ملف ٧٠٥/١٩١٦ الجزء ١ "انتفاضة عربية - تقارير" [ظ‎‎٢‎٣‎٧] (٤٩٤/٢٢)

18
nobler and higher qualities. 1 They are patriotic enough and well-wishers
for the future welfare of their country, but they do not try to bring their
cause before the public. Further, each one is interested in the province
only from which he came; and none of them seem to have any conception
of a national Arab cause. Even the leading Arabic newspapers published
in America concern themselves principally with questions affecting the
present conditions and future sorts of Mount Lebanon and Syria and very
seldom deal with the broader issues of a national cause. Apart from
a natural apathy I know that the principal reason for the inaction of the
Arabs in the United States is the fear of reprisals on the part of the Turks
against their relatives in Turkey. Every time a man has made bold to
denounce Turkish misdeeds his relatives in Turkey have been severely
dealt with and his property confiscated.
The majority of the Mohammedan Arabs in the United States boast of
their loyalty and attachment to the Turkish rule. They inwardly hate the
Turks, but consider that they must rally to them for the defence of the
Mohammedan religion and in order to thwart the aspirations of the
Christians. As long as Turkey is not crushed they will stick to her, if
only for fear of revenge, but they will welcome any sort of government that
will liberate them from Turkish tyranny.
What both Christian and Mohammedan Arabs need is a leader of great
energy and influence who could arouse their better feelings and bring forth
the union of all Arabs, forming an Arab national league both in Northern
and Southern America. This will be a very great asset to the future
welfare of the Arab race and will greatly help its development both in
tellectually and commercially. Emigration has proved to be a great boon
to other nations, and there is no reason why it should not benefit the Arabs
if they could only be drawn closer together and unite. The above scheme,
however, can only be realised when Turkey is made powerless to strike, as
at present too great is the fear of reprisals and revenge.
Interviews.
In my different interviews with Arabs during my visit to the United
States I found that they were reticent and diffident, being afraid to express
an opinion. However, I managed to draw from them all the information
I wanted.
My first interview in New York was with Suleiman Baddour, a Druse
from Mount Lebanon, editor of the newspaper A l Bay an, which is a kind
of semi-official paper inspired by Turkish officials and the only Arabic
newspaper published in America that can be introduced into Turkey.
Baddour is considered to be a shrewd and intelligent man. The policy
of his newspaper is naturally pro-Turkish and pro-German. Baddour
W a s ^ffi^nt at first and tried to be non-committal, but I allayed his
suspicions by representing myself as the correspondent of an (imaginary)
i ne eastern mind has an unequalled aptitude for assimilating the bad and reiectinn
good m any system it meets.”-Stanley Lane-Poole, ^ a Mos q ue.