The Royal Institute of International Affairs is an unofficial and non-political body, foil tided in 1920 to encourage and facilitate the scientific study of international questions. The Institute, as such, is precluded by its Royal Charter from expressing an opinion on any aspect of international affairs. Opinions expressed in this book are, therefore, purely individual. M I N O R I T I E S IN THE A R A B W O R L D By A. H. HOURANI Issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO 1947 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMEN HOUSE, E.C.4 London Edinburgh Glasgow New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town Bombay Calcutta Madras GEOFFREY CUMBERLEGE PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY 3 2 '3.1 H £41 ''rvw PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN 1946.6483 PREFACE IIIS study in its present form was completed in the first half of 1945, and in general does not touch upon events which have occurred since then. It is not to he regarded as a definitive work, but rather as a tentative introduction to a subject which lias not yet been dealt with fully and objectively. The study was prepared at the request of the Cairo Group of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. I wish to thank the Group for placing at my disposal two reports 011 the Copts and Assyrians, written by Mr. S. A. Morrison and Canon F. C. Bridgeman respectively. I am also grateful to the Palestine Department of Statistics for supplying the figures in Chapter VI, and to a number of friends and colleagues who have read and improved parts or the whole of the manuscript. A. II. H. CAIRO, 1946 t S . u T V 4 1 )0 0 3 5 CONTENTS PREFACE .................................................................................... CHAPTER I. A GENERAL SURVEY . . . . DEFINITION— LIST OF MINORITIES— NOTES ON THIS LIST— THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES— THE MOSLEM COMMUNITIES— OTHER RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES— LINGUISTIC AND RACIAL MINORITIES— GENERAL STATISTICS— NOTES ON THESE STATISTICS CHAPTER II. THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF M IN O R ITIES........................................................... ORIGIN OF MINORITIES— POLITICAL IDEAS— ISLAM— THE OTTO­ MAN EMPIRE— THE MILLET SYSTEM— THE SOCIAL POSITION OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS— THE CLOSED COMMUNITY CHAPTER III. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . THE POLITICAL INTERVENTION OF THE WEST— THE IMPACT OF THE WEST ON SOCIETY— THE SPREAD OF WESTERN CULTURE— THE REFORM OF THE OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT— LEBANESE AUTONOMY— THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT— THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE— EGYPTIAN NATIONALISM CHAPTER IV. CHANGES SINCE THE FIRST WORLD W A R .................................................................................... CHANGES IN FORMS OF GOVERNMENT— THE GROWTH OF ARAB AND EGYPTIAN NATIONALISM— THE INFLUENCE OF TURKEY AND RUSSIA— FEARS AND ASPIRATIONS OF MINORITIES— MINORITY NATIONALISM— SOCIAL CHANGES CHAPTER V. E G Y P T ............................................................... DISTRIBUTION OF MINORITIES— WRITTEN GUARANTEES— PERSONAL STATUS— THE ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENT— NATIONALISM AND THE MINORITIES— THE COPTS : HISTORY— THE COPTS : SOCIAL POSITION— THE COPTS AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT — THE SYRIANS— THE ARMENIANS— THE JEWS— NOTE ON SOME FOREIGN COMMUNITIES CHAPTER VI. PALESTINE.................................................... DISTRIBUTION OF MINORITIES— WRITTEN GUARANTEES— COM­ MUNAL ORGANIZATION— THE ARAB CHRISTIANS : ECONOMIC POSITION— THE ARAB CHRISTIANS : EDUCATIONAL POSITION— THE ARAB CHRISTIANS AND THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT— OTHER MINORITIES CHAPTER VII. TRANSJORDAN.......................................... DISTRIBUTION OF MINORITIES— WRITTEN GUARANTEES— SOCIAL POSITION CONTENTS vii CHAPTER VIII. THE LEVANT STATES . 61 THE MANDATE— FRENCH POLICY CHAPTER IX. LEBA N O N ....................................................63 DISTRIBUTION OF MINORITIES— ’WRITTEN GUARANTEES— PERSONAL STATUS AND COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION— SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF / T11E COMMUNITIES— THE ARMENIANS— EDUCATIONAL DIFFERENCES __CHRIS1'iANS AND MOSLEMS— GREATER AND SMALL LEBANON— FRENCH POLICY— SECTARIANISM IN POLITICS— POLITICAL CON- CEFTIQNS— DEVELOPMENT'S SINCE 194* CHAPTER X. S Y R IA ...............................................................175 DISTRIBUTION OK MINORITIES— WRITTEN GUARANTEES— PERSONAL STATUS AND COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION— DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY— JEBEL DRUZE— THE TERRITORY OF THE ALAWIS— THE JAZIRAH— THE ARAB CHRISTIANS— THE ARMENIANS— OTHER MINORITIES— FRENCH POLICY— NATIONALISM AND THE MINOR­ ITIES— THE TREATY OF 1936 AND THE MINORITIES— DEVELOP­ MENTS SINCE 1941 CHAPTER XI. IR A Q ...............................................................91 DISTRIBUTION OF MINORITIES— WRITTEN GUARANTEES— PERSONAL STATUS AND COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION— THE MINORITIES AND THE IRAQI STATE— THE KURDS ! DESCRIPTION— THE KURDS UNDER THE MANDATE— THE KURDS SINCE THE TREATY— THE ASSYRIANS— THE OTHER CHRISTIANS— THE JEWS— OTHER MINORITIES CHAPTER XII. CHANGES DURING THE SECOND 106 WORLD W A R ......................................................................... POLITICAL TENDENCIES— THE COLLAPSE OF FRANCE— THE RISE OF RUSSIA— ALLIED PROMISES— THE SENSE OF CHANGE CHAPTER XIII. CONCLUSIONS—(i) . . . .109 THE IMMEDIATE PROBLEM— ESSENTIAL GUARANTEES FOR MIN­ ORITIES— FOREIGN RULE— INTERNATIONAL GUARANTEES— CON­ STITUTIONAL GUARANTEES— THE MILLET SYSTEM— THE COPTS— THE DRUZES AND ALAWIS— THE KURDS OF IRAQ—-THE PROBLEM OF LEBANON— THE JAZIRAH— THE ARMENIANS AND ASSYRIANS CHAPTER XIV. CONCLUSIONS—(ii)......................................119 THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION—-THE SUPRA-NATIONAL STATE— THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM— ASSIMILATION— AUTONOMY— ARAB UNION— SOCIAL CHANGE— THE SPIRIT OF ISLAM— A ‘ FRUITFUL TENSION ’ INDEX MAPS These will be found at the end of the book on pages 126-130. THE EASTERN ARAB WORLD SYRIA AND TRANSJORDAN PALESTINE AND LEBANON IRAQ EGYPT Chapter One A GENERAL SURVEY Definition TIEE countries with which this study is concerned are Egypt, Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. All of them formed part of the Ottoman Empire for many centuries, and the majority of their population is Arabic in language and therefore to a great extent in culture. Moreover, if they are taken as a whole the majority of their population is Sunni (Orthodox) Moslem by faith. There are, however, a number of communities which have long resided in these countries, or in other parts of the Middle East before they came to these countries, and most of whose members possess their legal nationality, but which are not Sunni Moslem by faith, although they are Arabic-speaking ; there are others which are Sunni Moslem but not Arabic-speaking, and others again which are neither Sunni nor Arab. It is to these communities that the term ‘ minorities ’ refers. List of Minorities The minorities are almost innumerable, but some of them have very few adherents and little political importance. The following are the most important: A. Sunni Moslems, but not Arabic-speaking: u (1) Kurds. (2) Turcomans. (3) Caucasians : Circassians, Chechens. , B. Arabic-speaking, but not Sunni Moslems : ' I. Heterodox Moslems : (1) Shi’is. (2) Alawis. (3) Isma’ilis. (4) Druzes. II. Christians: (1) Greek Orthodox. (2) Syrian Orthodox (Jacobites). (3) Coptic Orthodox. I B MINORITIES IN THE ARAB WORLD (4) Nestorians (Assyrians). (5) Roman Catholics of the Latin rite. (6) Maronites. (7) Greek Catholics. (8) Coptic Catholics. (9) Syrian Catholics. (10) Chaldaean Catholics. (11) Protestants: Anglicans, Presbyterians, etc. III. Jews and semi-Judaic Sects : (1) Rabbanite. (2) Karaites. (3) Samaritans. IV. Other religions : (1) Yazidis. (2) Mandaeans. (3) Shabak. (4) Baha’is. * C. Neither Arabic-speaking nor Sunni Moslems : (1) Persian-speaking : Shi’is. Baha’is. Jews. (2) Kurdish-speaking: Yazidis. Shabak. Alawis. Syrian Orthodox. Syrian Catholics. Jews. (3) Syriac-speaking : Nestorians (Assyrians). Chaldaean Catholics. Syrian Orthodox (Jacobites). Syrian Catholics. (4) Armenian-speaking : Armenian Orthodox (Gregorians). Armenian Catholics. Armenian Protestants. (5) Hebrew-speaking : Jews. (6) Jews speaking various European languages: Yiddish, Spanish, Italian, etc. A GENERAL SURVEY 3 Notes on this List: ( v |t wj|| i,c noticed that there are a number of anomalies in this list ■ certain communities appear more than once— e.g. the Syrian Orthodox and Catholics are shown as speaking Arabic, Kurdish and Syriac. This is inevitable in a region like the Middle East where a number of communities live in close contact with one another in a particular district; where different sections of i community are widely separated from one another; and where multi-lingualism is common. (->) For the sake of completeness the European Jews in Palestine are included in this list and in the general remarks and tables which follow. They do not, however, fall strictly within the definition, because they have come to Palestine from Europe in the last few decades. Moreover, the problems to which their presence has given rise are too vast and complicated to be regarded as minority-problems; they will not, therefore, be dealt with in the body of this study. (3) The position of the Shi’is in Iraq is also different from that of any of the other communities. They form the largest single community in the country ; for although the total number of Sunnis is greater, they are divided into Arabs and Kurds. In a sense they constitute a minority : if the Arab countries are taken as a whole, they are certainly in a minority ; and even in Iraq they have something of the relation of a minority towards the Government, which is mainly in the hands of Sunnis. But the problem of Sunnis and Shi’is in Iraq also is too vast and fundamental to be regarded as simply a minority-problem, and will not therefore be dealt with in this study. The Christian Communities The Christian communities mentioned in the list may be divided into five main groups : (1) The Greek Orthodox : i.e. the adherents of the Orthodox Eastern Church, which in reality is a group of autocephalous Churches using the Byzantine rite. Historically these Churches grew out of the four Eastern Patriarchates (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople) which, from an early date, tended to diverge from the Western Patriarchate of Rome for a number of reasons. The final split took place in the eleventh century; from that time, with the exception of a brief period of reunion in the fifteenth century, the Eastern Church has continued