File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎153v] (304/450)

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Nothing is more galling to the Arab intellectual than the picture of the “ omniscient
Sahib” and the “ comic native.” Reference is made to the tone of Mr. Candler s
ttaniD ana xne uumic nauivo. — . > j + ^ n r
article, because it suggests that people on the spot m Mesopotamia do no u ly realise
that Mesopotamia is not an isolated problem, but part of the Arab world which, no
matter how divided, is one in race and literature. , , . ..
Consequently it cannot be urged too strongly or too often that the vitality and
physique of the Arabs confronts His Majesty’s Government with a future political
problem entirely different to any that we have yet approached.
A , If we follow our precedents and (i) govern without any other purpose than the
maintenance of order and the open door, and (ii) educate, without any definite idea as
to whom or w r hy we are educating, we shall reap a well-deserved crop of tiouble.
/ t If we disreo-ard history, tradition, and imagination for twenty years ^ the matter
will* be beyond remedy; a generation of desequilibre “Nationalists,” will have
been reared in our schools, and the Government will have crystalised into an alien
organisation without even the Turkish advantages of religion, tradition, and the
thick^stick^^ the Italian press cuttings are worthy of note; the demands
appear to increase rather than otherwdse.
In Appendix (D) the “ Tanins ” observations indicate that the Turks have a definite
policy as regards the Holy Places. ^ ^
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