The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 7, 1925, Page 13

ease A hs eer “The idea becomes power when It pene- trates the masses.” —Karl Marx. THE REVOLT IN SYRIA P from the sakes of Damascus the groans of the victims of French imperialism have become transformed into fierce imprecations that strike re. sponsive chords in every part of the vastness of the Mohammedam world. Tens of thousands have been murder- ed within a few day’s time. The city that thru the ages has stood as the pride and glory of the world of Islam, “fF; situated between east and west, whose : streets have respounded to the tread conquerors and countless ge- nerations, lies again at the feet of a conqueror. In its time Damascus has been un- der the domination successively of Hebrews, Assyrians, Persians, Macedo- nians, Romans, Saracens and Turks. But thru all the ages it has never wit- nessed such fiendish excesses as are practiced by the French of. today. Y virtue of the treaty of Versailles the French vandals roam the high- ways of Syria. The very presence of French forces in that territory brands the conspiracy at Versailles, where those ancient buzzards of imperialism —Wilson, Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Orlando—intoned sombre sentences about democracy, liberty, self<determ- ination of nations, a ghastly lie. The Syrians believed the soft words of the imperialist nations. When beautiful pictures of self-determination, of free- dom for all forever, were presented to them, they believed them. At the close of the-war generahwe@lections for a = congriss. were held.” “This congress “met in Damascus and proclaimed an independent Syrian government. In spite of this decision, the imperialist designs of Britain and France decreed otherwise. Britain secured mandates over territory rich in oil and of stra- tegic advantages in maintaining her far flung colonial empire. Among other considerations France secured the mandate over Syria. ETWEEN March, 1921, and August 1925, there were nine uprising in Damascus that had to be put down by foree of arms. In September, 1923, the Syrians boycotted the fake elec- tions arranged by the French and in- sisted that the mandate had no justi- fication under the terms of the treaty of Versailles. When the French mandate was granted and the military 6ccupation began, the duly elected government of. Syria was declared a band of out- laws. A request was then made to permit the forming of a provisional government under supervision of French political officials, and with- drawal of the military power. This ~ Was considered a piece of impudence by the French_bandits and the entire government was arrested and thrown in jail. VERY appeal was héld in open con- tempt and those who dared raise their voices, even to protest violation of the treaty, were accused of treason. Brute force alone prevailed. Unspeakable indignities were heap- ed upon the population. General Ser- rail, the French high commissioner and his underlings, outraged every section of Damascus and preyed upon the whole countryside. Troops of semi-savages from the most backward French colonies were encamped with- in the city and, in order to keep them peaceful, brothels were established for their amusement and each section of the city was forced to furnish its quota of women for this purpose. In addition to this frightfulness a number of male relatives of these victims were tortured to death by the soldiery because they were caught endeavoring to impart their know- ledge of conditions to travelers. There could be but one answer to this ter- ror—armed revolt, ne aa sot adietenegeer dhguitgpeioatersteomepaes oo eedewrthoncaedtsscetereeon}oleiereurentsiaoeigpeuenanetenrmmnarerertonrisosbenyaesadiganetineiiangr tt ie Ss psemnrcerer erential Spas baling 2 Stace cita scale SPECIAL MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT THE DAILY WORKER. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1925. «aim 200 The revolt came, It originated in an unexpected source. As French rule became more dominant thruout Syria, it extended to the mountain country of the Druses. These’ tribes- men had never been conquered by any ruler, They proposed to France’ that they be permitted. to share in the government of the territory they inhabited. The Drusé tribesmen re-' ceived the customary French reply— the mailed fist. An army corps wag sent against them, They rose and cut it to pieces in the first conflict. HEN began the series of battles that culminated in the proclama- tion of the republic on last Wednes- day. When the news of the valiant struggle of the Druse tribesmen reached the Arabs the smouldering fires of hatred burst into flame. Crowds gathered in the villages and discussed the situation. The French — + Three large armed forces were op- erating. One under Hassan el Khar- sat, andther- under Gamma Sussa, and the third under Rama Danubi_, Shal- lash. Hasgsis L. Bakri, former leader of the nationalist ‘people’s party,” whose house had been burned by the French in the storming of Damascus, and who was compelled to fice the tity to save his life, succeeded in gaining influence among the rebelli- ous tribesmen and bringing many of them under his influence. After hasty negotiations in the thick of the fighting these forces were unified under the leadership of Bakri. He igs now the military leader of the forces operating between Damascus and Homs eighty miles to the north, is gaining adherents daily from large groups between Homs and Aleppo. A republic has been proclaimed with Ba- kri as provisional president and head- THROTTLE THE ENGINE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION “The hour of liberation of North Africa and Arabia from the rule | of French, English and Italian imperialism is near at hand.” military machine ordered dispersal of the street crowds. With the most savage fury the troops assailed the Syrians. Twenty-five thousand of them were murdered in two weeks. As a means of intimidating the inha- bitants the troops strapped dead bodies of their victims on camels and paraded them thru the streets of Da- mascus, Instead of inspiring terror, these acts aroused the fury of the masses. Street fighting began. ~ Ter- rible reprisals ensued. For more than fifty hours the city was a veritable inferno. Machine guns, hand-grena- des, poison gas, airplane bombs, arm- oured cars and tanks; all the equip- ment of modern warfare was brought into action against the population of the city. Damascus was subdued. In the smouldering ruins the uniformed French soldiers ghoulishly prowled among the dead, stealing jewelry and other valuables, even cutting off the fingers and ears of their victims be- cause it required too much work otherwise to remove the jewels. IKE wild-fire the story of the storm- ing of Damascus spread thruout Syria. Messengers were dispatched to every part of the Mohammedan world carrying the news of the ghastly’ rule of the French. Armed bands spontaneously sprang up and consolidated with others. Armies were improvised, commanders chosen, and the region between Damascus and Homs cleared of French forces in a few days. New recruits were thrown into Syria to aid the French, but the native forces in the towns and villages fought them off. quarters willbe established at Homs. With the authority of the provisional government behind him, Bakri will ap- peal to the mandates commission of the league of nations. This will do him little good, except inasmuch as it will expose to his followers and the oppressed of the colonial world the fact that the league will not sup- port their cause. Great Britain will hesitate to support a policy of endor- sing insurrecti@i in the mandated areas, because it would find its own domination. challenged, If Britain should come to the aid of Syria she would be confronted with demands for independence from Palestine. Instead of-aid to the struggling Syrians, British forces stand menac- ingly at the border ready to help stifle the uprisings at the first indica- tion of danger to its-own domains, O free the. soil of Arabia from the despotism of France the imper- ialist forces will have to be scourged from the land. That can be achiev- ed only by a determined insurrection, under the leadership of men asking no quarter and giving none. At the same time such a terrific campaign of propaganda against Britain must be launched that that government will hesitate to take action for fear of arousing to fury the masses suffering under its own yoke. That the rebellious armies now forming will be able to wipe out with blood and fire the rapacious army of French imperialism is quite probable, Already vast hordes are sweeping north from the deserts of Arabia in response to the call of Syria, One SECOND SECTION This magazine supple ment will appear every Saturday in The Daily Worker. By H. M. Wicks, | thing is certain, even if the French] are not completely routed, they can! not suppress the rebellién,«as thé! Druses can retire to the mountain country and hold off the French in- definitely. The conflict. arising in Syria is not confined to that land alone, but is a part of the general rise of the oppressed colonies against the rapac- ious greed of imperialism. Already coordinating influences are at work to influence the colonial world both of Asia and Afric; from the north- western coast of Africa, where the Riffans under Abd-el-Krim are stub- ornly resisting the combined forces of France and Spain, thru Egypt and Palestine to Syria, from thence to Arabia and into India. An ambitious, campaign, designed to drive ‘Europ ean capitalism out of Africa and Asia! is already under way. Homs and Aleppo are centers of propaganda against England, France and Italy. From Cairo another flood of subvers- ive literature is going out. From Mor- occo goes a steady stream of propa- ganda. BLE men, thoroughly familiar with the colonial and mandate prob- lem, are in charge of this work. The chief agent for Syria is Abd-ul-Rah- man Shabander, who as foreign min- ister in the provisional government of Syria, was arrested by the French military and escaped from the coun- try, and who now directs the pro- paganda bureau engaged in spreading hatred against France. He, like the new provisional president of Arab is a member of the salon ped ple’s party.” aya. One document put out by “tha’ tf signed, “the committee of liberation of Syria,” declares the French gen- erals are a group of assassins and says “the hour of liberation of North Africa and Arabia from the yoke of French, Efiglish and Italian oppres- sion is near at hand.” The Riffians, from the north of Africa, send the following greeting to the struggling Syrians and Druses: “We, the. central committee for the liberation of North Africa great with joy the heroic uprising in Da- mascus. The patience of Araby is exhausted. The fire of the revolu- tion is blazing on. You have acted like brave men. Help your Riffian brethren. Get the Mohammedan soldiers to desert the French.” ‘ ENERAL SARRAIL, the leader of} the brigands who ravaged Damas-* cus has been removed and another figure head appointed as commission- er of Syria. The removal of one ma- rionette Will never change the hatred of the oppressed Syrians into accept- ance of French bondage. In passing it is ‘noteworthy that Serrail_is a friend and supporter of the party of the socialist ex-premier Herriot, and that the socialists’ strenously protest- ed against the removal of Serrail. It is consistent with the heroes of the social-pacifist. era, recently closed, that the most outrageous crimes against colonials should be laid at their. door. The fires of Damascus may forge the sword that will drive from two continents the mercenary forces of capitalism, just as the first swords of Damascus beat off the ancient con- querors, In this struggle for national libera- tion the oppressed inasses of Asia and Africa have with them the class conscious proletariat of the imperial- ist countries who will use their power to cripple at home the armed forces and the industries that maintain them, until such time as we become strong enough to administer the death blow to all imperialism. *“* MONDAY—"Mandates in Syria and lrak; A New Threat of World War.”