estates.8 Unlike the peasant women of the region, Barghouti women were heavily veiled and confined to the haremlek. Covered from top to bottom in their black abayehs they were not allowed to visit a relative or pay a condolence visit except after sunset and accompanied by blood kin (mahram). Once inside their quarter however, women dressed in the aristocratic urban tradition. The Sheikha (the Sheikh's wife) wore the tarboush embroidered with golden coins; the top of her headdress adorned with pearls. The womens' daily dress was made of unembroidered light cotton or silk dresses. On their legs, they wore a silver khilkhal (leg bracelet). Unlike urban women, they did not use lipstick or powder; but lined their eyes with kuhl and plucked their eyebrows.9 The Barghouti women were able to accumulate small private fortunes, primarily from trading in textiles but also from lending money at very high interest rates.10 Still, their lives were markedly restricted through a strict tradition of confinement, a tradition that made the Barghouthi women unique even among the feudal families of Palestine (only the Jayyusis, the Rayyans Haremlek Window (Mashrabiyyeh) from outside and inside of the Omar Saleh Compound Photo by Suad Amiry - Riwaq Archives 8 For an extensive examination of the Deir Ghassneh feudal architecture, including the Saleh palatial salamlek containing the guesthouse, the compound, see Suad Amiry, "Space, Kinship, and reception area, and the dinning halls; the Gender: The Social Dimension of Peasant Architecture in Palestine," unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of haremlek the women and servants quarter; Edinburgh, Department of Architecture, 1991. and the provisions area (khazeen) included 9 Marahel, 41-42. workshops, stables, and the food depots. 10 Marahel, 61. 30

Spring.p65 30 13/09/23, 01:33 ã and Abdul Hadis were similarly veiled and Omar Abandons "The Mother of the confined).11 Confinement was reinforced World" by a strict endogamy: Barghouti women In 1898, when he was only five years were given in marriage only to their clan old, Omar was sent to the village kuttab to members and to a small circle of lordly study the Qur'an and grammar. When he families that included the Jayyusis, passed the tests (khatm al-Qur'an) at the Rayyans, Abu Kisheks, and the Mas'udi age of nine, his father sent him to the emirs. Peasant women by contrast were Alliance school, a Francophone Jewish unrestrained: primary school in Jerusalem. The idea was to study French and Turkish - the They moved and roamed unveiled languages of power internationally and seen by all. They worked in the locally - in preparation for furthering his fields with their men folk and with education in Istanbul. There he discovered strangers. They collected water from the world outside the village and the novel the 3ain and wood on their own. amenities of the big city. In the first two They harvested and slept under the books of the diaries - those covering his trees, and guarded the vineyards. childhood and youth - Barghouti Men would come in on women in the continuously refers to himself in the third cottages without knocking, and often person: guests would sleep in the same 12 dwellings as [the host] women. Alone he would say to himself: 'In Deir Ghassaneh I thought I was in Another distinguishing feature of the the mother of the world, and the lords of Deir Ghassaneh was slave capital of capitals. When I came to ownership, a practice that continued well Jerusalem I found it beyond my into the first third of the twentieth century. wildest expectations. I saw horse- The slave quarter in the mansion of Omar driven carriages for hire, driving in as-Saleh included palace guards, servants, broad avenues asphalted and cooks and fighters, many of whom were leading to Nablus, Jaffa, brought up since childhood in the and Jericho…Initially he was fearful household. Barghouti slaves - we are told - of riding these carriages, but his dressed well, carried arms and rode father showed him how, and then he horses. According to Omar as-Saleh their would take it daily from Jaffa gate to status was well above the local peasants, his school, paying a Turkish matleek 13 and they carried their master's name. for the fare, and enjoying every step of the trip. At night he was overwhelmed with 11 For a comparison of social conditions in the throne villages of central Palestine, see Suad Amiry and Rana the street lamps breaking the Anani's Amara wa Tarikh: Qura al-Karasi, "Throne darkness, and making street walking Villages: Architecture and History in the 18th and 19th in the evening easier. He saw men Centuries," Riwaq publications, Ramallah, 2003 with hats wearing their elegant (forthcoming). formal suits. He saw beautiful 12 Marahel, 30. women wearing fancy dress, 13 Marahel, 43. 31

Spring.p65 31 13/09/23, 01:33 ã unveiled, evoking charm and lust. particularly annoyed that his father is He saw women covered in black, treated as an ordinary citizen, and not as with a mandeel hiding their faces, the Sheikh of Bani Zeid - and he as the walking shamelessly among men. He Sheik's eldest son. It takes him a long time was amazed how these men were to get used to the milieu of restaurants, buying [only] a ratl [3kg] of flour, cafes, bars, and hotels where clients pay an ouqiyyeh [250 grams] of ghee money for their food and lodgings. Omar and ratl of onions, and he was is shocked by the open drinking of annoyed. For why would they not alcohol - "which only during Ramadan buy their provisions for the year as Muslims desist from drinking" [92]. But they do in the village? He saw the above all he is enchanted by the manners streets paved with stones to prevent of women in the city: their tight clothes, accumulation of mud in the winter. their red lipstick, and the way they walk- He was fascinated by the glass on innahu lashay'in 3ujab ("what a wondrous the windows bringing light to the thing"). But he quickly acclimatizes to the room and preventing the dust from city, and by the second year he is already penetrating. And he thought, if these embarrassed to be seen walking with his glass windows were fitted in the visitors from the village. [94] village homes the boys would smash them at the first brawl.14 The teenager [Omar's reference to himself] soon assimilated into the On the verge of puberty Omar finds life of the city and began to detest lodging in the old city with Maria the his traditional clothing - al-hatta Copt - a breed of women he had not met and the igal, the kufiyyeh and the before. She was, in his words, "a manly- qumbaz and the abaya. He would woman [imra'a nisf] who constantly avoid being seen with the peasants smoked the arghilah, danced and sang." in the market for fear of being called Maria virtually adopted him and a fallah; a word that now evoked in introduced him to the world of the city. his mind low status, rough His frequent references to her are oblique mannerisms, dirt, and simple naïve but saturated with the youthful discovery characters. He chose to speak with a of sexuality. Once a week she would bathe Jerusalem accent, but only him and scrub him with the loofa while selectively. He kept his qaf, his dha, telling him tales of love and passion, his tha, and his dhad. He also ornate with vulgarities previously prided himself in talking in the unknown. [86] She becomes his fusha.15 companion and continues to befriend him after he moves to new lodgings. Omar's schooling is a record of the In Jerusalem, Omar is constantly modernization of pedagogy in Ottoman intrigued with the contrasts with his Palestine. The transition from the Kuttab village environment. He is at once repelled to the Alliance school marks his and fascinated by city-ways. He is introduction to secular education. He is

14 Marahel, 18-19. 15 Marahel, 105. 32

Spring.p65 32 13/09/23, 01:33 ã was subjected to served the opposite purpose, however, and seem to have alienated him from religion altogether. Thursday the students were bathed under supervision, and on Friday they were to be taken on a school outing, usually to Junieh or Dbayyieh. Two uniforms were issued to the students each year, velvet in winter and linen in summer. Curiously, students were obliged to wear their uniforms when Omar as-Saleh`s home in Jerusalem, later the they left the school and on holidays, but Qleibo residence; photo source: Riwaq archive. were free to wear their own clothes for later moved to the Frere School, with its classes. Despite the strict discipline and stronger French curriculum. But his father his halting Turkish, Omar was happy. is alarmed by the amount of Christian indoctrination he is subjected to. Jewish Beirut is not Jerusalem and Muslim students rebel and hold a In Beirut, teenage Omar is exposed to strike against compulsory Catholic classes, Arab nationalism, the cinema, newspapers, but to no avail. He is moved again to St the sea, and bordellos - more or less in that George's [Anglican] school, where the order. The year is 1907 and the city is instruction is in Arabic and English, and simmering with rebellion against Ottoman where the education is liberal and open- despotism, and for movements calling for minded, and Muslims and Jews are given autonomy and secession from Istanbul. In instruction in their own religious texts. Omar's mind the freedom afforded by the One of his memorable teachers there is city more than balances out the internal Khalil Sakakini, the progressive educator discipline imposed on him by life as a who banned the use of violence against boarding student in Sultani Beirut. He is students. [109] In the fifth year of his mocked and downgraded for his poor schooling Omar is moved again to the Turkish, but he still manages to take sick Sultani School in Beirut - where leaves and acquire a taste of the city. instruction in Arabic and Turkish prepare While in Jerusalem, Omar had been him for the study of law in Istanbul (Dar exposed occasionally to European imports al-Funun). only read of in the village - in Beirut, they Sultani Beirut, the provincial state are his for the choosing. Omar attends the school, was based on military discipline. theatre in the company of his father at the All classes in science, history, geography, Ma'aref Café, near Jaffa Gate. He listens mathematics, civics, grammar and to his first gramophone playing Egyptian literature - except Arabic - were in and French music on wax cylindrical Turkish. The students were constantly records at the home of Doctor Photi, the supervised by the staff in their daily Greek physician. He gets drunk on sweet routine of prayers (five times a day), wine with Maria, who also teaches him dining and classes. The excessive amount how to smoke rolled cigarettes. He of praying and religious instruction Omar watches his first cinema projection with

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Spring.p65 33 13/09/23, 12:32 ã his cousin - and witnesses many of the customs house receives imports directly, viewers fleeing the hall for fear of getting and the passengers disembark in the port.16 wet from the stormy sea magnified on the In Jaffa, by contrast, passengers and goods screen. [97-98] had to be transferred from their ships to But all of these encounters with the smaller boats that carried them ashore for European experience pale in comparison disembarkment. with Omar's exhilaration at the novelties Omar is particularly impressed with the of Beirut. His enchantment is partly due to self-conscious urbanism of Beirut. He the absence of family control in Sultani observes it in the Friday outings to horse Beirut, where he travels and lives alone. races near the Beirut forest, and in the But it also stems from Omar's encounter promenades by the sea where the middle with a cosmopolitanism absent in classes flaunt their wealth in their dress Jerusalem. Indeed, Omar itemizes in a and their carriages; he even sees it in their shortlist, what he considers to be the manicured cemeteries full of flower beds, outstanding features of Beirut, in contrast and carved marble shawahid.17 (One to Jerusalem: should be cautious however about Omar's lavish contrast between Beirut and Jaffa. z Daily newspapers are distributed in the morning and editorialize openly for Muhammad Izzat Darwazeh, the great decentralization and the establishment of Nablus essayist and nationalist leader, had Arabic as the official language of visited Beirut just a few years earlier, in [Greater] Syria; 1898 when the Beirut safe harbor had not yet been built, and his description of the z Beirutis have a variety of dress codes city was much more modest, particularly not seen in Jerusalem or Nablus. The as he compared it to Nablus and Jaffa.18) kufiyyeh is rarely seen; instead most men wear the tarbush or a hat on top of a Imposed Emancipation? European suit; Most perplexing in Omar's narrative, z Automobiles have everywhere begun to however, are his "anti-feudal" diatribes, replace the horse-driven carriage; which are replete in their constant references to the "passing order" in z Restaurants and hotels are far superior 19 to those in Jerusalem. The cuisine is much Palestine. In discussing the objectives of more varied and the service more the Arab Society - the secret movement he sophisticated; 17 Marahel, p. 125. Shawahid is the plural shahid, the z Cafes and nightclubs contain engraved tombstone. gramophones that play the latest music 18 Muhammad Izzat Darwazah, Mudhakkarat, Volume from Syria, Anatolia, and Egypt. There is a 1, pp 120-121, Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, Beirut, 1993. rich and varied nightlife and the 19 I am using the concept "feudal" here in a loose manner to refer to the system of privileges that accrued government regulates bordellos; to the rural shuyukh of central Palestine, most of whom z "The sea of Beirut is superior to that of were multazims until the passage of the land code of 1858. For a discussion of this issue see Alexander Jaffa." It has a safe harbor where the Scholch, "Was there feudalism in Palestine?" in his seminal Radical Transformation of Palestine (IPS, 16 Marahel 124-126; compare this description of 1991), pp 211-216 (page reference here is to the Arabic modernity to Jawhariyyeh, Volume 1. translation, Jordan University Press, 1988). 34

Spring.p65 34 13/09/23, 12:32 ã joins in his twenties (see below), he often Beirut; his membership in the Arab refers to the declining authority of Society and agitation against the Ottoman Shuyukh an-Nawahi (the tax farmers) in a Mutassarif; and-perhaps most crucially-his disparaging manner: "The feudal system ignored wish and desire not to marry his has demonstrated its utter failure; it has no cousin. army and no power to rule or to discipline; Simultaneously, Omar is forever for the authority of the feudal lord rests on escaping his rural background, as is made the consent of his followers - and when obvious through his refusal to wear the they defy him his power collapses…" hatta headdress in Jerusalem, his adoption [145] He frequently refers to the of a modified urban accent (while "reactionary feudal system," and retaining the fusha as a mark of "backward feudalism." aristocratic distinction), and his general Yet elsewhere in the memoirs Omar life-style. This fascination and shows pride in his own patrimony as well enchantment with city life can be gleaned as his readiness to utilize it when it serves through his first encounter with Jaffa, his interests. For instance, he exploits his which he contrasts with his negative privileged status to the utmost when he impressions of Ramleh in 1904. His father begins to organize young fighters from the took him to the Zarifeh hotel, which had a Bani Zeid region to join the Arab Society. cabaret show that he secretly visited at He also refers with great pride to the night. exclusive marriage bonds that tie the Barghoutis of Deir Ghassaneh to the The young man [i.e., Omar] loved aristocracy of Jabal Nablus, particularly Jaffa. He saw in it what was absent the Jayyusis and Qasims. [135] He is in Jerusalem and Nablus: a especially incensed when Jerusalem thundering sea carrying ships to its effendis treated his father as if he were "an harbour. A shoreline overwhelming equal, and do not recognize his social the visitor with new smells; status and prestige" [91]. How does one anchored boats and ships with its account for this anomaly in Omar's masts defying the wind. Jaffa's perspective? orange groves surrounded the city The explanation lies partly with Omar's and dominated it with its personal rebellion against his father-the intoxicating last representative of the passing order. blossoms…[T]hroughout Iskandar Sheikh Hussein obviously belongs to the Awad street one sees hotels and side of moderate opposition to the restaurants, and everywhere singing Ottomans. His leadership of the Peasants' and dancing halls, and legally Party (discussed below) was fully established whorehouses. Of course integrated into the regime's institutions the abundance of cabarets and and aimed at competing for proper nightclubs is not uncommon in a representation in the chamber of deputies port city, even though it may in Istanbul. He constantly opposed Omar's undermine the religious sentiments choices in critical moments of his youth: and mores of Arabs and Orientals. his desire to study in Istanbul rather than [108]

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Spring.p65 35 13/09/23, 12:32 ã This last remark is obviously had not finished his schooling. For perfunctory, and is meant as an it was well known that the search for observation rather than as a reflection of knowledge and married life do not his own ideological attitude towards mix. Our ancestors have wisely religious mores. coined the dictum 'Learning Omar's anti-feudalism therefore should suffocates between the thighs of not be taken at face value. It was women'. For marriage is always essentially a search for modernism and an followed by children, and new emancipated social setting denied him in responsibilities. Moreover his cousin his village environment. It was a path that was ignorant, uncouth, and had not he articulated as a personal journey, as been exposed to a sophisticated well as a reformist agenda that he hoped environment.20 would uplift the community as a whole. Invariably this reformist tendency was When his protestations failed, Omar expressed in support of women's succumbed to the marriage but decided to education, which remained a singular and dictate his own rules of domestic conduct constant passion throughout his career. for his bride: "She will be his partner - not Just before the war he negotiated with an his servant; he forbade her from kissing English missionary from Aboud, Miss his hand - from the first day she was to Nicolson, to open a girl's school in Deir treat him as her companion; she was Ghassaneh. To that end he prevailed on his compelled to eat with him on the same father to contribute rooms for the school, table, and to appear next to him in public." and gave another two rooms in the family All of these egalitarian impositions must mansion for the teachers' lodging. He then have weighed heavily on the poor lady. pressed the local mukhtars to sign a But they were indeed revolutionary for a memorandum for the payment of the Palestinian mountain village society. It is a teachers' salaries, against the wishes of the great loss to the reader that key sections in village elders. [139] While dispensing the diaries discussing intimate family with his feudal title, Omar obviously was matters have been removed from the keen on keeping the privilege, status and published version.21 We do know however power that came along with inherited that Omar's pact with his wife is a failure. signorial rights. When he moves to Jerusalem, she refuses But Omar's search for personal to move with him until he threatens to emancipation was persistently frustrated divorce her. When they have a child she by his father's designs and family rejects his choice of a name, Mis3ab, and obligations. The first major crisis occurred insists on calling the boy Jamil. She is when Omar's father arranged for his marriage to a cousin - apparently in an 20 Marahel, p. 149. attempt to distance him from his political 21 The editor, the late Rafeef Barghouti and Omar's involvements. Omar's resistance was short granddaughter, who passed away in early 2002, was lived: courageous in publishing all his political entries, with the result that the book was banned in Jordan. But she apparently felt that controversial references to his He complained against this family life and his mistresses should not appear in imposition. He was still young and public. 36

Spring.p65 36 13/09/23, 12:32 ã especially unwelcoming to his female discussion of the three political visitors - not a surprising attitude when we movements in which he was active as a are treated later in the memoirs to rare young man. The first was his membership glimpses of Omar's adventures with in the Society for Uplifting the Fallah women [157]. He adds bitterly: "She never [Jam3iyyat al Falah li-Najah al Fallah] reciprocated his respect, and she founded by "a group of feudal leaders in constantly maintained an attitude of anger, Jerusalem" and chaired by Sheikh boredom, and disgust in his presence for Mahmud Saleh, Omar's father. Its reasons that she never explained." [151] objectives were to "support the new constitution and come to the aid of the We Are All Ottomans coup d'etat in Istanbul."23 When Sultan After he is sent to Beirut for his Abdul Hamid attempted to annul the schooling Omar begins to appreciate the constitution, the society mobilized nature of the main divide in the national thousands of armed supporters in the movement in Syria between the Unionists Jerusalem area in support of Mahmud and the advocates of Ottoman Shawkat Pasha and the leadership of the decentralization (al-I'tilafiyyun).22 He constitutional movement in Turkey until becomes an avid reader of the opposition the Sultan was arrested and exiled to press, al-Mufeed and ar-Rai'i al 3am and Salonica. Following the coup, Palestinian declares his devotion to the Arab cause. supporters of Ottoman de-centralization But Omar's Arabism was ambivalent, and latent Arab nationalists were active in just as his anti-Turkish tendencies were sending parliamentary delegates from qualified. The memoirs are full of Jerusalem (which had three seats) to the contradictions on this issue, partly because new parliament in Istanbul. They failed, they were re-written on the basis of diaries according to Barghouti, since the lost during WWI during the pillaging of "Unionists controlled the local press, the his home. By then anti-Turkish sentiment institutions of government and the was heightened by the ruthless behavior of intelligence units." the retreating German and Turkish officers When the war broke out,24 Omar was in towards their Arab recruits. Mainly, Deir Ghassaneh recuperating from a however, the ambivalence appears due to broken leg. There, he conspired with ten Omar's intimate acquaintance with Turkish members of his clan to establish a and Syrian officers belonging to the two clandestine movement, the "Arab Society," main contending factions of Ottoman whose purpose was "to intensify the politics, the Unionists and the Federalists, struggle against Ottoman despotism." and in particular with those officers who They had four conditions for joining: a genuinely wanted to establish a multi- member should be under 30 years of age; citizen constitutional state under the he should own a gun and a minimum of imperial domain of the Ottoman state. These ambiguities over the limits of 23 p. 111-112. Arab nationalism are obvious in Omar's 24 Barghouti has a careless manner of dating his entries (or not dating them at all), leaving it the reader to guess 22 For the differences between these factions the reader the event from its context. To add further confusion, he is referred to Hasan Kayyali's book cited below. often returns to earlier events to embellish his narrative. 37

Spring.p65 37 13/09/23, 12:32 ã 100 bullets (those who could not buy a movements in Ottoman Syria, espousing gun, where allowed to join with a pistol); the beliefs: candidates should be nominated by two z That Arabic be added as an official members; and they should swear an oath language of the state, and be used of allegiance to the Arab Nation. The exclusively in the Arab provinces; society raised the Arab flag of bilad z That deputies to the Istanbul Parliament asSham (Greater Syria) at their reflect the proportion of Arabs in the headquarters, the Saleh Compound, and population at large; within a month had 150 fighting members. z [143] That Arabs make up half of the It is unclear, however, what were the ministers in the cabinet, and that Arab exact politics of the Arab society. From officials be appointed to government jobs Omar's description, the group seemed to in the Syrian provinces; and emulate the tradition of old city z That decentralization be applied to the Qabadayat (neighborhood street toughs), administration of internal affairs. and were essentially engaged in rural To implement these objectives the Arab gangsterism-training on the use of arms, Society, with the support of al 3ahd Party, imposing "taxes", and disciplining began to call for a tax boycott, which was opposition. The society had branches in followed by a call for a general the neighboring villages of Beit Rima, insurrection. The coalition's moment of Nabi Saleh, Abud, and other Bani Zeid glory arrived in the organization of a townships. Within six months it had 800 display of military power in the procession active members. The fact that both the of Nabi Saleh near Deir Ghassaneh [146], Peasant Party (Jam'iyyat al Fallah) and in which hundreds of members converging the Arab Society were hardly mentioned in from the Bani Zeid villages participated. the writings on Syrian politics in the late The main achievement of this public Ottoman movement indicate either that spectacle was to draw the attention of the Barghouti was exaggerating their impact, Jerusalem Ottoman Mutassarif (Governor) or-more likely-that they were local, and his detectives. They summoned the Jerusalem-based movements.25 "ring leaders" of the party and arrested It was only when Omar joined forces them. The Arab Society was banned and with disgruntled Palestinian officers of the Omar himself was co-opted through his Ottoman army who were active in the appointment as tobacco inspector, the ranks of the 3ahd (Covenant) Party - official in charge of reporting and which he himself joined in 1912 - that the destroying illegally planted tobacco in the Arab Society acquired a broader political Bani Zeid region. This appointment was perspective, and a sense of national followed several months later with belonging. The Party's declared political another, that of livestock inspector, whose objectives paralleled other nationalist work was the imposition of sheep tax on cattle herdsmen. It is illustrative of Omar's character that he portrayed this debacle, 25 There is no mention of either movement in the and a number of political "retreats" memoirs of Muhammad Izzat Darwazeh who lived and was active in Nablus-based Ottoman de-centralization throughout the memoirs, as acts movements in the same period. undertaken to serve the community. "The 38

Spring.p65 38 13/09/23, 12:32 ã Mutasarrif aimed at getting the young man became increasingly untenable. out of politics [apparently with the When Omar was finally conscripted into connivance of Sheikh Hussein, Omar's the Ottoman army in 1914, one of his father-ST] by giving him a job with a tasks was to help mobilize villagers in substantial salary; and while he undertook Jerusalem area army camps by making these tasks enthusiastically, he did not inflammatory speeches against "the sever his ties with his party comrades, nor enemies of religion," [158] which he did did he abandon his principles" [148] As with a certain degree of zeal. As the war the war effort progressed and began to progressed, however, public sentiment in take its toll on the Palestinian conscripts, Syria and Palestine, and with it the 3ahd local sentiments began to take an anti- Party's objectives, moved towards an Turkish turn, and al-3ahd Party activities openly anti-Turkish direction. Al-3ahd became clandestine within the ranks of began to plot clandestinely for the Arab officers and government civil secession of the Arab provinces from the servants. Omar was advised by his contact Empire. Governor of Syria Jamal Pasha- with the party, Syrian commander Hilmi according to Omar's entries in the diaries- Bey, to understate his views and to [p. 168] brought in the Tenth Army from demonstrate his public loyalty to the Izmir to suppress the potential rebellion. Sublime Porte. One of their achievements was to arrest The vacillations in the tactics and many officers who were active in the party objectives of Jerusalem political groups in and execute them. At this stage Barghouti that period indicate that local elites were was playing a double game, politically- still locked into the Porte-centered speaking. He still served an officer in the patronage of regional feudal groups. Turkish southern front, but he was also a Omar's father, and probably Omar himself, member of a movement that was belonged to privileged elements in the effectively undermining the war effort. Palestinian and Syrian provinces that were Later when Omar was promoted to the still trying to find a political niche that position of procurement officer in Bir-es- protected their relationship to the central Sabe' (Bir Sheva), he was given government, while at the same time instructions to encourage Arab soldiers to related effectively to local groups seeking desert and join Sherif Hussein's army autonomy from Istanbul. This persistence [188]. He was also asked to sabotage the of the old political game under new names war effort by burning an army food depot, explains also why it was possible for a task that he refused to fulfill. Instead, he Barghouti to become involved in a number gave soldiers extended leave using forged of (mostly failed) political opposition papers. groups-and then bounce back to his family Like many young men of Ottoman connections when these forays either Palestine during the war, Omar was collapsed or he was caught. As the fascinated by the personality of Jamal leadership of the constitutional movement Pasha, a key leader of the Unionist increasingly began to take the path of movement. Pasha was feared and hated as Turkification, this reformist-autonomist an opponent of the rising tide of Syrian option in the Syrian provinces, with which nationalism and separatism, but admired he had associated his political career, as a ferocious military leader who, until 39

Spring.p65 39 13/09/23, 12:32 ã the very end of the war, struggled to keep War as an Instrument of Modernity Palestine and Syria within the Ottoman One of the major weaknesses of these system. memoirs is the author's annoying tendency But by the end of hostilities, Omar says to disrupt his personal narrative with this about the retreating Ottoman army: political and historical interventions and commentaries that could easily have been All over Jerusalem the word spread moved to a separate volume, and which - that Jamal Pasha had negotiated a in any case - are readily available in secret agreement with the Allies to standard histories of the period. In the rebel against the Unionists in places where Omar was a direct witness to Istanbul and to secede from the these historical episodes however, the Ottoman state. In return the allies reader has much to gain from his vivid would declare an Arab state in recollections and personal perception of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq the event. One of the most riveting of which he would be declared the episodes in his book narrates the collapse head. Most people welcomed this of the southern front during his service as news and tended to believe it…26 an officer in Bir es Sabi and his subsequent flight to Deir Ghassaneh where What is important about this story is not he tries to slip between the retreating its validity, which is highly questionable, Turkish and German armies and the but the fact that many were advancing British forces. The story is willing to believe it and even support it. where the personal and the political are The phenomenon reflected the integrated at their best. ambivalence of many Arab nationalist In his biographic essay on Omar, Saleh intellectuals in that period, like Omar, Ya'coub al Awdat retells that same story towards secession from Istanbul.27 Omar's with one major embellishment: attitude towards Jamal Pasha reflects a certain complexity that is closer to the In 1917, just before Jerusalem fell in profile drawn by Ottomon revisionist British hands, [Omar al-Barghouti] historians - which attempts today to was exiled to Ankara together with rehabilitate his anti-Arab and anti-Syrian many young Arabs who were active reputation - than the prevailing attitude in in the Arab nationalist movement Arab nationalist historiography.28 and who were sent to inner Anatolia to get rid of them. From his exile,

26 Marahel, p. 187. Omar escaped to Jenin, and from there to Nablus…and to Koor, where 27 A good source about Palestinian and Syrian attitudes towards Jamal Pasha and Arab sentiments towards the he took refuge among the Jayyusi Ottoman question during WWI is James Gavin, clan…29 Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of the Empire, University of California Press, 1998. But Awdat got the facts wrong. He must 28 See Hasan Kayali, Arabs and Young Turks, have confused Omar with his father, who University of California Press, 1997, especially the was indeed ordered exiled to Ankara, but section on "Syria Under Cemal Pashsa's Governership", pp 192-195. 29 Yacoub al Awdat, Op Cit, p. 42. 40

Spring.p65 40 13/09/23, 12:32 ã did not actually arrive [201] (Omar is when the Allies were advancing at the reticent about why his father, explicitly Egyptian front. It is also evident from his moderate and conciliatory to the extensive use of his army and government Ottomans, was exiled). postings to serve his career while also Omar's actual story is much more advancing his ideological commitments to interesting and reads like a first rate war the Arab cause. But it is a tribute to adventure. In it, he deserts his army post in Omar's inquisitive mind that he was able the Negev dessert, traveling incognito to to see the long-term impact on the future Jerusalem, where he becomes involved in of Palestine of these momentous events. a major debate by the city notables- Above all, Omar reflects extensively on meeting at Khalil Sakakini's home in the the impact of the war on what he old city-as to whether Jerusalem was to be considered the country's social mores. declared an Open City (i.e., a non-combat zone) and surrendered to the Allies. While Arab society has progressed hiding in Jerusalem, Omar meets Fawzi al considerably from contacts with Quwakgi, the Syrian Ottoman officer who German [and Western] was to lead the Salvation Army into culture…men and women were Palestine thirty years later, and Colonel affected by this modernism. Ismat Innunu, Chief of Staff of the Eighth Restrictions and divisions between Ottoman Army and future President of individuals and groups were broken Turkey. In these debates, the German down. A new mentality has emerged commanders in Jerusalem had the upper which was open to the offerings of hand and refused to declare it an open city. the West. Without the war this From then on Omar is on the run. He change would have taken tens of deserts his house and belongings and tries years to be accomplished. [192-193] to get to the British army in order to surrender himself. In the process, he is Omar then lists some of these shot twice and eventually moved to a outstanding changes, which are both mobile British hospital in Abud, and then behavioral and ideological. Among the to Jaffa for recuperation. In the hospital behavioral, he cites the unveiling of "he was visited by Mr. Dades, head of women, first among Christians and then British military intelligence in the by Muslim women, until the veil "was Occupied Zone. He spoke to him in considered a reactionary habit." He also Turkish and queried him about the cites middle class café societies and the inclinations of the Arab population. He drinking of alcoholic beverages, to the then lectured him on the historic extent that he hears Muslims "claim that friendship between the Arabs and the drinking is not forbidden in religion." English, and asked him if he can be of any Among the ideological changes brought service to Omar." [208-209] Thus ends the about by the war, Omar lists two Ottoman episode in Omar's life. remarkable phenomena. First he notes that One cannot help gaining the impression adherence to religion has become "purely that Barghouti was a survivor. This is evident in his cynicism about the Ottoman 30 Omar is probably referring here to participation in use of religion to mobilize the Palestinians religious festivals such as Nebi Musa and Nebi Saleh. 41

Spring.p65 41 13/09/23, 12:32 ã ritual." "Today Muslims have abandoned developed in lively discussion with three their prayers, and consider religious of his intellectual companions: Nakhleh amulets such as saints' tombs, processional Zureik, Khalil Sakakini (his teacher) and flags30 as something of the past." That was Is'af al-Nashashibi. In most of these in 1916. debates, he would "listen and not The second ideological phenomenon participate," presumably in deference to Omar remarks on is the emergence of his elders. But all the time Omar was Arab Nationalism, triggered by the forming his own impressions about the Turkification of the Arab provinces and coming of the new era, and had a the repression of Arab national pride and boundless enthusiasm for the unknown. language. Many of these reflections, he

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