The first Arab Congress of 1913 and its tragic outcome

The 110th anniversary of the first Arab Congress in Paris sheds light on a tumultuous era in Arab history as its people battled for reform under the Ottoman Empire. The onset of World War I resulted in a bad ending for Arab aspirations.

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Jamil Mardam Bey

The first Arab Congress of 1913 and its tragic outcome

Sami Moubayed

last update on 23 Jun 2023

Long before the Arab League came into existence in the mid-1940s, the Arabs convened their first congress in Paris back in 1913, with the aim of uniting their ranks and articulating their political demands to the Ottomans.

It was an ambitious convention, coming just three years before the outbreak of the Great Arab Revolt. It was held at the premises of the French Geographical Society on St. German Boulevard between 18-23 June 1913 — not far from the French National Assembly.

The congress came out with a series of resolutions for the expansion of Arab authority in the Ottoman Empire, strengthening Arab representation in the Ottoman government, while protecting the Arab language and making it second to Ottoman Turkish both at schools and in the Ottoman parliament.

After much criticism of the congress and its organisers, Ottoman authorities took the bold decision of agreeing to all their demands but later backed out on them — one after the other — in the months prior to the outbreak of World War I.

All the Arab Congress resolutions were scrapped and its architects were arrested, exiled, or executed.

The organising committee

Organising the event was a group of Arab students in Paris —some of whom had worked towards the establishment of the secret al-Fatat Society in 1911. They were worried by increased repression since the 1908 coup against Sultan Abdulhamid II, carried out by a group of young hardline Ottoman officers in the Committee for Union and Progress (CUP).

The architects of the 1913 coup were officers from the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)

The 1908 coup was supposed to have introduced a policy of openness, greater co-existence, and parliamentary democracy. Press censorship was lifted and the Ottoman constitution was restored by Sultan Abdulhamid before he was ultimately dethroned in April 1909.

He had also restored the Ottoman parliament that he had personally convened, then abolished, back in the 1870s. But as the CUP cemented its grip on the state, arrests became common, and so did severe curtailing of free speech.

The Arab Congress was conveyed in 1913 in response to the CUP's tightening grip on the state, in which arrests became common, and so did severe curtailing of free speech.

And it was in response to all of that the Arab Congress was conveyed in 1913. Some of its organisers argued that it ought to be held in any city but Paris, knowing that the CUP would use its venue to accuse its members of being paid agents for France.

An eight-man steering committee was created for the event, divided equally between Muslims and Christians. The four Muslims were Jamil Mardam Bey (Damascus), Abdul Ghani al-Arisi and Mohammad al-Mahmasani (Beirut), and Awni Abdul Hadi (Nablus).

Representing the Christians were four Lebanese: Nadra Mutran, Jamil Maalouf, future Lebanese president Charles Dabbas, and Shukri Ghanem, president of the Ottoman Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Lebanese majority

Although coined an "Arab" congress, the event included only two Iraqis, Tawfiq Suwaidi and Suleiman Anbar (both studying in Paris), and three Syrians, whereas the rest of the attendees and organisers were mainly Lebanese.

Two of the delegates were representing already well-established political parties: Iskandar Ammoun (president of the Lebanese Unity Party) and Abdul Hamid al-Zahrawi of Homs, a ranking member of the Party of Ottoman Decentralisation.

Another prominent Lebanese organisation, the Beirut Reform Society, sent six delegates to the Arab Congress, headed by Salim Ali Salam (the father of future Lebanese prime minister Sa'eb Salam). Arab emigres living in the US took part in the congress, in addition to one expat from Mexico.

The steering committee elected al-Zahrawi as president of the Arab Congress, and Shukri Ghanem as his deputy. At 58, al-Zahrawi was the eldest among the group, followed by Iskandar Ammoun (56), and Salim Salam (45). The rest were much younger, with Jamil Mardam Bey at 18, Abdul Ghani al-Arisi at 22, and Awni Abdul Hadi at 24.

Although coined an "Arab" congress, the event included only two Iraqis, Tawfiq Suwaidi and Suleiman Anbar (both studying in Paris), and three Syrians, whereas the rest of the attendees and organisers were mainly Lebanese.

The list of Lebanese included Sheikh Ahmad Tabbara, the lawyer Rizqallah Arkash, Ahmad Mukhtar Bayhum, Albert Sirsouk, Charles Dabbas, and Ayyub Thabet. Also present was the Lebanese journalist Khalil Zeiniyyeh, founder of the al-Rawi magazine, Abdul Ghani al-Arisi, founder of the al-Mufid newspaper, and lawyer Abdul Karim Khalil, president of the al-Muntada al-Adabi (The Literary Club).

Charles Dabbas would serve as a note-taker in French while Jamil Mardam Bey took notes in Arabic. Mardam Bey and Tawfiq Suwaid would eventually become prime ministers of Syria and Iraq, while Charles Dabbas and Ayyub Thabet would rotate in the Lebanese presidency during the French Mandate.

Congress resolutions

The congress concluded with a list of resolutions, calling on the Ottomans to embark on serious and "urgent" reforms, like allowing the Arabs greater representation in government and demanding that the Arab language is mandated as a second language at schools and in the Ottoman parliament.

And finally, they asked that compulsory military service for Arab youth is restricted to Arab provinces only. The delegates were careful not to mention secession or Arab independence in any of their discussions or communique, and during the closed meetings, they made sure to note:

"The Arabs do not want to separate from the Turks, but rather, they want a reform programme that will lift the country and put it on equal footing with other nations that demand a better life."

"They want an Ottoman government, nor a Turkish or Arab one; a government in which all Ottoman subjects are equal in rights and duties, where no group monopolises the interests of others on the grounds of religion or ethnicity."

The Arabs do not want to separate from the Turks. They want an Ottoman government in which all subjects are equal in rights and duties, where no group monopolises the interests of others on the grounds of religion or ethnicity.

An excerpt from the Arab Congress Communique

Conflicting responses

The resolutions were then typed on Arab Congress stationary and sent to the Ottoman Embassy in Paris. Back home in Istanbul there were conflicting views on how to respond to the Arab Congress.

The pro-CUP daily Taneen called it the strange congress," accused its organisers of obtaining French citizenship and setting the stage for "occupation," warning that their actions will have "dire consequences."

The Ottoman governor of Syria, Aref al-Mardini, called on Damascus notables to petition the congress, saying that its resolutions don't represent the Arab peoples. They were then asked to come out with public statements condemning the event and its organisers.

The first to respond was Abdul Rahman Pasha al-Yusuf, the emir of the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, followed by ex-religious awqaf minister Mohammad Fawzi Pasha al-Azm, Lebanese philosopher Emir Shakib Arslan, and Sheikh Asaad al-Shuqayri, the mufti of the 4th Ottoman Army stationed in Syria.

Within the CUP, a heated debate ensued, with some officers accusing organisers of the congress of being paid agents of the French, demanding their ex-communication, arrest, and trial for treason.

Others said that they were paid agents of Zionism, due to the fact that Victor Jacobson of the Jewish Agency had been invited to attend, to familiarise himself with Arab grievances.

The sultanate already had its share of problems, after losing Libya in 1912 and facing uprisings in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro. The last thing it needed was to play nice with the Arabs, argued CUP hardliners.

CUP hardliners argued that the Ottoman Empire already had its share of problems, after losing Libya in 1912 and facing uprisings in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro. The last thing it needed was to play nice with the Arabs.

Others, however, pushed for a more nuanced approach, saying that the Arabs ought to be accommodated since they did not call for Arab independence and therefore, were still operating within the parameters of Ottomanism.

And it was this camp that eventually prevailed — albeit temporarily— sending CUP secretary Midhat Shukri to meet with the Arab Congress organisers in Paris. By mid-July, the CUP announced that it was ready to meet all their demands.

It came out with a stunning 13-point declaration that agreed to adopt Arabic at schools, restrict Arab military service to Arab cities and towns, and appoint no less than three Arabs in ministerial posts in Istanbul, along with naming five Arab valis and 10 mutasarrifs (provincial governors).

Shortlived jubilation

The news was met with jubilant crows in Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad, and Jerusalem. On 5 August 1913, an Arab delegation was invited to Istanbul and received over dinner at the Tokaltlian Hotel by the three powerful CUP officers Djemal Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Talaat Pasha.

AFP — A picture take on May 19, 2017 shows people walking past the Honein Palace, an Ottoman architecture building from the 19th century, which is listed as endangered by the World Monument Fund (WMF), in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

They were the real power in Istanbul after the 1908 coup against Sultan Abdulhamid II. The Arab delegates were then received by Sultan Mehmed V, re-affirming that their objective was reforming the empire, rather than dismembering it or seeking Arab independence.

The sultan seemed convinced and on 4 January 1914, he named Abdul Hamid al-Zahrawi, president of the Arab Congress, a member of the Ottoman Assembly of Notables.

But all of these concessions vanished into thin air with the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914. Neither the sultan nor the three pashas were any longer in a mood for democracy and compromise, neither with the Arabs nor with anybody else.

Anyone with the slightest connection to France was labelled either a spy, enemy, or potential troublemaker, making it perfectly sensible to renege on all promises made to the Arabs after France went to war against the Ottomans in November.

Then came the uncovering of documents at the French consulate in Damascus, which led to a series of arrests followed by executions first in Beirut in August 1915, and then in Damascus and Beirut on 6 May 1916, all carried out by Djemal Pasha, commander of the 4th Army.

Four of the Arab Congress organisers were hanged; Abdul Hamid al-Zahrawi, Abdul Ghani al-Arisi, Abdul Karim Khalil, and Mohammad al-Mahmasani. A fifth, Jamil Mardam Bey, was sentenced to death in absentia and spent the remainder of the war in Europe.

They were accused of plotting to overthrow the empire and executed on the grounds of high reason. By June 1916 – the third anniversary of the Arab Congress – its leading figures were all dead, and so were its resolutions.

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