File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎360r] (728/834)

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“ Agriculture.
“ Fakhri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. did no harm at all to agriculture or to the
palm groves near Medina, except at the beginning of the war
when the people of El Awali were hostile to him. He filled in
some of their wells, but when the Arabs left that place he took
great care of the cultivation and palm groves at the two fertile
places, viz. El Ayun and El Awali.
“ Fakhri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. bought 6,000 kilos, of wheat one month
before the surrender, and planted it in the lands near El Ayun.
The crop grew splendidly, until the blades were about ten inches
high just before the entry of the Arab armies into Medina. The
Arab troops soon after their arrival went with their camels,
horses, mules, etc., to the cultivated area to graze their animals,
and in seven days there was not a single blade to be seen.
“ The Arab Entry into Medina.
“ Emir Abdullah entered before Emir Ali in order to ensure
public security in the town and prevent any looting, etc., but in
vain. I regret to say that when I entered Medina on January 15
I found all the houses, which number over 4,800 and which were
locked and sealed by the Turkish Government, had been broken
open by the Arabs, who looted the furniture and sold it at very
cheap prices in the Suk. The Ashraf and others who entered
Medina with Emir Abdullah used to go from house to house
and take what they liked, and they lived in the houses as they
pleased. This went on for twelve days, even the houses
whose owners were present at Medina being looted.
“ It was not only the Bedouin who practised looting,
but eighty per cent of the Baghdadi and Syrian officers took
part in it with the help of their regular and Bedouin troops.
Only one-eighth of the houses were saved from pillage.
“ Our Egyptian doctor, Mohammed Huseini, and Dr. Hassan
Raad of the Turkish Army, told me that they had seen six camels
in front of some houses loaded with furniture, and they learned
from the camel-men and others that the property belonged to a
certain Baghdadi officer of the Arab Army.
“ It was not until eighteen days after the occupation that
police posts were put at the gates of the city.
“ There was a large number of animals belonging to the
Turkish Army, e.g. mules, camels, donkeys, and cows. Emir
Abdullah issued an order to a certain Baghdadi officer called
Jamil to take them over. The officer did so, and put the animals
in a yard, giving them no food at all. It happened that I was
passing this yard, and found all the animals in a very bad
condition, nearly starved, and more dead than alive. They were
dying at the rate of ten per day from lack of forage and water.