Palestine; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
There was one hope left. Djemal Pasha had boasted that he had introduced
law and order; the country was under military rule; it remained to see
what he would say and do when the crimes of Fewzi Bey were brought to
his notice. Accordingly, armed with my _boyouroulton_, or passport, of a
locust-inspector, I rode to Jerusalem, where I procured, through my
brother, who was then in favor, an interview with Djemal Pasha. He
received me on the very day of my arrival, and listened attentively
while for a whole hour I poured out the story of Fewzi Bey's outrages. I
put my whole heart into the plea and wound up by asking if it was to the
credit of the progressive Young Turks to shelter feudal abuses of a
bygone age. Djemal seemed to be impressed. He sprang from his chair,
began walking up and down the room; then with a great dramatic gesture
he exclaimed, "Justice shall be rendered!" and assured me that a
commission of army officers would be sent at once to start an
investigation. I returned to Zicron-Jacob with high hopes.
Sure enough, a few days later Fewzi Bey was summoned to Jerusalem; at
the same time the "commission," which had dwindled to one single officer
on secret mission, put in an appearance and began to make inquiries
among the natives. He got little satisfaction at first, for they lived
in mortal terror of the outlaw; they grew bolder, however, when they
learned his purpose. Complaints and testimonies came pouring in, and in
four days the officer had the names of hundreds of witnesses,
establishing no less than fifty-two crimes of the most serious nature.
Fewzi's friends and relatives, in the mean while, were doing their
utmost to stem the tide of accusations. The Kaimakam (lieutenant-
governor) of Haifa came in person to our village and threatened the
elders with all sorts of severities if they did not retract the charges
they had made. But they stood firm. Had not Djemal Pasha, commander-in-
chief of the armies in Palestine, given his word of honor that we should
have redress?
We were soon shown the depth of our naïveté in fancying that justice
could be done in Turkey by a Turk. Fewzi Bey came back from Jerusalem,
not in convict's clothes, but in the uniform of a Turkish officer!
Djemal Pasha had commissioned him commandant of the Moujahaddeen
(religious militia) of the entire region! It was bad enough to stand him
as an outlaw; now we had to submit to him as an officer. He came riding
into our village daily, ordering everybody about and picking me out for
distinguished spitefulness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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