ملف ٧٠٥/١٩١٦ الجزء ١ "انتفاضة عربية - تقارير" [و‎‎٢‎٣‎٩] (٤٩٤/٢٥)

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Emir Said Arslan, a Lebanon Druse of a very prominent family, is
the editor of the Arabic newspaper^/ Ikhaa (The Fraternity), of a doubtful
pro-Turkish tendency and apparently as bitter against England and the
Allies as its contemporary A l Bay an. A brother of Emir Arslan was for
some time Consul-General of Turkey in Brazil, but on account of his anti-
Young Turk proclivities he was relieved of his post. I was introduced to
the Emir by a young Syrian, Saleem Hatem, as a friend of the latter.
Emir Arslan surprised me by saying that his personal ideas were diagonally
opposed to the policy of his newspaper, but as he was catering to the
Mohammedan immigrants in America he had to follow a policy favourable
to Turkey. He personally thinks that the Young Turks have led the
Empire to the brink of ruin, and that whatever the issue of this war may be
the Turkish Empire was doomed. Whatever Power assumed control of
Turkey would be better than the Turks, and the population of the Empire,
indistinctly of race and religion, would derive large benefits from a change
of government. In spite of the anti-British attitude of his newspaper he
is personally inclined to England, and is in favour of the annexation of
Syria and the Arabian Peninsula to Egypt. This he told me in confidence.
From a private reliable source I found out that Emir Arslan is not & persona
grata to Turkish officials in America, and is regarded with suspicion owing
to his and his brother’s antecedents. His newspaper is not allowed to be
introduced into Turkey. I asked Emir Arslan what he thought of the
information received from Egypt of wholesale starvation in Lebanon.
He said he could not believe that the population of Lebanon was being
purposely starved by the Turks, but he admitted that there was a great
distress and shortage of food in Syria and Lebanon. The Turks were
illtreating the populations, and several notables, both Christians and
Mohammedans, had been deported to the interior and some executed.
On my return from Chicago I called again on Emir Arslan, and asked
him what he thought of the latest report in the papers of an uprising in
the Hejaz headed by the Sherif of Mecca. He said that the report was
not official, but it might be true, in which case it would be very serious.
Then he said, “ The uprising has surely been engineered by England.”
I personally believe that Emir Arslan, if properly handled, can be a
valuable asset in the future government of Syria, owing to his intelligence,
personality, influence with the Druses, and the prominence of his family.
Zia Diab, a Greek Catholic from Beyrout, is the editor of the Arabic
newspaper Miraat-el-Gharb (Mirror of the West). Mr. Diab has spent
several years in Egypt and is greatly in favour of the English. He is
broad-minded and very intelligent, and is known as one of the staunchest
opponents of the Young Turks. In his newspaper he is the exponent
of an anti-Turkish policy. I asked Mr. Diab what he thought the attitude
was of the Arabs in the United States towards the future settlement of
the Arab race. He said that there was no such thing in America as
a national Arab movement, and no unity of purpose between the emigrant
Arabs. Their ambitions and aspirations were limited to each individual’s
district or province. The one thing that the Arab Christian almost unani-