File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎131r] (259/450)

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the State throug-h the Committee of Union and Progress, looked upon them as
abhorrent relics of barbarism. A strong Governor of the Irak would chasten them,
per aps not v holly without reason; but under his weaker successor their liberty ran
^veu more wildly into licence. Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. might have held them firmly, if not wisely,
put the high positions of the Turkish hierarchy were precarious eminences, and after
nme months of office at Baghdad the jealousy of the Committee brought about his
overthrow. Yet the task of controlling the tribes of the desert should not be one of the
most difficult problems of Mesopotamian administration. The diplomatic parleying^
ana the alarums ot war which sound among the tents, the wildernesses which change
hands, and ^the dynasties which topple down are of no concern to the rulers of the
settled lands. It is enough for them that the de facto master of the waters should
show respect for ironuier, road and rail, and for outlying cornfields. Rewards for the
observance of agreements are easy to devise—they are familiar and time-honoured in all
intercourse with tribal countries ; but for any breach the closing of the markets of Irak
and the Gulf is a swift and sure retribution.
[From the “ Near East,” 15th September, 1916.]
APPENDIX (D).
Public Opinion in Egypt.
[From “Arab Bulletin,” No. 17.]
The fellaheen Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. of Egypt, those that live in the villages of the provinces and cultivate
the lands of Egypt, have always been less keenly interested in this war than the
townspeople. But in the beginning of the war they seemed to think like the rest of
the Egyptians that Germany will win and that Egypt will be once more a dependency
of the Moslem Sultan of Turkey who is the ally of “ Hajj Ghallioum.” The idea gave
pleasure to those whose lands were mortgaged to European banks or were indebted
themselves to foreigners. Now things have changed altogether. There is not 1 per cent,
of the village population that still believe Germany will win or the Turks will rule
Egypt. The rural population of Egypt is now convinced that things will remain in
Egypt as they are, that all the changes are over, that the English have taken Egypt
and that their ruler has become a Sultan of Egypt under British protection. Turkish
raids in Sinai seem not to affect them more than the raids on the Western or the
Eastern front in Europe. I was in my farm at Soufieh in Kafr Sakr District (Sharkieh
Province) when the battle of Romani took place. I heard the booming of guns very
distinctly and when I asked the natives on my farm what that meant, they answered
me in the most indifferent way : “ It is the English firing at the Turks who are raiding
in the desert,” and they took no more notice of it whatever.
All the people of Egypt have grown very tired of the war. “ When will it end ? ”
is the first question they generally ask when war is mentioned. It is the rise of prices
of imported things on the one hand, and the difficulty of borrowing money now-a-days
on the other, that makes them especially wish the war will soon end, not to speak of
the general wish of mankind for the cessation of bloodshed.
Before the Allies began their offensive on the Eastern and Western fronts,
Egyptians seemed to believe that the war will end with no decisive victory from one
party or the other of the combatants, but that peace will be concluded on the same
terms as things were before the war. The idea gave some relief to those who were
anxious for the maintenance of Turkey as the only Moslem independent Power.
But the great offensive of the Allies, the victories that have been won by England
and France, and by Russia and Italy, have altogether changed that belief, and there are
few Egyptians now who do not admit that during the last six weeks or so, the Allies
have been showing themselves stronger and their enemies weaker than they seemed to
be before. They believe the catastrophe will begin with Austria or with Turkey, though
they try to avoid naming Turkey when they discuss questions of the war.
But when the name of Turkey is brought into the discussion they begin by levelling
curses at the head of Germany and the German Emperor for dragging Turkey into tais
war. After the Germans, the Young Turks of the Union and Progress are the objects
of their anger. They have nothing but abuse for them. But it is “ a contra coeur
that they mention these bitter facts—the wrong-doings of the Young Turks, I mean, as
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