Jamil Mardam Bey
Jamil Mardam Bey, was a Syrian politician. He was born in Damascus to a prominent aristocratic family of Turkish origins. He is a descendant of the Ottoman general, statesman and Grand Vizier Lala Mustafa Pasha and the penultimate Mamluk ruler Qansuh al Ghuri. He studied at the school of Political Science in Paris and it was there that his political career started.
Early political life
was a secret society founded in response to the nationalist agenda of the Young Turks Revolution in 1908, that gave priority to Turks above other citizens of the Ottoman Empire. Jamil Mardam Bey along with a small group of other students in Paris joined al-Fatat in 1911. The society called on Arab and Turkish citizens to remain united within the Ottoman framework, but claimed that Arabs should have rights and obligations equal to their Turkish counterparts.Mardam Bey helped organise the Arab Congress of 1913 in Paris, bringing together reformist groups keen to work towards decentralisation and reform in the Ottoman territories. Not wishing to create a permanent break up with authorities in Constantinople, the founders did not initially call for complete Arab liberation, but tried to sort out relations with the Ottomans. The Committee of Union and Progress led Ottoman government sent a representative to Paris to negotiate with the congress organisers.
The outbreak of WW1 dramatically changed the dynamics in the Middle East. Compromises agreed to by the Ottomans were ignored and the CUP appointed governor general of Syria, Camel Pasha made it his mission to clamp down on Arabists and maintain order in Syria The public hanging in Beirut and Damascus on 21 August 1915 and May 6, 1916, of 32 people who had affiliations with Arabist organisations, ended any hope al-Fatat and other reformist organisations may have had to remain within the Ottoman framework. Henceforth the society dedicated its efforts to liberation from Ottoman domination.
By May 1916 the British and the French had already made a secret agreement, Sykes-Picot, carving out for themselves their spheres of influence after the anticipated demise of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent loss of territories. In spite of having ratified the agreement, the British continued to encourage Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and in exchange, promised them independence at the end of the war. The Sykes-Picot agreement was made public by Trotsky, commissar of foreign affairs, in Izvestia newspaper on 24 November 1917. This, along with the Balfour Declaration of 9 November 1917, was the greatest indicator of what was to come and yet the British and French made a joint declaration on November 11, 1918, confirming the liberation of the peoples who had been oppressed by the Turks. The relationship both Britain and France had with the Arab territories was invariably at the expense of the citizens of these lands. It was within this framework that Mardam Bey and other Arab nationalists were to operate for the coming decades.
Political life in Syria
Anti-French activity in Syria
When the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1918, Britain was the predominant military force in the Levant. Backed by the British, Prince Faisal entered Damascus on October 3 and was made head of an Arab military administration which comprised the interior of Syria from Aqaba to Aleppo. In February 1919 Prince Faisal went to the Paris Peace Conference in order to push for the independence of Syria. By this time the British had made it clear that he was on his own negotiating with the French. Mardam Bey was one of the delegates who was invited to speak at the Paris Peace Conference. His speech made an impression on Prince Faisal, who asked him join his delegation.Mardam Bey was one of the participants of the Syrian National Congress held in Damascus in May 1919. The purpose of the congress was to consider the future of Syria, which at the time included Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. The concluding report that was communicated to the King–Crane Commission in June 1919, pleaded “there be no separation of the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine, nor of the littoral western zone, which includes Lebanon, from the Syrian country." The King-Crane Commission recommended "the unity of Syria be preserved." however the commission was an exercise in futility given the agreements already reached by Britain and France to carve up the lands of the Levant between them.
In Syria, nationalist fever was running high and there was resistance to the agreement Prince Faisal made with Clemenceau in January 1920, that recognised France's exclusive position in Syria. In March 1920 the Syrian Congress declared Syria to be an independent constitutional monarchy with Faisal as king.. Mardam Bey was appointed deputy foreign minister by royal decree. The San Remo conference in April of that year publicly spelled out the future of the region, and the decimation of lands that for centuries were referred to as Bilad al Sham. The French wasted no time in enforcing their mandate and brought an abrupt end to the monarchy and government when their troops entered Syria on July 24th.. Faisal had already submitted his resignation as French troops marched into the country but a small group of fighters led by General Youssef al Azma fought against the French in a four-hour battle at Maysalun. Al Azma was killed in combat and became a legendary hero who is still commemorated in Syria for his heroic stance in the face of overwhelming force.
The French entry into Syria led to Jamil Mardam Bey and other nationalist leaders fleeing the country to avoid the death sentences issued by the French. Mardam Bey returned to Syria after an amnesty was issued in December 1921. Martial law denied Syrians the right of organized political association so along with other nationalists, Mardam Bey became a member of the Iron Hand Society, an underground movement initiated by Abdelrahman Shahbandar. Their activities were focused on discrediting the puppet regime set up by the French, as well as re-establishing contacts with merchants, neighbourhood bosses and students.
On April 5, 1922, Charles Crane came to Damascus and stayed as a guest of Shahbandar for two days, during which time he had meetings with a number of notables, intellectuals, religious leaders, merchants etc. all of whom voiced their dissatisfaction with the French presence in Syria. Although this time he was not in Syria in any official capacity, when Crane left Damascus two days later, the French arrested Shahbandar and four other members of the society. Their arrest led to widespread demonstrations and protests and the city almost came to a standstill for three weeks. The French persisted in their clampdown and in May had tracked down the secret offices of the Iron Hand Movement where, among others, they arrested Jamil Mardam Bey Mandated authorities handed out long prison sentences to some and exiled others. Shahbandear served 17 months of a 20-year prison sentence before being exiled and Mardam Bey spent his time in exile in Europe. They returned to Syria after the French issued amnesties in the summer of 1924
The new French High Commissioner, Maurice Sarail took up his post in January 1925. He allowed some opening of political space that led to the formation of political parties set to run for election in October of that year. Jamil Mardam Bey joined other nationalists to form the People's Party, the first modern party in French Mandate Syria. The People's Party did not charge membership dues so it relied on contributions from its wealthier members such as the landowners and the merchants as well as professional associations such as the Lawyers's Union. Funds also came from the Syrian- Palestine Congress in Cairo and Syrian emigrants in the Americas. The party leadership was composed of 12 men: Shahbandar, Fares el Khou
The Syrian revolt
In July 1925, the chieftain, Sultan al-Atrash, launched an armed uprising against the French that started in Jabal Druze in southeast Syria. By August, the People's Party had decided to join forces with the Druze rebels and pushed for a march on Damascus. The French intercepted the rebels a few miles outside of Damascus and ordered the arrest of all nationalists. Jamil Mardam Bey went with Shabandar and a few other nationalist leaders to take refuge in Jabal Druze Sultan Atrash and the People's Party set up a provisional government on September 9 in Jabal Druze. By October 1925, large parts of Syria were in full revolt.By 1927, the revolt had been brutally crushed by the French Army and its leaders had already been sentenced to death in absentia. Shahbandar and Mardam Bey had fled to Haifa while Sultan Atrash had been in Jordan for quite a while running rebel operations from Al Azraq. In Haifa, the British arrested and extradited Mardam Bay while allowing Shahbandar to seek refuge in Egypt. After spending a few days in a Beirut prison, Mardam Bey was exiled to the Island of Arwad off the coast of Latakia, where he spent a year before being released under a general amnesty.
The French were infuriated that the British allowed the Druze chieftain to conduct operations out of Jordan and it added to their suspicions that the British supported the revolt. The two year uprising left at least 6000 Syrians dead and a 100,000 displaced in addition to the destruction of numerous villages and cities, including parts of the capital, bombarded by the French. The French too suffered a lot of casualties with the death of at least 2,000 soldiers. In order to maintain control of Syria, the French troop numbers swelled from 15,000 in 1926 to nearly 50,000 men in 1927.