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diff --git a/10338-h/10338-h.htm b/10338-h/10338-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce95aa8 --- /dev/null +++ b/10338-h/10338-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1983 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st July 2003), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of With the Turks in Palestine, +by Alexander Aaronsohn.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 12pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced; } + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10338 ***</div> + +<h1>WITH THE TURKS IN PALESTINE</h1> +<h2>BY ALEXANDER AARONSOHN</h2> +<center><i>With Illustrations</i></center> +<br> +<br> +<!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-1"><!-- Image 1 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img01.png"><img src="images/img01t.png" width="30%" alt="Djemal Pasha"></a></center> +<p> </p> +<center>1916</center> +<p> </p> +<center>TO MY MOTHER</center> +<p> </p> +<center>WHO LIVED AND FOUGHT AND DIED FOR A REGENERATED +PALESTINE</center> +<p> </p> +<center>ACKNOWLEDGMENT</center> +<p>To the editors of the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, to the +publishers, and to the many friends who have encouraged me, I am +and shall ever remain grateful</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr> +<a name="TOC"><!-- TOC --></a> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<pre> +<a href="#INT">INTRODUCTION</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH1">I. ZICRON-JACOB</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH2">II. PRESSED INTO THE SERVICE</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH3">III. THE GERMAN PROPAGANDA</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH4">IV. ROAD-MAKING AND DISCHARGE</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH5">V. THE HIDDEN ARMS</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH6">VI. THE SUEZ CAMPAIGN</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH7">VII. FIGHTING THE LOCUSTS</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH8">VIII. THE LEBANON</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH9">IX. A ROBBER BARON OF PALESTINE</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH10">X. A RASH ADVENTURE</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#CH11">XI. ESCAPE</a> +</pre> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="ILL"><!-- ILL --></a> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<pre> +<a href="#image-1">DJEMAL PASHA</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-2">THE CEMETERY OF ZICRON-JACOB</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-3">SAFFÊD</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-4">THE AUTHOR ON HIS HORSE KOCHBA</a> + <i>Photograph by Mr. Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, in March, 1911</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-5">SOLDIERS' TENTS IN SAMARIA</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-6">NAZARETH, FROM THE NORTHEAST</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href= +"#image-7">HOUSE OF THE AUTHOR'S FATHER, EPHRAIM FISHL AARONSOHN, + IN ZICRON-JACOB</a> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-8">IN A NATIVE CAFÉ, SAFFÊD</a> + <i>Photograph by Mr. Julius Rosenwald</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-8">A LEMONADE-SELLER OF DAMASCUS</a> + <i>Photograph by Mr. Julius Rosenwald</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href= +"#image-9">RAILROAD STATION SCENE BETWEEN HAIFA AND DAMASCUS</a> + <i>Photograph by Mr. Julius Rosenwald</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-9">CAMELS BRINGING IN NEWLY CUT TREES, DAMASCUS</a> + <i>Photograph by Mr. Julius Rosenwald</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-10">THE CHRISTIAN TOWN OF ZAHLEH IN THE LEBANON</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-11">HAIFA</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-12">HAIFA AND THE BAY OF AKKA. LOOKING EAST FROM +MOUNT CARMEL</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-13">THE BAZAAR OF JAFFA ON A MARKET DAY</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-14">STORMY SEA BREAKING OVER ROCKS OFF JAFFA</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href="#image-15">THE AUTHOR'S SISTER ON HER HORSE TAYAR</a> + <i>Photograph by Mr. Julius Rosenwald in March, 1914</i> +</pre> +<pre> +<a href= +"#image-16">BEIRUT, FROM THE DECK OF AN OUTGOING STEAMER</a> + <i>Photograph by Underwood & Underwood</i> +</pre> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="INT"><!-- INT --></a> +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> +<p>While Belgium is bleeding and hoping, while Poland suffers and +dreams of liberation, while Serbia is waiting for redemption, there +is a little country the soul of which is torn to pieces—a +little country that is so remote, so remote that her ardent sighs +cannot be heard.</p> +<p>It is the country of perpetual sacrifice, the country that saw +Abraham build the altar upon which he was ready to immolate his +only son, the country that Moses saw from a distance, stretching in +beauty and loveliness,—a land of promise never to be +attained,—the country that gave the world its symbols of soul +and spirit. Palestine!</p> +<p>No war correspondents, no Red Cross or relief committees have +gone to Palestine, because no actual fighting has taken place +there, and yet hundreds of thousands are suffering there that worst +of agonies, the agony of the spirit.</p> +<p>Those who have devoted their lives to show the world that +Palestine can be made again a country flowing with milk and honey, +those who have dreamed of reviving the spirit of the prophets and +the great teachers, are hanged and persecuted and exiled, their +dreams shattered, their holy places profaned, their work ruined. +Cut off from the world, with no bread to sustain the starving body, +the heavy boot of a barbarian soldiery trampling their very soul, +the dreamers of Palestine refuse to surrender, and amidst the clash +of guns and swords they are battling for the spirit with the +weapons of the spirit.</p> +<p>The time has not yet come to write the record of these battles, +nor even to attempt to render justice to the sublime heroes of +Palestine. This book is merely the story of some of the personal +experiences of one who has done less and suffered less than +thousands of his comrades.</p> +<center>ALEXANDER AARONSOHN</center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="RULE4_1"><!-- RULE4 1 --></a> +<h2>WITH THE TURKS IN PALESTINE.</h2> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH1"><!-- CH1 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> +<center>ZICRON-JACOB</center> +<p>Thirty-five years ago, the impulse which has since been +organized as the Zionist Movement led my parents to leave their +homes in Roumania and emigrate to Palestine, where they joined a +number of other Jewish pioneers in founding Zicron-Jacob—a +little village lying just south of Mount Carmel, in that fertile +coastal region close to the ancient Plains of Armageddon.</p> +<p>Here I was born; my childhood was passed here in the peace and +harmony of this little agricultural community, with its whitewashed +stone houses huddled close together for protection against the +native Arabs who, at first, menaced the life of the new colony. The +village was far more suggestive of Switzerland than of the +conventional slovenly villages of the East, mud-built and filthy; +for while it was the purpose of our people, in returning to the +Holy Land, to foster the Jewish language and the social conditions +of the Old Testament as far as possible, there was nothing +retrograde in this movement. No time was lost in introducing +progressive methods of agriculture, and the climatological +experiments of other countries were observed and made use of in +developing the ample natural resources of the land.</p> +<a name="image-2"><!-- Image 2 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img02.png"> +<img src="images/img02t.png" width="30%" alt="The Cemetery of Zicron-Jacob"> +</a></center> +<p>Eucalyptus, imported from Australia, soon gave the shade of its +cool, healthful foliage where previously no trees had grown. In the +course of time dry farming (which some people consider a recent +discovery, but which in reality is as old as the Old Testament) was +introduced and extended with American agricultural implements; +blooded cattle were imported, and poultry-raising on a large scale +was undertaken with the aid of incubators—to the disgust of +the Arabs, who look on such usurpation of the hen's functions as +against nature and sinful. Our people replaced the wretched native +trails with good roads, bordered by hedges of thorny acacia which, +in season, were covered with downy little yellow blossoms that +smelled sweeter than honey when the sun was on them.</p> +<p>More important than all these, a communistic village government +was established, in which both sexes enjoyed equal rights, +including that of suffrage—strange as this may seem to +persons who (when they think of the matter at all) form vague +conceptions of all the women-folk of Palestine as shut up in +harems.</p> +<p>A short experience with Turkish courts and Turkish justice +taught our people that they would have to establish a legal system +of their own; two collaborating judges were therefore +appointed—one to interpret the Mosaic law, another to temper +it with modern jurisprudence. All Jewish disputes were settled by +this court. Its effectiveness may be judged by the fact that the +Arabs, weary of Turkish venality,—as open and shameless as +anywhere in the world,—began in increasing numbers to bring +their difficulties to our tribunal. Jews are law-abiding people, +and life in those Palestine colonies tended to bring out the +fraternal qualities of our race; but it is interesting to note that +in over thirty years not one Jewish criminal case was reported from +forty-five villages.</p> +<p>Zicron-Jacob was a little town of one hundred and thirty +"fires"—so we call it—when, in 1910, on the advice of +my elder brother, who was head of the Jewish Experiment Station at +Athlit, an ancient town of the Crusaders, I left for America to +enter the service of the United States in the Department of +Agriculture. A few days after reaching this country I took out my +first naturalization papers and proceeded to Washington, where I +became part of that great government service whose beneficent +activity is too little known by Americans. Here I remained until +June, 1913, when I returned to Palestine with the object of taking +motion-pictures and stereopticon views. These I intended to use in +a lecturing tour for spreading the Zionist propaganda in the United +States.</p> +<p>During the years of my residence in America, I was able to +appreciate and judge in their right value the beauty and +inspiration of the life which my people led in the Holy Land. From +a distance, too, I saw better the need for organization among our +communities, and I determined to build up a fraternal union of the +young Jewish men all over the country.</p> +<p>Two months after my return from America, an event occurred which +gave impetus to these projects. The physician of our village, an +old man who had devoted his entire life to serving and healing the +people of Palestine, without distinction of race or religion, was +driving home one evening in his carriage from a neighboring +settlement. With him was a young girl of sixteen. In a deserted +place they were set upon by four armed Arabs, who beat the old man +to unconsciousness as he tried, in vain, to defend the girl from +the terrible fate which awaited her.</p> +<p>Night came on. Alarmed by the absence of the physician, we young +men rode out in search of him. We finally discovered what had +happened; and then and there, in the serene moonlight of that +Eastern night, with tragedy close at hand, I made my comrades take +oath on the honor of their sisters to organize themselves into a +strong society for the defense of the life and honor of our +villagers and of our people at large.</p> +<p>These details are, perhaps, useful for the better understanding +of the disturbances that came thick and fast when in August, 1914, +the war-madness broke out among the nations of Europe. The +repercussion was at once felt even in our remote corner of the +earth. Soon after the German invasion of Belgium the Turkish army +was mobilized and all citizens of the Empire between nineteen and +forty-five years were called to the colors. As the Young Turk +Constitution of 1909 provided that all Christians and Jews were +equally liable to military service, our young men knew that they, +too, would be called upon to make the common sacrifice. For the +most part, they were not unwilling to sustain the Turkish +Government. While the Constitution imposed on them the burden of +militarism, it had brought with it the compensation of freedom of +religion and equal rights; and we could not forget that for six +hundred years Turkey has held her gates wide open to the Jews who +fled from the Spanish Inquisition and similar ministrations of +other civilized countries.</p> +<p>Of course, we never dreamed that Turkey would do anything but +remain neutral. If we had had any idea of the turn things were +ultimately to take, we should have given a different greeting to +the <i>mouchtar</i>, or sheriff, who came to our village with the +list of mobilizable men to be called on for service. My own +position was a curious one. I had every intention of completing the +process of becoming an American citizen, which I had begun by +taking out "first papers." In the eyes of the law, however, I was +still a Turkish subject, with no claim to American protection. This +was sneeringly pointed out to me by the American Consul at Haifa, +who happens to be a German; so there was no other course but to +surrender myself to the Turkish Government.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH2"><!-- CH2 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> +<center>PRESSED INTO THE SERVICE</center> +<p>There was no question as to my eligibility for service. I was +young and strong and healthy—and even if I had not been, the +physical examination of Turkish recruits is a farce. The enlisting +officers have a theory of their own that no man is really unfit for +the army—a theory which has been fostered by the ingenious +devices of the Arabs to avoid conscription. To these wild people +the protracted discipline of military training is simply a +purgatory, and for weeks before the recruiting officers are due, +they dose themselves with powerful herbs and physics and fast, and +nurse sores into being, until they are in a really deplorable +condition. Some of them go so far as to cut off a finger or two. +The officers, however, have learned to see beyond these little +tricks, and few Arabs succeed in wriggling through their drag-net. +I have watched dozens of Arabs being brought in to the recruiting +office on camels or horses, so weak were they, and welcomed into +the service with a severe beating—the sick and the shammers +sharing the same fate. Thus it often happens that some of the new +recruits die after their first day of garrison life.</p> +<p>Together with twenty of my comrades, I presented myself at the +recruiting station at Acco (the St. Jean d'Acre of history). We had +been given to understand that, once our names were registered, we +should be allowed to return home to provide ourselves with money, +suitable clothing, and food, as well as to bid our families +good-bye. To our astonishment, however, we were marched off to the +Hân, or caravanserai, and locked into the great courtyard +with hundreds of dirty Arabs. Hour after hour passed; darkness +came, and finally we had to stretch ourselves on the ground and +make the best of a bad situation. It was a night of horrors. Few of +us had closed an eye when, at dawn, an officer appeared and ordered +us out of the Hân. From our total number about three hundred +(including four young men from our village and myself) were picked +out and told to make ready to start at once for Saffêd, a +town in the hills of northern Galilee near the Sea of Tiberias, +where our garrison was to be located. No attention was paid to our +requests that we be allowed to return to our homes for a final +visit. That same morning we were on our way to Saffêd—a +motley, disgruntled crew.</p> +<a name="image-3"><!-- Image 3 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img03.png"> +<img src="images/img03t.png" width="30%" alt="Saffêd"> +</a></center> +<p>It was a four days' march—four days of heat and dust and +physical suffering. The September sun smote us mercilessly as we +straggled along the miserable native trail, full of gullies and +loose stones. It would not have been so bad if we had been +adequately shod or clothed; but soon we found ourselves envying the +ragged Arabs as they trudged along barefoot, paying no heed to the +jagged flints. (Shoes, to the Arab, are articles for ceremonious +indoor use; when any serious walking is to be done, he takes them +off, slings them over his shoulder, and trusts to the horny soles +of his feet.)</p> +<p>To add to our troubles, the Turkish officers, with +characteristic fatalism, had made no commissary provision for us +whatever. Any food we ate had to be purchased by the roadside from +our own funds, which were scant enough to start with. The Arabs +were in a terrible plight. Most of them were penniless, and, as the +pangs of hunger set in, they began pillaging right and left from +the little farms by the wayside. From modest +beginnings—poultry and vegetables—they progressed to +larger game, unhindered by the officers. Houses were entered, women +insulted; time and again I saw a stray horse, grazing by the +roadside, seized by a crowd of grinning Arabs, who piled on the +poor beast's back until he was almost crushed to earth, and rode +off triumphantly, while their comrades held back the weeping owner. +The result of this sort of "requisitioning," was that our band of +recruits was followed by an increasing throng of +farmers—imploring, threatening, trying by hook or by crook to +win back the stolen goods. Little satisfaction did they get, +although some of them went with us as far as Saffêd.</p> +<p>Our garrison town is not an inviting place, nor has it an +inviting reputation. Lord Kitchener himself had good reason to +remember it. As a young lieutenant of twenty-three, in the Royal +Engineering Corps, he was nearly killed there by a band of +fanatical Arabs while surveying for the Palestine Exploration Fund. +Kitchener had a narrow escape of it (one of his fellow officers was +shot dead close by him), but he went calmly ahead and completed his +maps, splendid large-scale affairs which have never since been +equaled—and which are now in use by the Turkish and German +armies! However, though Saffêd combines most of the +unpleasant characteristics of Palestine native towns, we welcomed +the sight of it, for we were used up by the march. An old deserted +mosque was given us for barracks; there, on the bare stone floor, +in close-packed promiscuity, too tired to react to filth and +vermin, we spent our first night as soldiers of the Sultan, while +the milky moonlight streamed in through every chink and aperture, +and bats flitted round the vaulting above the snoring carcasses of +the recruits.</p> +<p>Next morning we were routed out at five. The black depths of the +well in the center of the mosque courtyard provided doubtful water +for washing, bathing, and drinking; then came breakfast,—our +first government meal,—consisting, simply enough, of boiled +rice, which was ladled out into tin wash-basins holding rations for +ten men. In true Eastern fashion we squatted down round the basin +and dug into the rice with our fingers. At first I was rather upset +by this sort of table manners, and for some time I ate with my eyes +fixed on my own portion, to avoid seeing the Arabs, who fill the +palms of their hands with rice, pat it into a ball and cram it into +their mouths just so, the bolus making a great lump in their lean +throats as it reluctantly descends.</p> +<p>In the course of that same morning we were allotted our +uniforms. The Turkish uniform, under indirect German influence, has +been greatly modified during the past five years. It is of +khaki—a greener khaki than that of the British army, and of +conventional European cut. Spiral puttees and good boots are +provided; the only peculiar feature is the headgear—a +curious, uncouth-looking combination of the turban and the German +helmet, devised by Enver Pasha to combine religion and +practicality, and called in his honor <i>enverieh</i>. (With +commendable thrift, Enver patented his invention, and it is rumored +that he has drawn a comfortable fortune from its sale.) An +excellent uniform it is, on the whole; but, to our disgust, we +found that in the great olive-drab pile to which we were led, there +was not a single new one. All were old, discarded, and dirty, and +the mere thought of putting on the clothes of some unknown Arab +legionary, who, perhaps, had died of cholera at Mecca or Yemen, +made me shudder. After some indecision, my friends and I finally +went up to one of the officers and offered to <i>buy</i> new +uniforms with the money we expected daily from our families. The +officer, scenting the chance for a little private profit, gave his +consent.</p> +<p>The days and weeks following were busy ones. From morning till +night, it was drill, drill, and again drill. We were divided into +groups of fifty, each of which was put in charge of a young +non-commissioned officer from the Military School of Constantinople +or Damascus, or of some Arab who had seen several years' service. +These instructors had a hard time of it; the German military +system, which had only recently been introduced, was too much for +them. They kept mixing up the old and the new methods of training, +with the result that it was often hopeless to try and make out +their orders. Whole weeks were spent in grinding into the Arabs the +names of the different parts of the rifle; weeks more went to +teaching them to clean it—although it must be said that, once +they had mastered these technicalities, they were excellent shots. +Their efficiency would have been considerably greater if there had +been more target-shooting. From the very first, however, we felt +that there was a scarcity of ammunition. This shortage the +drill-masters, in a spirit of compensation, attempted to make up by +abundant severity. The whip of soft, flexible, stinging leather, +which seldom leaves the Turkish officer's hand, was never idle. +This was not surprising, for the Arab is a cunning fellow, whose +only respect is for brute force. He exercises it himself on every +possible victim, and expects the same treatment from his +superiors.</p> +<p>So far as my comrades and I were concerned, I must admit that we +were generally treated kindly. We knew most of the drill-exercises +from the gymnastic training we had practiced since childhood, and +the officers realized that we were educated and came from +respectable families. The same was also true with regard to the +native Christians, most of whom can read and write and are of a +better class than the Mohammedans of the country. When Turkey threw +in her lot with the Germanic powers, the attitude toward the Jews +and Christians changed radically; but of this I shall speak +later.</p> +<p>It was a hard life we led while in training at Saffêd; +evening would find us dead tired, and little disposed for anything +but rest. As the tremendous light-play of the Eastern sunsets faded +away, we would gather in little groups in the courtyard of our +mosque—its minaret towering black against a turquoise +sky—and talk fitfully of the little happenings of the day, +while the Arabs murmured gutturally around us. Occasionally, one of +them would burst into a quavering, hot-blooded tribal love-song. It +happened that I was fairly well known among these natives through +my horse Kochba—of pure Maneghi-Sbeli blood—which I had +purchased from some Anazzi Bedouins who were encamped not far from +Aleppo: a swift and intelligent animal he was, winner of many +races, and in a land where a horse is considerably more valuable +than a wife, his ownership cast quite a glamour over me.</p> +<a name="image-4"><!-- Image 4 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img04.png"> +<img src="images/img04t.png" width="30%" alt="The Author on His Horse Kochba"> +</a></center> +<p>In the evenings, then, the Arabs would come up to chat. As they +speak seldom of their children, of their women-folk never, the +conversation was limited to generalities about the crops and the +weather, or to the recitation of never-ending tales of Abou-Zeid, +the famous hero of the Beni-Hilal, or of Antar the glorious. +Politics, of which they have amazing ideas, also came in for +discussion. Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Victoria are still living +figures to them; but (significantly enough) they considered the +Kaiser king of all the kings of this world, with the exception of +the Sultan, whom they admitted to equality.</p> +<p>Seldom did an evening pass without a dance. As darkness fell, +the Arabs would gather in a great circle around one of their +comrades, who squatted on the ground with a bamboo flute; to a +weird minor music they would begin swaying and moving about while +some self-chosen poet among them would sing impromptu verses to the +flute <i>obbligato</i>. As a rule the themes were homely.</p> +<p>"To-morrow we shall eat rice and meat," the singer would +wail.</p> +<p>"<i>Yaha lili-amali"</i> (my endeavor be granted), came the +full-throated response of all the others. The chorus was +tremendously effective. Sometimes the singer would indulge in +pointed personalities, with answering roars of laughter.</p> +<p>These dances lasted for hours, and as they progressed the men +gradually worked themselves up into a frenzy. I never failed to +wonder at these people, who, without the aid of alcohol, could +reproduce the various stages of intoxication. As I lay by and +watched the moon riding serenely above these frantic men and their +twisting black shadows, I reflected that they were just in the +condition when one word from a holy man would suffice to send them +off to wholesale murder and rapine.</p> +<p>It was my good fortune soon to be released from the noise and +dirt of the mosque. I had had experience with corruptible Turkish +officers; and one day, when barrack conditions became unendurable, +I went to the officer commanding our division—an old Arab +from Latakieh who had been called from retirement at the time of +the mobilization. He lived in a little tent near the mosque, where +I found him squatting on the floor, nodding drowsily over his +comfortable paunch. As he was an officer of the old régime, +I entered boldly, squatted beside him and told him my troubles. The +answer came with an enormous shrug of the shoulders.</p> +<p>"You are serving the Sultan. Hardship should be sweet!"</p> +<p>"I should be more fit to serve him if I got more sleep and +rest."</p> +<p>He waved a fat hand about the tent.</p> +<p>"Look at me! Here I am, an officer of rank and"—shooting a +knowing look at me—"I have not even a nice blanket."</p> +<p>"A crime! A crime!" I interrupted. "To think of it, when I, a +humble soldier, have dozens of them at home! I should be honored if +you would allow me—" My voice trailed off suggestively.</p> +<p>"How could you get one?" he asked.</p> +<p>"Oh, I have friends here in Saffêd but I <i>must</i> be +able to sleep in a nice place."</p> +<p>"Of course; certainly. What would you suggest?"</p> +<p>"That hotel kept by the Jewish widow might do," I replied.</p> +<p>More amenities were exchanged, the upshot of which was that my +four friends and I were given permission to sleep at the +inn—a humble place, but infinitely better than the mosque. It +was all perfectly simple.</p> +<a name="image-5"><!-- Image 5 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img05.png"> +<img src="images/img05t.png" width="30%" alt="Soldiers' Tents in Samaria"> +</a></center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH3"><!-- CH3 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> +<center>THE GERMAN PROPAGANDA</center> +<p>So passed the days of our training, swiftly, monotonously, until +the fateful December morning when the news came like a thunderbolt +that Turkey was about to join hands with Germany. We had had +reports of the war—of a kind. Copies of telegrams from +Constantinople, printed in Arabic, were circulated among us, giving +accounts of endless German victories. These, however, we had +laughed at as fabrications of a Prussophile press agency, and in +our skepticism we had failed to give the Teutons credit for the +successes they had actually won. To us, born and bred in the East +as we were, the success of German propaganda in the Turkish Empire +could not come as an overwhelming surprise; but its fullness amazed +us.</p> +<p>It may be of timely interest to say a few words here regarding +this propaganda as I have seen it in Palestine, spreading under +strong and efficient organization for twenty years.</p> +<p>In order to realize her imperialistic dreams, Germany absolutely +needed Palestine. It was the key to the whole Oriental situation. +No mere coincidence brought the Kaiser to Damascus in November, +1898,—the same month that Kitchener, in London, was hailed as +Gordon's avenger,—when he uttered his famous phrase at the +tomb of Saladin: "Tell the three hundred million Moslems of the +world that I am their friend!" We have all seen photographs of the +imperial figure, draped in an amazing burnous of his own designing +(above which the Prussian <i>Pickelhaube</i> rises supreme), as he +moved from point to point in this portentous visit: we may also +have seen Caran d'Ache's celebrated cartoon (a subject of +diplomatic correspondence) representing this same imperial figure, +in its Oriental toggery, riding into Jerusalem on an ass.</p> +<p>The nations of Europe laughed at this visit and its transparent +purpose, but it was all part of the scheme which won for the +Germans the concessions for the Konia-Bagdad Railway, and made them +owners of the double valley of the Euphrates and Tigris. Through +branch lines projected through the firman, they are practically in +control of both the Syrian routes toward the Cypriotic +Mediterranean and the Lebanon valleys. They also control the three +Armenian routes of Cappadocia, the Black Sea, and the +trans-Caucasian branch of Urfa, Marach, and Mardine. (The fall of +Erzerum has altered conditions respecting this last.) They dominate +the Persian routes toward Tauris and Teheran as well; and last, but +not least, the Gulf branch of Zobeir. These railways delivered into +German hands the control of Persia, whence the road to India may be +made easy: through Syria lies the route to the Suez Canal and +Egypt, which was used in February, 1915, and will probably be used +again this year.</p> +<p>To make this Oriental dream a reality, the Germans have not +relied on their railway concessions alone. Their Government has +done everything in its power to encourage German colonization in +Palestine. Scattered all over the country are German mills that +half of the time have nothing to grind. German hotels have been +opened in places seldom frequented by tourists. German engineers +appeared in force, surveying, sounding, noting. All these colonists +held gatherings in the Arab villages, when the ignorant natives +were told of the greatness of Germany, of her good intentions, and +of the evil machinations of other powers. What I state here can be +corroborated by any one who knows Palestine and has lived in +it.</p> +<p>About the time when we first knew that Turkey would join the +Germanic powers came the news that the "Capitulations" had been +revoked. As is generally known, foreigners formerly enjoyed the +protection of their respective consuls. The Turkish Government, +under the terms of the so-called Capitulations, or agreements, had +no jurisdiction over an American, for instance, or a Frenchman, who +could not be arrested without the consent of his consul. In the +Ottoman Empire, where law and justice are not at a premium, such +protection was a wholesome and necessary policy.</p> +<p>The revoking of the Capitulations was a terrible blow to all the +Europeans, meaning, as it did, the practical abolition of all their +rights. Upon the Arabs it acted like an intoxicant. Every +boot-black or boatman felt that he was the equal of the accursed +Frank, who now had no consul to protect him; and abuses began +immediately. Moreover, as if by magic, the whole country became +Germanized. In all the mosques, Friday prayers were ended with an +invocation for the welfare of the Sultan and "Hadji Wilhelm." The +significance of this lies in the fact that the title "Hadji" can be +properly applied only to a Moslem who has made the pilgrimage to +Mecca and kissed the sacred stone of the Kaaba. Instant death is +the penalty paid by any Christian who is found within that +enclosure: yet Wilhelm II, head of the Lutheran faith, stepped +forward as "Hadji Wilhelm." His pictures were sold everywhere; +German officers appeared; and it seemed as if a wind of brutal +mastery were blowing.</p> +<p>The dominant figure of this movement in Palestine was, without +doubt, the German Consul at Haifa, Leutweld von Hardegg. He +traveled about the country, making speeches, and distributing +pamphlets in Arabic, in which it was elaborately proved that +Germans are not Christians, like the French or English, but that +they are descendants of the prophet Mohammed. Passages from the +Koran were quoted, prophesying the coming of the Kaiser as the +Savior of Islam.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH4"><!-- CH4 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> +<center>ROAD-MAKING AND DISCHARGE</center> +<p>The news of the actual declaration of war by Turkey caused a +tremendous stir in our regiment. The prevailing feeling was one of +great restlessness and discontent. The Arabs made many bitter +remarks against Germany. "Why didn't she help us against the +Italians during the war for Tripoli?" they said. "Now that she is +in trouble she is drawing us into the fight." Their opinions, +however, soon underwent a change. In the first place, they came to +realize that Turkey had taken up arms against Russia; and Russia is +considered first and foremost the arch-enemy. German reports of +German successes also had a powerful effect on them. They began to +grow boastful, arrogant; and the sight of the plundering of +Europeans, Jews, and Christians convinced them that a very +desirable régime was setting in. Saffêd has a large +Jewish colony, and it was torment for me to have to witness the +outrages that my people suffered in the name of +"requisitioning."</p> +<p>The final blow came one morning when all the Jewish and +Christian soldiers of our regiment were called out and told that +henceforth they were to serve in the <i>taboor amlieh</i>, or +working corps. The object of this action, plainly enough, was to +conciliate and flatter the Mohammedan population, and at the same +time to put the Jews and Christians, who for the most part favored +the cause of the Allies, in a position where they would be least +dangerous. We were disarmed; our uniforms were taken away, and we +became hard-driven "gangsters." I shall never forget the +humiliation of that day when we, who, after all, were the +best-disciplined troops of the lot, were first herded to our work +of pushing wheelbarrows and handling spades, by grinning Arabs, +rifle on shoulder. We were set to building the road between +Saffêd and Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee—a link in +the military highway from Damascus to the coast, which would be +used for the movement of troops in case the railroad should be cut +off. It had no immediate strategic bearing on the attack against +Suez, however.</p> +<p>From six in the morning till seven at night we were hard at it, +except for one hour's rest at noon. While we had money, it was +possible to get some slight relief by bribing our taskmasters; but +this soon came to an end, and we had to endure their brutality as +best we could. The wheelbarrows we used were the property of a +French company which, before the war, was undertaking a highway to +Beirut. No grease was provided for the wheels, so that there was a +maddening squeaking and squealing in addition to the difficulty of +pushing the barrows. One day I suggested to an inspection officer +that if the wheels were not greased the axles would be burned out. +He agreed with me and issued an order that the men were to provide +their own oil to lubricate the wheels!</p> +<p>I shall not dwell on the physical sufferings we underwent while +working on this road, for the reason that the conditions I have +described were prevalent over the whole country; and later, when I +had the opportunity to visit some construction camps in Samaria and +Judaea found that in comparison our lot had been a happy one. While +we were breaking stones and trundling squeaking wheelbarrows, +however, the most disquieting rumors began to drift in to us from +our home villages. Plundering had been going on in the name of +"requisitioning"; the country was full of soldiery whose capacity +for mischief-making was well known to us, and it was torture to +think of what might be happening in our peaceful homes where so few +men had been left for protection. All the barbed-wire fences, we +heard, had been torn up and sent north for the construction of +barricades. In a wild land like Palestine, where the native has no +respect for property, where fields and crops are always at the +mercy of marauders, the barbed-wire fence has been a tremendous +factor for civilization, and with these gone the Arabs were once +more free to sweep across the country unhindered, stealing and +destroying.</p> +<p>The situation grew more and more unbearable. One day a little +Christian soldier—a Nazarene—disappeared from the +ranks. We never saw him again, but we learned that his sister, a +very young girl, had been forcibly taken by a Turkish officer of +the Nazareth garrison. In Palestine, the dishonor of a girl can be +redeemed by blood alone. The young soldier had hunted for his +sister, found her in the barracks, and shot her; he then +surrendered himself to the military authorities, who undoubtedly +put him to death. He had not dared to kill the real +criminal,—the officer,—for he knew that this would not +only bring death to his family, but would call down terrible +suffering on all the Christians of Nazareth.</p> +<a name="image-6"><!-- Image 6 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img06.png"> +<img src="images/img06t.png" width="30%" alt="Nazareth, from the Northeast"> +</a></center> +<p>When I learned of this tragedy, I determined to get out of the +army and return to my village at all costs. Nine Turkish officers +out of ten can be bought, and I had reason to know that the officer +in command at Saffêd was not that tenth man. Now, according +to the law of the country, a man has the right to purchase +exemption from military service for a sum equivalent to two hundred +dollars. My case was different, for I was already enrolled; but +everything is possible in Turkey. I set to work, and in less than +two weeks I had bought half a dozen officers, ranging from corporal +to captain, and had obtained consent of the higher authorities to +my departure, provided I could get a physician's certificate +declaring me unfit for service.</p> +<p>This was arranged in short order, although I am healthy-looking +and the doctor found some difficulty in hitting on an appropriate +ailment. Finally he decided that I had "too much +blood"—whatever that might mean. With his certificate in +hand, I paid the regular price of two hundred dollars from funds +which had been sent me by my family, and walked out of the barracks +a free man. My happiness was mingled with sadness at the thought of +leaving the comrades with whom I had suffered and hoped. The four +boys from my village were splendid. They felt that I was right in +going home to do what I could for the people, but when they kissed +me good-bye, in the Eastern fashion, the tears were running down +their cheeks; and they were all strong, brave fellows.</p> +<p>On my way back to Zicron-Jacob, I passed through the town of +Sheff'amr, where I got a foretaste of the conditions I was to find +at home. A Turkish soldier, sauntering along the street, helped +himself to fruit from the basket of an old vender, and went on +without offering to pay a farthing. When the old man ventured to +protest, the soldier turned like a flash and began beating him +mercilessly, knocking him down and battering him until he was +bruised, bleeding, and covered with the mud of the street. There +was a hubbub; a crowd formed, through which a Turkish officer +forced his way, demanding explanations. The soldier sketched the +situation in a few words, whereupon the officer, turning to the old +man, said impressively,—"If a soldier of the Sultan should +choose to heap filth on your head, it is for you to kiss his hand +in gratitude."</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH5"><!-- CH5 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> +<center>THE HIDDEN ARMS</center> +<p>When I finally reached Zicron-Jacob, I found rather a sad state +of affairs. Military law had been declared. No one was supposed to +be seen in the streets after sundown. The village was full of +soldiers, and civilians had to put up with all kinds of +ill-treatment. Moreover, our people were in a state of great +excitement because an order had recently come from the Turkish +authorities bidding them surrender whatever fire-arms or weapons +they had in their possession. A sinister command, this: we knew +that similar measures had been taken before the terrible Armenian +massacres, and we felt that some such fate might be in preparation +for our people. With the arms gone, the head men of the village +knew that our last hold over the Arabs, our last chance for defense +against sudden violence, would be gone, and they had refused to +give them up. A house-to-house search had been +made—fruitlessly, for our little arsenal was safely cached in +a field, beneath growing grain.</p> +<p>It was a tense, unpleasant situation. At any time the Turks +might decide to back up their demand by some of the violent methods +of which they are past masters. A family council was held in my +home, and it was decided to send my sister, a girl of twenty-three, +to some friends at the American Syrian Protestant College at +Beirut, so that we might be able to move freely without the +responsibility of having a girl at home, in a country where, as a +matter of course, the women-folk are seized and carried off before +a massacre. At Beirut we knew that there was an American +Consul-General, who kept in continual touch with the battleship +anchored in the harbor for the protection of American +interests.</p> +<p>My sister got away none too soon. One evening shortly after her +departure, when I was standing in the doorway of our house watching +the ever fresh miracle of the Eastern sunset, a Turkish officer +came riding down the street with about thirty cavalrymen. He called +me out and ordered me to follow him to the little village inn, +where he dismounted and led me to one of the inner rooms, his spurs +jingling loudly as we passed along the stone corridor.</p> +<p>I never knew whether I had been selected for this attention +because of my prominence as a leader of the Jewish young men or +simply because I had been standing conveniently in the doorway. The +officer closed the door and came straight to the point by asking me +where our store of arms was hidden. He was a big fellow, with the +handsome, cruel features usual enough in his class. There was no +open menace in his first question. When I refused to tell him, he +began wheedling and offering all sorts of favors if I would betray +my people. Then, all of a sudden, he whipped out a revolver and +stuck the muzzle right in my face. I felt the blood leave my heart, +but I was able to control myself and refuse his demand. The officer +was not easily discouraged; the hours I passed in that little room, +with its smoky kerosene lamp, were terrible ones. I realized, +however, how tremendously important the question of the arms was, +and strength was given me to hold out until the officer gave up in +disgust and let me go home.</p> +<a name="image-7"><!-- Image 7 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img07.png"> +<img src="images/img07t.png" width="30%" alt="House of the Author's Father, Ephraim Fishl Aaronsohn, in Zicron-Jacob"> +</a></center> +<p>My father, an old man, knew nothing of what had happened, but +the rest of my family were tremendously excited. I made light of +the whole affair, but I felt sure that this was only the beginning. +Sure enough, next morning—the Sabbath—the same officer +returned and put three of the leading elders of the village, +together with myself, under arrest. After another fruitless +inquisition at the hotel, we were handcuffed and started on foot +toward the prison, a day's journey away. As our little procession +passed my home, my father, who was aged and feeble, came tottering +forward to say good-bye to me. A soldier pushed him roughly back; +he reeled, then fell full-length in the street before my eyes.</p> +<p>It was a dismal departure. We were driven through the streets +shackled like criminals, and the women and children came out of the +houses and watched us in silence—their heads bowed, tears +running down their cheeks. They realized that for thirty-five years +these old men, my comrades, had been struggling and suffering for +their ideal—a regenerated Palestine; now, in the dusk of +their life, it seemed as if all their hopes and dreams were coming +to ruin. The oppressive tragedy of the situation settled down on me +more and more heavily as the day wore on and heat and fatigue told +on my companions. My feelings must have been written large on my +face, for one of them, a fine-looking patriarch, tried to give me +comfort by reminding me that we must not rely upon strength of +arms, and that our spirit could never be broken, no matter how +defenseless we were. Thus he, an old man, was encouraging me +instead of receiving help from my youth and enthusiasm.</p> +<p>At last we arrived at the prison and were locked into separate +cells. That same night we were tortured with the <i>falagy</i>, or +bastinado. The victim of this horrible punishment is trussed up, +arms and legs, and thrown on his knees; then, on the bare soles of +his feet a pliant green rod is brought down with all the force of a +soldier's arm. The pain is exquisite; blood leaps out at the first +cut, and strong men usually faint after thirty or forty strokes. +Strange to say, the worst part of it is not the blow itself, but +the whistling of the rod through the air as it rushes to its mark. +The groans of my older comrades, whose gasps and prayers I could +hear through the walls of the cell, helped me bear the agony until +unconsciousness mercifully came to the rescue.</p> +<p>For several days more we were kept in the prison, sick and +broken with suffering. The second night, as I lay sleepless and +desperate on the strip of dirty matting that served as bed, I heard +a scratch-scratching at the grated slit of a window, and presently +a slender stick was inserted into the cell. I went over and shook +it; some one at the other end was holding it firm. And then, a +curious whispering sound began to come from the end of the stick. I +put my ear down, and caught the voice of one of the men from our +village. He had taken a long bamboo pole, pierced the joints, and +crept up behind a broken old wall close beneath my window. By means +of this primitive telephone we talked as long as we dared. I +assured him that we were still enduring, and urged him on no +account to give up the arms to the Turkish authorities—not +even if we had to make the ultimate sacrifice.</p> +<p>Finally, when it was found that torture and imprisonment would +not make us yield our secret, the Turks resorted to the final +test—the ordeal which we could not withstand. They announced +that on a certain date a number of our young girls would be carried +off and handed over to the officers, to be kept until the arms were +disclosed. We knew that they were capable of carrying out this +threat; we knew exactly what it meant. There was no alternative. +The people of our village had nothing to do but dig up the +treasured arms and, with broken hearts, hand them over to the +authorities.</p> +<p>And so the terrible news was brought to us one morning that we +were free. Personally, I felt much happier on the day I was put in +prison than when I was released. I had often wondered how our +people had been able to bear the rack and thumbscrew of the Spanish +Inquisition; but when my turn and my comrades' came for torture, I +realized that the same spirit that helped our ancestors was working +in us also.</p> +<p>Now I knew that our suffering had been useless. Whenever the +Turkish authorities wished, the horrors of the Armenian massacres +would live again in Zicron-Jacob, and we should be powerless to +raise a hand to protect ourselves. As we came limping home through +the streets of our village, I caught sight of my own Smith & +Wesson revolver in the hands of a mere boy of fifteen—the son +of a well-known Arab outlaw. I realized then that the Turks had not +only taken our weapons, but had distributed them among the natives +in order to complete our humiliation. The blood rushed to my face. +I started forward to take the revolver away from the boy, but one +of the old men caught hold of my sleeve and held me back.</p> +<a name="image-8"><!-- Image 8 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img08.png"> +<img src="images/img08t.png" width="30%" alt="In a Native Café, Saffêd/A Lemonade-Seller of Damascus"> +</a></center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH6"><!-- CH6 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> +<center>THE SUEZ CAMPAIGN</center> +<p>I have already spoken of the so-called "requisitioning" that +took place among our people while I was working at Saffêd. +This, of course, really amounted to wholesale pillage. The hand of +the Turkish looters had fallen particularly heavy on carts and +draught animals. As the Arabs know little or nothing of carting, +hauling, or the management of horses and mules, the Turks, simply +enough, had "requisitioned" many of the owners—middle-aged or +elderly men—and forced them to go south to help along with +the tremendous preparations that were being made for the attack on +Suez. Among these were a number of men from our village. In the +course of time their families began to get the most harrowing +messages from them. They were absolutely destitute, no wages being +paid them by the Turks; their clothes were dropping off them in +rags; many were sick. After much excited planning, it was decided +to send another man and myself down south on a sort of relief +expedition, with a substantial sum of money that had been raised +with great difficulty by our people. Through the influence of my +brother at the Agricultural Experiment Station, I got permission +from the <i>mouchtar</i> to leave Zicron-Jacob, and about the +middle of January, 1915, I set out for Jerusalem.</p> +<p>To Western minds, the idea of the Holy City serving as a base +for modern military operations must be full of incongruities. And, +as a matter of fact, it <i>was</i> an amazing sight to see the +streets packed with khaki-clad soldiers and hear the brooding +silence of ancient walls shattered by the crash of steel-shod army +boots. Here, for the first time, I saw the German +officers—quantities of them. Strangely out of place they +looked, with their pink-and-whiteness that no amount of hot +sunshine could quite burn off. They wore the regular German +officer's uniform, except that the <i>Pickelhaube</i> was replaced +by a khaki sun-helmet. I was struck by the youthfulness of them; +many were nothing but boys, and there were weak, dissolute faces in +plenty—a fact that was later explained when I heard that +Palestine had been the dumping-ground for young men of high family +whose parents were anxious to have them as far removed as possible +from the danger zone. Fast's Hotel was the great meeting-place in +Jerusalem for these young bloods. Every evening thirty or forty +would foregather there to drink and talk women and strategy. I well +remember the evening when one of them—a slender young +Prussian with no back to his head, braceleted and +monocled—rose and announced, in the decisive tones that go +with a certain stage of intoxication: "What we ought to do is to +hand over the organization of this campaign to Thomas Cook & +Sons!"</p> +<p>However, the German officers were by no means all incompetents. +They realized (I soon found out) that they had little hope of +bringing a big army through the Egyptian desert and making a +successful campaign there. Their object was to immobilize a great +force of British troops around the Canal, to keep the Mohammedan +population in Palestine impressed with Turkish power, and to stir +up religious unrest among the natives in Egypt. It must be admitted +that in the first two of these purposes they have been +successful.</p> +<p>The Turks were less far-sighted. They believed firmly that they +were going to sweep the English off the face of the earth and enter +Cairo in triumph, and preparations for the march on Suez went on +with feverish enthusiasm. The ideas of the common soldiers on this +subject were amusing. Some of them declared that the Canal was to +be filled up by the sandbags which had been prepared in great +quantities. Others held that thousands of camels would be kept +without water for many days preceding the attack; then the thirsty +animals, when released, would rush into the Canal in such numbers +that the troops could march to victory over the packed masses of +drowned bodies.</p> +<p>The army operating against Suez numbered about one hundred and +fifty thousand men. Of these about twenty thousand were Anatolian +Turks—trained soldiers, splendid fighting material, as was +shown by their resistance at the Dardanelles. The rest were +Palestinian Arabs, and very inferior troops they were. The Arab as +a soldier is at once stupid and cunning: fierce when victory is on +his side, but unreliable when things go against him. In command of +the expedition was the famous Djemal Pasha, a Young Turk general of +tremendous energy, but possessing small ability to see beyond +details to the big, broad concepts of strategy. Although a great +friend of Enver Pasha, he looked with disfavor on the German +officers and, in particular, on Bach Pasha, the German Governor of +Jerusalem, with whom he had serious disagreements. This dislike of +the Germans was reflected among the lesser Turkish officers. Many +of these, after long years of service, found themselves +subordinated to young foreigners, who, in addition to arbitrary +promotion, received much higher salaries than the Turks. What is +more, they were paid in clinking gold, whereas the Turks, when paid +at all, got paper currency.</p> +<p>Beersheba, a prosperous town of the ancient province of Idumea, +was the southern base of operations for the advance on Suez. Some +of our villagers had been sent to this district, and, in searching +for them, I had the opportunity of seeing at least the taking-off +place of the expedition. Beyond this point no Jew or Christian was +allowed to pass, with the exception of the physicians, all of whom +were non-Mohammedans who had been forced into the army.</p> +<p>Beersheba was swarming with troops. They filled the town and +overflowed on to the sands outside, where a great tent-city grew +up. And everywhere that the Turkish soldiers went, disorganization +and inefficiency followed them. From all over the country the +finest camels had been "requisitioned" and sent down to Beersheba +until, at the time I was there, thousands and thousands of them +were collected in the neighborhood. Through the laziness and +stupidity of the Turkish commissariat officers, which no amount of +German efficiency could counteract, no adequate provision was made +for feeding them, and incredible numbers succumbed to starvation +and neglect. Their great carcasses dotted the sand in all +directions; it was only the wonderful antiseptic power of the +Eastern sun that held pestilence in check.</p> +<p>The soldiers themselves suffered much hardship. The crowding in +the tents was unspeakable; the water-supply was almost as +inadequate as the medical service, which consisted chiefly of +volunteer Red Crescent societies—among them a unit of twenty +German nurses sent by the American College at Beirut. Medical +supplies, such as they were, had been taken from the different +mission hospitals and pharmacies of Palestine—these +"requisitions" being made by officers who knew nothing of medical +requirements and simply scooped together everything in sight. As a +result, one of the army physicians told me that in Beersheba he had +opened some medical chests consigned to him and found, to his +horror, that they were full of microscopes and gynecological +instruments—for the care of wounded soldiers in the +desert!</p> +<p>Visits of British aeroplanes to Beersheba were common +occurrences. Long before the machine itself could be seen, its +whanging, resonant hum would come floating out of the blazing sky, +seemingly from everywhere at once. Soldiers rushed from their +tents, squinting up into the heavens until the speck was +discovered, swimming slowly through the air; then followed +wholesale firing at an impossible range until the officers forbade +it. True to the policy of avoiding all unnecessary harm to the +natives, these British aviators never dropped bombs on the town, +but—what was more dangerous from the Turkish point of +view—they would unload packages of pamphlets, printed in +Arabic, informing the natives that they were being deceived; that +the Allies were their only true friends; that the Germans were +merely making use of them to further their own schemes, etc. These +cleverly worded little tracts came showering down out of the sky, +and at first they were eagerly picked up. The Turkish commanders, +however, soon announced that any one found carrying them would pay +the death penalty. After that, when the little bundles dropped near +them, the natives would, run as if from high explosive bombs.</p> +<p>All things considered, it is wonderful that the Turkish +demonstration against the Canal came as near to fulfillment as it +did. Twenty thousand soldiers actually crossed the desert in six +days on scant rations, and with them they took two big guns, which +they dragged by hand when the mules dropped from thirst and +exhaustion. They also carried pontoons to be used in crossing the +Canal. Guns and pontoons are now at rest in the Museum at +Cairo.</p> +<p>Just what took place in the attack is known to very few. The +English have not seen fit to make public the details, and there was +little to be got from the demoralized soldiers who returned to +Beersheba. Piece by piece, however, I gathered that the attacking +party had come up to the Canal at dawn. Finding everything quiet, +they set about getting across, and had even launched a pontoon, +when the British, who were lying in wait, opened a terrific fire +from the farther bank, backed by armored locomotives and +aeroplanes. "It was as if the gates of Jehannum were opened and its +fires turned loose upon us," one soldier told me.</p> +<p>The Turks succeeded in getting their guns into action for a very +short while. One of the men-of-war in the Canal was hit; several +houses in Ismaïlia suffered damage; but the invaders were soon +driven away in confusion, leaving perhaps two thousand prisoners in +the hands of the English. If the latter had chosen to do so, they +could have annihilated the Turkish forces then and there. The +ticklish state of mind of the Mohammedan population in Egypt, +however, has led them to adopt a policy of leniency and of keeping +to the defensive, which subsequent developments have more than +justified. It is characteristic of England's faculty for holding +her colonies that batteries manned by Egyptians did the finest work +in defense of the Canal.</p> +<p>The reaction in Palestine after the defeat at Suez was +tremendous. Just before the attack, Djemal Pasha had sent out a +telegram announcing the overwhelming defeat of the British +vanguard, which had caused wild enthusiasm. Another later telegram +proclaimed that the Canal had been reached, British men-of-war +sunk, the Englishmen routed—with a loss to the Turks of five +men and two camels, "which were afterwards recovered." "But," added +the telegram, "a terrible sand-storm having arisen, the glorious +army takes it as the wish of Allah not to continue the attack, and +has therefore withdrawn in triumph."</p> +<p>These reports hoodwinked the ignorant natives for a little +while, but when the stream of haggard soldiers, wounded and +exhausted, began pouring back from the south, they guessed what had +happened, and a fierce revulsion against the Germano-Turkish +régime set in. A few weeks before the advance on Suez, I was +in Jaffa, where the enthusiasm and excitement had been at +fever-pitch. Parades and celebrations of all kinds in anticipation +of the triumphal march into Egypt were taking place, and one day a +camel, a dog, and a bull, decorated respectively with the flags of +Russia, France, and England, were driven through the streets. The +poor animals were horribly maltreated by the natives, who rained +blows and flung filth upon them by way of giving concrete +expression to their contempt for the Allies. Mr. Glazebrook, the +American Consul at Jerusalem, happened to be with me in Jaffa that +day; and never shall I forget the expression of pain and disgust on +his face as he watched this melancholy little procession of +scapegoats hurrying along the street.</p> +<p>Now, however, all was changed. The Arabs, who take defeat badly, +turned against the authorities who had got them into such trouble. +Rumors circulated that Djemal Pasha had been bought by the English +and that the defeat at Suez had been planned by him, and persons +keeping an ear close to the ground began to hear mutterings of a +general massacre of Germans. In fact, things came within an ace of +a bloody outbreak. I knew some Germans in Jaffa and Haifa who +firmly believed that it was all over with them. In the defeated +army itself the Turkish officers gave vent to their hatred of the +Germans. Three German officers were shot by their Turkish comrades +during the retreat, and a fourth committed suicide. However, Djemal +Pasha succeeded in keeping order by means of stern repressive +methods and by the fear roused by his large body-guard of faithful +Anatolians.</p> +<a name="image-9"><!-- Image 9 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img09.png"> +<img src="images/img09t.png" width="30%" alt="Railroad Station Scene Between Haifa and Damascus/Camels Bringing in Newly Cut Trees, Damascus"> +</a></center> +<p>We felt sure that the Turkish defeat would put a damper on the +arrogance of the soldiery. But even the Mohammedan population were +hoping that the Allies would push their victory and land troops in +Syria and Palestine; for though they hated the infidel, they loved +the Turk not at all, and the country was exhausted and the blockade +of the Mediterranean by the Allies prevented the import and export +of articles. The oranges were rotting on the trees because the +annual Liverpool market was closed to Palestine, and other crops +were in similar case. The country was short, too, of petroleum, +sugar, rice, and other supplies, and even of matches. We had to go +back to old customs and use flint and steel for fire, and we seldom +used our lamps. Money was scarce, too, and, Turkey having declared +a moratorium, cash was often unobtainable even by those who had +money in the banks, and much distress ensued.</p> +<p>As the defeated army was pouring in from the south, I decided to +leave Beersheba and go home. The roads and the fields were covered +with dead camels and horses and mules. Hundreds of soldiers were +straggling in disorder, many of them on leave but many deserting. +Soon after the defeat at the Canal several thousand soldiers +deserted, but an amnesty was declared and they returned to their +regiments.</p> +<p>When I arrived at Jerusalem I found the city filled with +soldiers. Djemal Pasha had just returned from the desert, and his +quarters were guarded by a battery of two field guns. Nobody knew +what to expect; some thought that the country would have a little +more freedom now that the soldiery had lost its braggadocio, while +others expected the lawlessness that attends disorganization. I +went to see Consul Glazebrook. He is a true American, a Southerner, +formerly a professor of theology at Princeton. He was most earnest +and devoted in behalf of the American citizens that came under his +care, rendering at Jerusalem the same sort of service that +Ambassador Morgenthau has rendered at Constantinople. He was +practically the only man who stood up for the poor, defenseless +people of the city. He received me kindly, and I told him what I +knew of conditions in the country, what I had heard among the +Arabs, and of my own fears and apprehensions. He was visibly +impressed and he advised me to see Captain Decker, of the U.S.S. +Tennessee, who was then in Jaffa, promising to write himself to the +captain of my proposed visit.</p> +<p>I went to Jaffa the same day and after two days' delay succeeded +in seeing Captain Decker, with the further help of Mr. Glazebrook, +who took me with him. The police interfered and tried to keep me +from going aboard the ship, but after long discussions I was +permitted to take my place in the launch that the captain had sent +for the consul.</p> +<p>Captain Decker was interested in what I had to say, and at his +request I dictated my story to his stenographer. What became of my +report I do not know,—whether it was transmitted to the +Department of State or whether Captain Decker communicated with +Ambassador Morgenthau,—but at all events we soon began to see +certain reforms inaugurated in parts of the country, and these +reforms could have been effected only through pressure from +Constantinople. The presence of the two American cruisers in the +Mediterranean waters has without any doubt been instrumental in the +saving of many lives.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH7"><!-- CH7 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> +<center>FIGHTING THE LOCUSTS</center> +<p>While I was traveling in the south, another menace to our +people's welfare had appeared: the locusts. From the Soudan they +came in tremendous hosts—black clouds of them that obscured +the sun. It seemed as if Nature had joined in the conspiracy +against us. These locusts were of the species known as the pilgrim, +or wandering, locust; for forty years they had not come to +Palestine, but now their visitation was like that of which the +prophet Joel speaks in the Old Testament. They came full-grown, +ripe for breeding; the ground was covered with the females digging +in the soil and depositing their egg-packets, and we knew that when +they hatched we should be overwhelmed, for there was not a foot of +ground in which these eggs were not to be found.</p> +<p>The menace was so great that even the military authorities were +obliged to take notice of it. They realized that if it were allowed +to fulfill itself, there would be famine in the land, and the army +would suffer with the rest. Djemal Pasha summoned my brother (the +President of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Athlit) and +intrusted him with the organization of a campaign against the +insects. It was a hard enough task. The Arabs are lazy, and +fatalistic besides; they cannot understand why men should attempt +to fight the <i>Djesh Allah</i> ("God's Army"), as they call the +locusts. In addition, my brother was seriously handicapped by lack +of petroleum, galvanized iron, and other articles which could not +be obtained because of the Allies' blockade.</p> +<p>In spite of these drawbacks, however, he attempted to work up a +scientific campaign. Djemal Pasha put some thousands of Arab +soldiers at his disposition, and these were set to work digging +trenches into which the hatching locusts were driven and destroyed. +This is the only means of coping with the situation: once the +locusts get their wings, nothing can be done with them. It was a +hopeless fight. Nothing short of the coöperation of every +farmer in the country could have won the day; and while the people +of the progressive Jewish villages struggled on to the +end,—men, women, and children working in the fields until +they were exhausted,—the Arab farmers sat by with folded +hands. The threats of the military authorities only stirred them to +half-hearted efforts. Finally, after two months of toil, the +campaign was given up and the locusts broke in waves over the +countryside, destroying everything. As the prophet Joel said, "The +field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new +wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.... The land is as the garden +of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness."</p> +<p>Not only was every green leaf devoured, but the very bark was +peeled from the trees, which stood out white and lifeless, like +skeletons. The fields were stripped to the ground, and the old men +of our villages, who had given their lives to cultivating these +gardens and vineyards, came out of the synagogues where they had +been praying and wailing, and looked on the ruin with dimmed eyes. +Nothing was spared. The insects, in their fierce hunger, tried to +engulf everything in their way. I have seen Arab babies, left by +their mothers in the shade of some tree, whose faces had been +devoured by the oncoming swarms of locusts before their screams had +been heard. I have seen the carcasses of animals hidden from sight +by the undulating, rustling blanket of insects. And in the face of +such a menace the Arabs remained inert. With their customary +fatalism they accepted the locust plague as a necessary evil. They +could not understand why we were so frantic to fight it. And as a +matter of fact, they really got a good deal out of the locusts, for +they loved to feast upon the female insects. They gathered piles of +them and threw them upon burning charcoal, then, squatting around +the fire, devoured the roasted insects with great gusto. I saw a +fourteen-year-old boy eat as many as a hundred at a sitting.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH8"><!-- CH8 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> +<center>THE LEBANON</center> +<p>During the locust invasion my brother sent me on an inspection +tour to investigate the ravages of the insect in Syria. With an +official <i>boyouroulton</i> (passport) in my pocket, I was able to +travel all over the country without being interfered with by the +military authorities. I had an excellent opportunity to see what +was going on everywhere. The locusts had destroyed everything from +as far south as the Egyptian desert to the Lebanon Mountains on the +north; but the locust was not the only, nor the worst, plague that +the people had to complain of. The plundering under the name of +"military requisitions," the despotic rule of the army officers, +and the general insecurity were even more desolating.</p> +<p>As I proceeded on my journey northward, I hoped to find +consolation and brighter prospects in the independent province of +the Lebanon. Few Americans know just what the Lebanon is. From the +repeated allusions in the Bible most people imagine it to be +nothing but a mountain. The truth is that a beautiful province of +about four thousand square miles bears that name. The population of +the Lebanon consists of a Christian sect called Maronites and the +Druses, the latter a people with a secret religion the esoteric +teachings of which are known only to the initiated, and never +divulged to outsiders. Both these peoples are sturdy, handsome +folk. Through the machinations of the Turks, whose policy is always +to "divide and rule," the Maronites were continually fighting +against the Druses. In 1860 Turkish troops joined with the Druses +and fell upon the Maronites with wholesale massacres that spread as +far south as Damascus, where ten thousand Christians were killed in +two days.</p> +<a name="image-10"><!-- Image 10 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img10.png"> +<img src="images/img10t.png" width="30%" alt="The Christian Town of Zahleh in the Lebanon"> +</a></center> +<p>The European powers were moved at last. Fifty warships were sent +to Beirut, and ten thousand French troops were landed in the +Lebanon, to create order. Under the pressure of the European powers +the Sublime Porte was forced to grant an autonomy for the province +of the Lebanon. The French, English, German, Russian, Austrian, +and, a year later, the Italian, Governments were signing the +guaranty of this autonomy.</p> +<p>Since then the Lebanon has had peace. The Governor of the +province must always be a Christian, but the General Council of the +Lebanon includes representatives of all the different races and +religions of the population. A wonderful development began with the +liberation from Turkish oppression. Macadamized roads were built +all over the province, agriculture was improved, and there was +complete safety for life and property. There is a proverb now in +Palestine and Syria which says, "In the Lebanon a virgin may travel +alone at midnight and be safe, and a purse of gold dropped in the +road at midday will never be stolen." And the proverb told the +literal truth.</p> +<p>When one crossed the boundary from Turkish Palestine into the +Lebanon province, what a change met his eyes!—peaceful and +prosperous villages, schools filled with children, immense +plantations of mulberry trees and olives, the slopes of the +mountains terraced with beautiful vineyards, a handsome and sturdy +population, police on every road to help the stranger, and young +girls and women with happy laugh and chatter working in the fields. +With a population of about six hundred thousand this province +exported annually two million dollars' worth of raw silk, +silkworm-raising being a specialty of the Lebanon.</p> +<p>When autonomy was granted the Lebanon, French influence became +predominant among the Maronites and other Christians of the +province. French is spoken by almost all of them, and love for +France is a deep-rooted sentiment of the people. On the other hand, +the Druses feel the English influence. For the last sixty years +England has been the friend of the Druses, and they have not +forgotten it.</p> +<p>It may be worth while to tell in a few words the story of one +man who accomplished wonders in spreading the influence of his +country. Sir Richard Wood was born in London, a son of Catholic +parents. From his early boyhood he aspired to enter the diplomatic +service. The East attracted him strongly, and in order to learn +Arabic he went with another young Englishman to live in the +Lebanon. In Beirut they sought the hospitality of the Maronite +patriarch. For a few days they were treated with lavish +hospitality, and then the patriarch summoned them before him and +told them that they must leave the city within twenty-four hours. +The reason for their disgrace they discovered later. Not suspecting +that they were being put to the test, they had eaten meat on a +Friday, and this made the patriarch think that they were not true +Catholics, but were there as spies.</p> +<p>Leaving Beirut in haste, Wood and his friend sought shelter with +the Druses, who received them with open arms. For two years Wood +lived among the Druses, in the village of Obey. There he learned +Arabic and became thoroughly acquainted with the country and with +the ways of the Druses, and there he conceived the idea of winning +the Druses for England to counteract the influence of the French +Maronites. He went back to London, where he succeeded in impressing +his views upon the Foreign Office, and he returned to Syria charged +with a secret mission. Before long he persuaded the Druse +chieftains to address a petition to England asking for British +protection.</p> +<p>British protection was granted, and for over thirty years +Richard Wood, virtually single-handed, shaped the destiny of Syria. +It was he who broke the power of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mehemet +Ali; it was he who guided Admiral Stopford in the bombardment of +Beirut; it was he, again, who brought about the landing of English +troops in Syria in 1841; we find him afterwards in Damascus as +British Consul, and wherever he went he was always busy spreading +English power and prestige. He understood the East thoroughly and +felt that England must be strong in Syria if she wished to retain +her imperial power. It is very unfortunate that the policy of Sir +Richard Wood was not carried out by his nation.</p> +<p>It was with high hopes and expectations that I approached the +Lebanon. I was looking forward to the moment when I should find +myself among people who were free from the Turkish yoke, in a +country where I should be able to breathe freely for a few +hours.</p> +<p>But how great was my consternation, when, on entering the +Lebanon, I found on all the roads Turkish soldiers who stopped me +every minute to ask for my papers! Even then I could not realize +that the worst had happened. Of course, rumors of the Turkish +occupation of the Lebanon had reached us a few weeks before, but we +had not believed it, as we knew that Germany and Austria were among +those who guaranteed the autonomy of the Lebanon. It was true, +however; the scrap of paper that guaranteed the freedom of the +Lebanon had proved of no more value to the Lebanese than had that +other scrap of paper to Belgium. As I entered the beautiful village +of Ed-Damur, one of the most prosperous and enchanting places on +earth, I saw entire regiments of Turkish troops encamped in and +about the village.</p> +<p>While I was watering my horse, I tried to ask questions from a +few inhabitants. My fair hair and complexion and my khaki costume +made them take me for a German, and they barely answered me, but +when I addressed them in French their faces lit up. For the +Lebanon, for all it is thousands of miles away from France, is +nevertheless like a French province. For fifty years the French +language and French culture have taken hold of the Lebanon. No +Frenchman has more love for and faith in France than lie in the +hearts of the Lebanese Christians. They have never forgotten that +when massacres were threatening to wipe out all the Christians of +the Lebanon, ten thousand French soldiers swept over the mountains +to spread peace, life, and French gayety.</p> +<p>And when the poor people heard the language they loved, and when +they found out that I too was the son of an oppressed and ruined +community, all the sadness and bitterness of their hearts was told +me,—how the Turkish soldiers had spread over the beloved +mountains of Lebanon; how the strong, stalwart young Lebanese had +been taken away from the mountains and forced into the Turkish +army; how the girls and women were hiding in their homes, afraid to +be seen by the soldiers and their officers; how the chieftains were +imprisoned and even hanged; and how violence and pillage had spread +over the peaceful country.[Footnote: Since the above was written +the American press has chronicled many atrocities committed in the +Lebanon. The execution of leaders and the complete blockade of the +mountains by the Turkish authorities resulted in the starving of +eighty thousand Lebanese. The French Government has warned Turkey +through the American Ambassador that the Turks will be held +accountable for their deeds.]</p> +<p>I could not help wondering at the mistakes of the Allies. If +they had understood the situation in Palestine and Syria, how +differently this war might have eventuated! The Lebanon and Syria +would have raised a hundred thousand picked men, if the Allies had +landed in Palestine. The Lebanon would have fought for its +independence as heroically as did the Belgians. Even the Arab +population would have welcomed the Allies as liberators. But +alas!</p> +<p>With a saddened heart I pursued my journey into Beirut. My +coming was a joyful surprise to my sister. Many sad things had +happened since she had last seen me. During my imprisonment she had +suffered tortures, not knowing what would happen to me, and now +that she saw me alive she cried from happiness. She told me how +kindly she had been treated by President Bliss, of the Syrian +Protestant College, and of all the good things the college had +done.</p> +<p>What a blessing the college was for the people of Beirut! Many +unfortunate people were saved from prison and hardships through the +intervention of President Bliss. He never tired of rendering +service, wonderful personal service. But alas, even his influence +and power began to wane. The American prestige in the country was +broken, and the Turkish Government no longer respected the American +flag. An order issued from Constantinople demanded that the +official language of the college be Turkish instead of English, and +Turkish officers even dared to enter the college premises to search +for citizens belonging to the belligerent nations, without +troubling to ask permission from the American Consul.</p> +<a name="image-11"><!-- Image 11 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img11.png"> +<img src="images/img11t.png" width="30%" alt="Haifa"> +</a></center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH9"><!-- CH9 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> +<center>A ROBBER BARON OF PALESTINE</center> +<p>Beirut is a city of about two hundred thousand inhabitants, half +of whom are Christians and the rest Mohammedans and Jews. The pinch +of hunger was already felt there. Bread was to be had only on +tickets issued by the Government, and prices in general were +extremely high. The population were discontented and turbulent, and +every day thousands of women came before the governor's residence +to cry and protest against the scarcity of bread.</p> +<p>The Allies' warships often passed near the town, but the people +were not afraid of them, for it was known that the Allies had no +intention of bombarding the cities. Only once had a bombardment +taken place. Toward the end of March, 1915, a French warship +approached the bay of Haifa and landed an officer with a letter to +the commandant of that town giving notice of his intention to +bombard the German Consulate at 3 P.M. sharp. This was in +retaliation for the propaganda carried on by the consul, Leutweld +von Hardegg, and chiefly because of his desecration of the grave of +Bonaparte's soldiers. The consul had time to pack up his archives +and valuables, and he left his house before three. The bombardment +began exactly at three. Fifteen shells were fired with a wonderful +precision. Not one house in the neighborhood of the consulate was +touched, but the consulate itself was a heap of ruins after a few +shells had struck it. The population was exceedingly calm. Only the +German colony was panic-stricken, and on every German house an +American flag was raised. It was rather humorous to see all the +Germans who were active in the Turkish army in one capacity or +another seek safety by means of this trick.</p> +<p>This bombardment had a sobering effect upon the Mohammedan +population. They saw that the Allies were not wholly ignorant of +what was going on in the country and that they could retaliate, and +safety for the non-Mohammedans increased accordingly.</p> +<p>In general Beirut was a rather quiet and safe place. The +presence of an American cruiser in the port had much to do with +that. The American sailors were allowed to come ashore three times +a week, and they spent their money lavishly. It was estimated that +Beirut was getting more than five thousand dollars a week out of +them. But the natives were especially impressed by the manliness +and quick action of the American boys. Frequently a few sailors +were involved in a street fight with scores of Arabs, and they +always held their own. In a short time the Americans became feared, +which in the Orient is equivalent to saying they were respected. +The Beirut people are famous for their fighting spirit, but this +spirit was not manifested after a few weeks of intimate +acquaintance with the American blue-jackets.</p> +<p>My inspection of the devastation caused by the locusts +completed, I returned home. The news that greeted me there was +alarming. I must narrate with some detail the events which finally +decided me to leave the country. About one hour's ride on horseback +from our village lives a family of Turkish nobles, the head of +which was Sadik Pasha, brother of the famous Kiamil Pasha, several +times Grand Vizier of the Empire. Sadik, who had been exiled from +Constantinople, came to Palestine and bought great tracts of land +near my people. After his death his sons—good-for-nothing, +wild fellows—were forced to sell most of the estate—all +except one Fewzi Bey, who retained his part of the land and lived +on it. Here he collected a band of friends as worthless as himself +and gradually commenced a career of plundering and "frightfulness" +much like that of the robber barons of mediaeval Germany. Before +the outbreak of the war he confined his attentions chiefly to the +Arabs, whom he treated shamefully. He raided cattle and crops and +carried off girls and women in broad daylight. On one occasion he +stopped a wedding procession and carried off the young bride. Then +he seized the bridegroom, against whom he bore a grudge, and +subjected the poor Bedouin to the bastinado until he consented to +divorce his wife by pronouncing the words, "I divorce thee," three +times in the presence of witnesses, according to Mohammedan custom. +This Bedouin was the grandson of the Sheikh Hilou, a holy man of +the region upon whose grave the Arabs are accustomed to make their +prayers. But we villagers of Zicron-Jacob had never submitted to +Fewzi Bey in any way; our young men were organized and armed, and +after a few encounters he let us alone.</p> +<p>After the mobilization, however, and the taking away of our +arms, this outlaw saw that his chance had come. He began to send +his men and his camels into our fields to harvest our crops and +carry them off. This pillage continued until the locusts +came—Fewzi, in the mean while, becoming so bold that he would +gallop through the streets of our village with his horsemen, +shooting right and left into the air and insulting old men and +women. He boasted—apparently with reason—that the +authorities at Haifa were powerless to touch him.</p> +<a name="image-12"><!-- Image 12 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img12.png"> +<img src="images/img12t.png" width="30%" alt="Haifa and the Bay of Akka. Looking East from Mount Carmel"> +</a></center> +<p>There was one hope left. Djemal Pasha had boasted that he had +introduced law and order; the country was under military rule; it +remained to see what he would say and do when the crimes of Fewzi +Bey were brought to his notice. Accordingly, armed with my +<i>boyouroulton</i>, or passport, of a locust-inspector, I rode to +Jerusalem, where I procured, through my brother, who was then in +favor, an interview with Djemal Pasha. He received me on the very +day of my arrival, and listened attentively while for a whole hour +I poured out the story of Fewzi Bey's outrages. I put my whole +heart into the plea and wound up by asking if it was to the credit +of the progressive Young Turks to shelter feudal abuses of a bygone +age. Djemal seemed to be impressed. He sprang from his chair, began +walking up and down the room; then with a great dramatic gesture he +exclaimed, "Justice shall be rendered!" and assured me that a +commission of army officers would be sent at once to start an +investigation. I returned to Zicron-Jacob with high hopes.</p> +<p>Sure enough, a few days later Fewzi Bey was summoned to +Jerusalem; at the same time the "commission," which had dwindled to +one single officer on secret mission, put in an appearance and +began to make inquiries among the natives. He got little +satisfaction at first, for they lived in mortal terror of the +outlaw; they grew bolder, however, when they learned his purpose. +Complaints and testimonies came pouring in, and in four days the +officer had the names of hundreds of witnesses, establishing no +less than fifty-two crimes of the most serious nature. Fewzi's +friends and relatives, in the mean while, were doing their utmost +to stem the tide of accusations. The Kaimakam (lieutenant-governor) +of Haifa came in person to our village and threatened the elders +with all sorts of severities if they did not retract the charges +they had made. But they stood firm. Had not Djemal Pasha, +commander-in-chief of the armies in Palestine, given his word of +honor that we should have redress?</p> +<p>We were soon shown the depth of our naïveté in +fancying that justice could be done in Turkey by a Turk. Fewzi Bey +came back from Jerusalem, not in convict's clothes, but in the +uniform of a Turkish officer! Djemal Pasha had commissioned him +commandant of the Moujahaddeen (religious militia) of the entire +region! It was bad enough to stand him as an outlaw; now we had to +submit to him as an officer. He came riding into our village daily, +ordering everybody about and picking me out for distinguished +spitefulness.</p> +<p>My position soon became unbearable. I was, of course, known as +the organizer of the young men's union which for so long had put up +a spirited resistance to Fewzi; I was still looked upon as a leader +of the younger spirits, and I knew that sooner or later Fewzi would +try to make good his threat, often repeated, that he would "shoot +me like a dog." It was hardly likely that an open attempt on my +life would be made. When Ambassador Morgenthau visited Palestine, +he had stayed in our village and given my family the evidence of +his sincere friendship. These things count in the East, and I soon +got the reputation of having influential friends. However, there +were other ways of disposing of me. One evening, about sunset, +while I was riding through a valley near our village, my horse +shied violently in passing a clump of bushes. I gave him the spur +and turned and rode toward the bushes just in time to see a +horseman dash out wildly with a rifle across his saddle. I kept the +incident to myself, but I was more cautious and kept my eyes open +wherever I went. One afternoon, a fortnight later, as I was riding +to Hedera, another Jewish village, two hours' ride away, a shot was +fired from behind a sand-dune. The bullet burned a hole in the +lapel of my coat.</p> +<p>That night I had a long talk with my brother. There was no doubt +whatever in his mind that I should try to leave the country, while +I, on the contrary, could not bear to think of deserting my people +at the crisis of their fortunes. It was a beautiful night, such a +night, I think, as only Palestine can show, a white, serene, +moon-bathed night. The roar of the Mediterranean came out of the +stillness as if to remind us that help and salvation could come +only from the sea, the sea upon which scores of the warships of the +Allies were sailing back and forth. We had argued into the small +hours before I yielded to his persuasion.</p> +<a name="image-13"><!-- Image 13 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img13.png"> +<img src="images/img13t.png" width="30%" alt="The Bazaar of Jaffa on a Market Day"> +</a></center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH10"><!-- CH10 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> +<center>A RASH ADVENTURE</center> +<p>It was all very well to decide to leave the country; to get +safely away was a different matter. There were two ways out. One of +these—the land route by Constantinople—could not be +considered. The other way was to board one of the American cruisers +which, by order of Ambassador Morgenthau, were empowered to assist +citizens of neutral countries to leave the Ottoman Empire. These +cruisers had already done wonderful rescue work for the Russian +Jews in Palestine, who, when war was declared, were to have been +sent to the Mesopotamian town of Urfa—there to suffer +massacre and outrage like the Armenians. This was prevented by Mr. +Morgenthau's strenuous representations, with the result that these +Russian Jews were gathered together as in a great drag-net and +herded to Jaffa, amidst suffering unspeakable. There they were met +by the American cruisers which were to transport them to Egypt. Up +to the very moment when they set foot on the friendly warships they +were robbed and horribly abused by the Jaffa boatmen. The eternal +curse of the Wandering Jew! Driven from Russia, they come to seek +shelter in Turkey; Turkey then casts them from her under pretext +that they are loyal to Russia. Truly, the Jew lifts his eyes to the +mountains, asking the ancient and still unanswered question, +"Whence shall come my help?"</p> +<p>The Turkish Government later repented of its leniency in +allowing these Russian Jews to escape, and gave orders that only +neutrals should leave the country—and then only under certain +conditions. I was not a neutral; my first papers of American +citizenship were valueless to further my escape. I had heard, +however, that the United States cruiser Tennessee was to call at +Jaffa, and I determined to get aboard her by hook or by crook. One +evening, as soon as darkness had fallen, I bade a sorrowful +farewell to my people, and set off for Jaffa, traveling only by +night and taking out-of-the-way paths to avoid the pickets, for now +that the locust campaign was over, my <i>boyouroulton</i> was +useless. At dawn, two days later, I slipped into Jaffa by way of +the sand-dunes and went to the house of a friend whom I could trust +to help me in every possible way, and begged him to find me a +passport for a neutral. He set off in search and I waited all day +at his house, consumed with impatience and anxiety. At last, toward +evening, my friend returned, but the news he brought was not +cheering. He had found a passport, indeed, but his report of the +rigors of the inspection at the wharf was such as to make it clear +that the chances of my getting through on a false passport were +exceedingly slim, since I was well known in Jaffa. If I were caught +in such an undertaking, it might mean death for me and punishment +for the friends who had helped me.</p> +<p>Evidently this plan was not feasible. All that night I racked my +brain for a solution. Finally I decided to stake everything on what +appeared to be my only chance. The Tennessee was due on the next +day but one, early in the morning. I gave my friend the name of a +boatman who was under obligations to me and had sworn to be my +friend for life or death. Even under the circumstances I hesitated +to trust a Mohammedan, but it seemed the only thing to do; I had no +choice left. My friend brought the boatman, and I put my plan +before him, appealing to his daring and his sense of honor. I +wanted him to take me at midnight in his fishing-boat from an +isolated part of the coast and wait for the appearance of the +Tennessee; then, on her arrival, amid the scramble of boats full of +refugees, I was to jump aboard, while he would return with the +other boats. The poor fellow tried to remonstrate, pointing out the +dangers and what he called—rightly enough, +doubtless—the folly of the plan. I stuck to it, however, +making it clear that his part would be well paid for, and at last +he consented and we arranged a meeting-place behind the sand-dunes +by the shore.</p> +<p>I put a few personal belongings into a little suit-case and had +my friend give it to one of the refugees who was to sail on the +Tennessee. If I succeeded, I was to recover it when we reached +Egypt. The only thing I took with me was the paper which declared +my "intention of becoming an American citizen," the "first paper." +From this document I was determined not to part. I shall not tell +how I kept it on me, as the means I used may still be used by +others in concealing such papers and a disclosure of the secret +might bring disaster to them. Suffice it to say that I had the +paper with me and that no search would have brought it to +light.</p> +<p>Arrived next morning at the appointed place, I gave the signal +agreed upon, the whine of a jackal, and, after repeating it again +and again, I heard a very low and muffled answer. My boatman was +there! I had some fear that he might have betrayed me and that I +should presently see a soldier or policeman leap out of the little +boat, but my fears proved groundless, the man was faithful.</p> +<a name="image-14"><!-- Image 14 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img14.png"> +<img src="images/img14t.png" width="30%" alt="Stormy Sea Breaking over Rocks off Jaffa"> +</a></center> +<p>We rowed out quietly, our boat a little nutshell on the tossing +waves. But I was relieved; the elements did not frighten me; on the +contrary, I felt secure and refreshed in the midst of the sea. When +morning began to dawn, scores of little boats came out of the +harbor and circled about waiting for the cruiser. This was our +chance. I crouched in the bottom of our boat and to all appearances +my boatman was engaged merely in fishing. After I had lain there +over an hour with my heart beating like a drum and with small hopes +for the success of my undertaking, I heard at last the whistle of +the approaching cruiser followed by a Babel of mad shouting and +cursing among the boatmen. In the confusion I felt it safe to sit +up. No one paid the slightest attention to me. All were engaged in +a wild race to reach and mount the Tennessee's ladder. I scrambled +up with the rest, and when, on the deck, an officer demanded my +passport, I put on a bold front and asked him to tell Captain +Decker that Mr. Aaronsohn wished to see him.</p> +<p>Ten minutes later I stood in the captain's cabin. There I +unfolded my story, and wound up by asking him if, under the +circumstances, my "first papers" might not entitle me to +protection. As I spoke I could see the struggle that was going on +within him. When he answered it was to explain, with the utmost +kindness, that if he took me aboard his ship it would be to forfeit +his word of honor to the Turkish Government, his pledge to take +only citizens of neutral countries; that he could not consider me +an American on the strength of my first papers; and that any such +evasion might lead to serious complications for him and for his +Government. Well, there was nothing for me to do but to withdraw +and go back to Jaffa to face trial for an attempt to escape.</p> +<p>When I reached the deck again I found it swarming with refugees, +many of whom knew me and came up to congratulate me on getting +away. I could only shake my head and with death in my heart descend +the Tennessee's ladder. It did not matter now what boat I took. Any +boatman was eager enough to take me for a few cents. As I sat in +the boat, every stroke of the oars bringing me nearer to the shore +and to what I felt was inevitable captivity, a great bitterness +swelled my heart. I was tired, utterly tired of all the dangers and +trials I had been going through for the last months. From +depression I sank into despair and out of despair came, strange to +say, a great serenity, the serenity of despair.</p> +<p>On the quay I ran into Hassan Bey, commandant of the police, who +was superintending the embarkation of refugees. I knew him and he +knew me. Half an hour later I was in police headquarters under +examination by Hassan Bey. I was desperate, and answered him +recklessly. A seasick man is indifferent to shipwreck. This was the +substance of our conversation:—</p> +<p>"How did you get aboard the ship?"</p> +<p>"In a boat with some refugees. A woman hid me with her +skirts."</p> +<p>"So you were trying to escape, were you?"</p> +<p>"If I had been, I shouldn't have come back."</p> +<p>"Then what did you do on the cruiser?"</p> +<p>"I went to talk to the captain, who is a friend of mine. My life +is in danger. Fewzi Bey is after me, and I wanted <i>my friends in +America</i> to know how justice is done in Palestine."</p> +<p>"Who are your friends in America?"</p> +<p>"Men who could break you in a minute."</p> +<p>"Do you know to whom you are speaking?"</p> +<p>"Yes, Hassan Bey. I am sick of persecution. I wish you would +hang me with your own hands as you hanged the young Christian; my +friends would have your life for mine."</p> +<p>I wonder now how I dared to speak to him in this manner. But the +bluff carried. Hassan Bey looked at me curiously for a +moment—then smiled and offered me a cigarette, assuring me +that he believed me a loyal citizen, and declaring he felt deeply +hurt that I had not come to him for permission to visit the +cruiser. We parted with a profusion of Eastern compliments, and +that evening I started back to Zicron-Jacob.</p> +<a name="image-15"><!-- Image 15 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img15.png"> +<img src="images/img15t.png" width="30%" alt="The Author's Sister on Her Horse Tayar"> +</a></center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<a name="CH11"><!-- CH11 --></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> +<center>ESCAPE</center> +<p>The failure of my attempt to leave the country only sharpened my +desire to make another trial. The danger of the enterprise tended +to reconcile me to deserting my family and comrades and seeking +safety for myself. As I racked my brain for a promising plan, a +letter came from my sister in Beirut with two pieces of news which +were responsible for my final escape. The American College was +shortly to close for the summer, and the U.S.S. Chester was to sail +for Alexandria with refugees aboard. Beirut is a four days' trip +from our village, and roads are unsafe. It was out of the question +to permit my sister to come home alone, and it was impossible for +any of us to get leave to go after her; nor did we want to have her +at home in the unsettled condition of the country. I began +wondering if I could not possibly get to Beirut and get my sister +aboard the Chester, which offered, perhaps, the last opportunity to +go out with the refugees. It would be a difficult undertaking but +it might be our only chance and I quickly made up my mind to carry +it out if it were a possible thing. I had to act immediately; no +time was to be lost, for no one could tell how soon the Chester +might sail.</p> +<p>My last adventure had been entered upon with forebodings, but +now I felt that I should succeed. To us Orientals intuition speaks +in very audible tones and we are trained from childhood to listen +to its voice. It was with a feeling of confidence in the outcome, +therefore, that I bade this second good-bye to my family and +dearest friends. Solemn hours they were, these hours of farewell, +hours that needed few words. Then once more I slipped out into the +night to make my secret way to Beirut.</p> +<p>It was about midnight when I left home, dressed in a soldier's +uniform and driving a donkey before me. I traveled only by night +and spent each day in hiding in some cave or narrow valley where I +could sleep with some measure of security. For food I had brought +bread, dried figs, and chocolate, and water was always to be found +in little springs and pools. In these clear, warm nights I used to +think of David, a fugitive and pursued by his enemies. How well I +could now understand his despairing cry: "How long wilt thou forget +me, O Lord? for ever?... How long shall mine enemy be exalted over +me?"</p> +<p>Five nights I journeyed, and at last one morning beautiful +Beirut appeared in the distance and I found myself in the forest of +pines that leads into the city. The fresh dawn was filled with the +balmy breath of the pines and all the odors of the Lebanon. Driving +my donkey before me, I boldly approached the first picket-house and +saluted the non-commissioned officer in military fashion. He +stopped me and asked whence I came and where I was going. I smiled +sweetly and replied that I was the orderly of a German officer who +was surveying the country a few hours to the south and that I was +going to Beirut for provisions. Then I lighted a cigarette and sat +down for a chat. After discussing politics and the war for a few +minutes, I jumped up, exclaiming that if I didn't hurry I should be +late, and so took my departure. It was all so simple, and it +brought me safely to Beirut. My donkey, having served the purpose +for which I had brought him, was speedily abandoned, and I hurried +to a friend's house, where I exchanged my uniform for the garb of a +civilian.</p> +<p>My sister was the most surprised person on earth when she saw me +walking into her room, and, when I told her that I wanted her to go +with me on the Chester, she thought me crazy, for she knew that +hundreds of persons were trying in vain to find means of leaving +the country and it seemed to her impossible that we, who were +Turkish subjects, could succeed in outwitting the authorities. Even +when I had explained my plans and she was willing to admit the +possibility of success, she still felt doubts as to whether it +would be right for her to leave the country while her friends were +left behind in danger. I assured her, however, that our family +would feel relieved to know that we were in safety and could come +back fresh and strong after the war to help in rebuilding the +country.</p> +<p>Having gained her consent, I still had the difficult problem of +ways and means before me. The Chester had orders to take citizens +of neutral countries only. Passports had to be examined by the +Turkish authorities and by the American Consul-General, who gave +the final permission to board the cruiser. How was I to pass this +double scrutiny? After long and arduous search, with the assistance +of several good friends, I at last discovered a man who was willing +to sell me the passports of a young couple belonging to a neutral +nation. I cannot go into particulars about this arrangement, of +course. Suffice it to say that my sister was to travel as my wife +and that we both had to disguise ourselves so as to answer the +descriptions on the passports. When I went to the American +Consulate-General to get the permit, I found the building crowded +with people of all nations,—Spanish and Greek and Dutch and +Swiss,—all waiting for the precious little papers that should +take them aboard the American cruiser, that haven of liberty and +safety. The Chester was to take all these people to Alexandria, and +those who had the means were to be charged fifty cents a day for +their food. From behind my dark goggles I recognized many a person +in disguise like myself and seeking escape. We never betrayed +recognition for fear of the spies who infested the place.</p> +<p>After securing my permit, I ran downstairs and straight to "my" +consul, whose dragoman I took along with me to the <i>seraya</i>, +or government building. Of course, the dragoman was well tipped and +he helped me considerably in hastening the examination I had to +undergo at the hands of the Turkish officials. All went well, and I +hurried back to my sister triumphant.</p> +<p>The Chester was to sail in two days, but while we were waiting, +the alarming news came that the American Consul had been advised +that the British Government refused to permit the landing of the +refugees in Egypt and that the departure of the Chester was +indefinitely postponed. With a sinking at my heart I rushed up to +the American Consulate for details and there learned that the +U.S.S. Des Moines was to sail in a few hours for Rhodes with +Italian and Greek refugees and that I could go on her if I wished. +In a few minutes I had my permit changed for the trip on the Des +Moines and I hurried home to my sister. We hastily got together the +few belongings we were to take with us, jumped into a carriage, and +drove to the harbor.</p> +<p>We had still another ordeal to go through. My sister was taken +into a private room and thoroughly searched; so was I. Nobody could +leave the country with more than twenty-five dollars in cash on his +person. Our baggage was carefully overhauled. No papers or books +could be taken. My sister's Bible was looked upon with much +suspicion since it contained a map of ancient Canaan. I explained +that this was necessary for the orientation of our prayers and that +without it we could not tell in which direction to turn our faces +when praying! This seemed plausible to the Moslem examiners and +saved the Bible, the only book we now possess as a souvenir from +home. Now our passports were examined again and several questions +were asked. My sister was brave and self-possessed, cool and +unconcerned in manner, and at last the final signature was affixed +and we jumped into the little boat that was to take us out to the +ship.</p> +<p>At this moment a man approached, a dry-goods dealer of whom my +sister had made some purchases a few months before. He seemed to +recognize her and he asked her in German if she were not Miss +Aaronsohn. I felt my blood leave my face, and, looking him straight +in the eye, I whispered, "If you say one word more, you will be a +dead man; so help me God!" He must have felt that I meant exactly +what I said, for he walked off mumbling unintelligibly.</p> +<p>At last the boat got away, and five minutes later we were +mounting the side of the Des Moines. Throngs of refugees covered +the decks of the cruiser. Their faces showed tension and anxiety. +Their presence there seemed too good to be true, and all awaited +the moment when the ship should heave anchor. A Filipino sailor +showed us about, and as he spoke Italian, I told him I wanted to be +hidden somewhere till the ship got under way. I felt that even yet +we were not entirely safe. That my fears were justified I +discovered shortly, when from our hiding-place I saw the shopkeeper +approaching in a small boat with a Turkish officer. They looked +over all the refugees on the deck, but searched for us in vain. +After a half-hour more of uncomfortable tension the engines began +to sputter, the propellers revolved, and—we were safe!</p> +<a name="image-16"><!-- Image 16 --></a> +<center><a href="images/img16.png"> +<img src="images/img16t.png" width="30%" alt="Beirut, from the deck of an outgoing steamer"> +</a></center> +<p>The day was dying and a beautiful twilight softened the outlines +of the Lebanon and the houses of Beirut. The Mediterranean lay +quiet and peaceful around us, and the healthy, sturdy American +sailors gave a feeling of confidence. As the cruiser drew out of +the harbor, a great cry of farewell arose from the refugees on +board, a cry in which was mingled the relief of being free, anguish +at leaving behind parents and friends, fear and hope for the +future. A little later the sailors were lined up in arms to salute +the American flag when it was lowered for the night. Moved by a +powerful instinct of love and respect, all the refugees jumped to +their feet, the men bareheaded and the women with folded hands, and +in that moment I understood as I had never understood before the +real sacred meaning of a flag. To all those people standing in awe +about that piece of cloth bearing the stars and stripes America was +an incarnation of love universal, of freedom and salvation.</p> +<p>The cool Syrian night, our first night on the cruiser, was spent +in songs, hymns, and conversation. We were all too excited to +sleep. Friends discovered friends and tales of woe were exchanged, +stories of hardship, injustice, oppression, all of which ended with +mutual congratulations on escaping from the clutches of the +Turks.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<center>THE END</center> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10338 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/10338-h/images/img01.png b/10338-h/images/img01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c7b121 --- /dev/null +++ b/10338-h/images/img01.png diff --git a/10338-h/images/img01t.png b/10338-h/images/img01t.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bd2201 --- /dev/null +++ b/10338-h/images/img01t.png diff --git a/10338-h/images/img02.png b/10338-h/images/img02.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cdbbe8a --- /dev/null +++ b/10338-h/images/img02.png diff --git a/10338-h/images/img02t.png b/10338-h/images/img02t.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 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