Berger looks at the fallout from the retributive razing of Damascus by French General Sarrail in October, 1925 where France used troops from its African and Asian colonies to fight against Syrian insurgents. The articles of Joseph Berger, founder of the Palestine Communist Party, on the post-Ottoman, Mandatory period of that region are a valuable background for understanding the today’s realities.

‘After Damascus’ by Joseph Berger from International Press Correspondence. Vol. 5 No. 83. November 26, 1925.

On the morning of November 8th, General Sarrail left Beirut for France. Only the high officials and the consuls of foreign States were assembled near the harbour. A sigh of relief went up throughout the whole country and from all strata of the population.

The Liberal-Democratic free-thinking representative of the “Left Bloc” had estranged himself from all sections of the Syrian people. After the slaughters of Beirut (July 1925), Hama, Djebel Drus and Damascus, he had become “bloody Sarrail”, and even his best friends could not stand up for him. After the bombardment of Damascus which roused public opinion in the whole world against him, Sarrail had become the scapegoat of the French Ministry also. His recall was to be a proof that the Government of the French democracy did not identify itself with the atrocities of the French General in Syria. Now, to save the situation, a civil Supreme Commissioner for Syria has been appointed. A change of system, wide concessions etc., are promised. In Paris, they want to create the impression that they are ready to give in…

But in Damascus? Here, the unmitigated fury of the generals continues to hold sway as it has done for weeks. After a pause of a few days during which the population was paralysed by consternation and grief, the destruction of Damascus roused an unprecedented storm of indignation. Hundreds of telegrams of protest were sent to foreign countries by the religious authorities, and from the towns and villages of Palestine. The Mohammedans, of Persia protested, Shaukat Ali, the leader of the Indian Moslems sent an energetic telegram of solidarity, Zaglul Pasha in Egypt came out of his retirement which had lasted for a year and called on the Egyptians to “help their Syrian brothers”. What endless negotiations and endeavours on the part of Mohammedan politicians had not been able to accomplish, was accomplished at one stroke by French imperialism: the whole of Islam from the Nile to the Ganges was, as one man, on the side of the Syrian insurgents!

For the latter the bombardment of Damascus was only a fresh spur to action. The insurgent movement had become extraordinarily popular. Whereas formerly the settled elements had often been inclined to doubt the necessity of “forcible means” and had disapproved of the spread of the guerilla war, shelter, food and material support was now readily granted to those who were fighting for freedom. A few days after the bombardment of Damascus, the French found themselves surrounded on all sides. As a matter of fact, only the fortified towns are in their hands, the smaller places and the open country are in the hands of the insurgents.

This difficult situation is now an excuse for more and more refined cruelties. The French Generals are no longer satisfied with wholesale shootings, wholesale hangings, wholesale arrests, bombardment of villages; they have now got to destroying whole towns. When the contribution of guns and money had not been deposited in Damascus by the date fixed the French posted proclamations: “The town will be destroyed to-morrow”. It was, it is true, possible to get the “destruction” postponed. But when, a few days later, the insurgents, after driving back the French troops, again approached to within 4 km of the town, the French artillery began to fire, without any consideration, on the few houses that remained after the terrible days of October 20th and 21st. In the last days before Sarrail’s departure, more blood was shed than ever. While Paris was “changing its direction”, the terror continued in Syria.

In spite of all this, the situation of the insurgents is at present particularly good. In Eastern Syria, the Winter has begun, a Winter which, in view of the mountainous character of these districts, is no less severe than in Europe. The Senegalese and Indo-Chinese cannot easily be employed for mountain fighting, so that only the Circassians and the white soldiers are left who could only fight the bands effectively if their number were trebled. The French have therefore begun to recruit Kurds for the army who, however, are not very reliable.

The groups of insurgents are meanwhile uniting among themselves and measures are being taken to make a clear distinction between the insurgents and those bands of Bedouins who are using this good opportunity to carry out predatory raids. The groups of insurgents on their part even undertake to protect the towns and villages against the bands of robbers. In common with the divisions of Druses who are in front of Damascus, a kind of “front” is crystallizing out of the insurgent groups which reaches from about Aleppo in the North through Hama, Homs, Damascus, to the borders of Lebanon where, at the present moment, a fresh insurrection has broken out on the slopes of Mount Hermon.

The London Exchange is this time justified in its mistrust when, regardless of the reassuring reports of MM. Painlevé Briand, it has thrust the franc down to 123 to the pound as a result of authentic reports from Syria. The situation in Syria is a very serious one for France. The London Stock Exchange is however deceived if it imagines that Syria can be united with Palestine under the British mandate, as the “Near East”, the semi-official organ of the Colonial Office has suggested. The Syrian insurgents have emphasised time and again that they are fighting for complete independence and against any kind of mandate.

It is interesting to observe how, in the vortex of the anti-imperialistic struggle, which externally offers the spectacle of a national united front, the factor of class yet makes itself felt. The whole Arabian Press does not tire of emphasising how completely the rich classes and the large property owners have betrayed the popular cause. During the worst hours in Damascus, when the town was enveloped in flames, the “dignitaries” of the town were negotiating with the French Generals. Each of them offered his services for “bringing the people to reason”, if he and his family were suitably rewarded with titles and dignities. Even the Emir Abdullah, in whom many Arabians had placed their hopes, sold his “neutral attitude” for a few thousand pounds of “hush money”.

None but workers, poor artisans and peasants are fighting on the barricades of Damascus and in the ravines of the Syrian mountains. This fact is constantly emphasised by the Arabians themselves. And the circumstance that in view of this fact, confidence in the “upper classes” the “aristocracy”, “the rich”, which has been deeply rooted in the people for centuries, is disappearing, is a no less important result of the Syrian insurrection than the danger which arises out of it for French imperialism.

International Press Correspondence, widely known as”Inprecorr” was published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) regularly in German and English, occasionally in many other languages, beginning in 1921 and lasting in English until 1938. Inprecorr’s role was to supply translated articles to the English-speaking press of the International from the Comintern’s different sections, as well as news and statements from the ECCI. Many ‘Daily Worker’ and ‘Communist’ articles originated in Inprecorr, and it also published articles by American comrades for use in other countries. It was published at least weekly, and often thrice weekly.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1925/v05n83-nov-26-1925-inprecor.pdf