File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎125v] (248/450)

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robberies, the Bedouins have frequently removed the rails and damaged the line. Once,
in the neighbourhood of Mabrac-el-Naaka, they tied up the rails and attached them to
a flock of about 800 camels on a length of 4 kilometres. Then they drove the camels
forward, who carried away the rails for several miles in a wild gallop. Between Amm^
and El-Katrani there is a tunnel 1,500 metres long. Trains never pass the tunnel aT
night for fear of a surprise attack by the Arabs.
Water Supplies for the Engines.—The engines are supplied with water at the
stations of Amman, El-Katrani, Ma’an, Tobouk, Madamen-Saleh, Medina. Besides,
each train carries two tanks of water.
Bail Stocks. —At each large station there was, before the war, a reserve stock of
about 1,000 rails measuring a length of 5 metres each. The total reserve may cover
25-30 kilom. of line. Probably since the war a large portion of these rails has been
transported for use in the Sinai Railway.
Train Service. —Before the war there was a regular daily service of one passenger
and mail train, and one, or sometimes two, goods trains.
Means of Damaging the Line. —Junior Captain Shaykha believes that the Hejaz
Railway can easily be partly destroyed and put out of action. Arabs friendly to the
Sherif could easily remove the rails and destroy the line at several points. British
aviators could easily reach the railway from Akaba, and, flying low, throw bombs on the
line and destroy it at different points. At Akaba there is usually only one line of
empty trenches and one company of Turkish gendarmes. A surprise landing of troops
at Akaba can be easily effected almost without opposition. The force could proceed to
Amman 60 miles and wreck the line before Turkish troops could be brought up. The
following was the number and disposition of Turkish troops along the Hejaz Railway in
peace time. Two companies of soldiers were stationed at Mabrac-el-Naaka and one at
| Istabel-Antar. From two to ten soldiers were assigned to each station. The total
| number was of about 500.
The Arab Movement.
(Report by Second-Lieutenant Shurbaji, Member of the Arab Committee in
Damascus.)
The Arab movement originated through secular and systematic oppression of the
Arabs by the Turks, who always treated them wdth contempt as a conquered race, and
persistently refused to grant them any privileges or any prominent show in the
administration of their own provinces. An Arab movement has always existed, latent
in the cities and villages for fear of persecutions, but open and defiant with the Arab
tribesmen, who never recognised or accepted Turkish rule. During the last fifteen or
twenty years the movement acquired some kind of organisation. Before the advent of
the Young Turks, it was directed against the despotic rule of Abdul-Hamid, and during
the revolution of 1908 the Arabs rallied to the Young Turks and supported them
unreservedly, as the latter had promised them equal rights and all sorts of privileges.
The illusion, however, vanished, and the Arabs found out, at their expense, that the
Union and Progress rule was infinitely worse than Hamidian tyranny. The climax
came after the Balkan war in 1912. Turkey was defeated, and the Arabs threatened
an insurrection if the Government would not fulfil its promises of decentralisation in the
administration of the Arab provinces of the Empire.
A Congress was held in Paris in May 1913, to which were present over 400 repre
sentatives from all parts of the Peninsula, including Moslems, Christians, Druses, and
Jews. The iRrkish Government sent a representative, Abdul-Kerim-El-Khalil. (It is
interesting to know that the latter and the President of the Congress, Abdul-Hamid-
Alzabraoui, and two members, Abdul-Ghani-El-Arisi and Mohammed-Mahmasani, have
been hanged by Jemal.) d he Congress held two private and one public sitting. The
decisions were communicated to the Turkish Government. The Unionists fearing an
Arab insurrection, gave in at the time, and actually started making some reforms.
But as soon as the European war broke out they not only withdrew all their
concessions, but also intensified the oppression of the Arabs, culminating in the
hangings and deportations in Syria and the starvation of the Lebanese. The object of
the Turks is to kill the Arab movement, but Second-Lieutenant Shurbaji assures
that the lurkish crimes have contributed to strengthen it and to draw the Arabs
in a closer union.
ihe movement is conducted by a secret body of men whose names and headquarters
—