How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs by Elizabeth F. Thompson

Author:Elizabeth F. Thompson [Thompson, Elizabeth F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802148216
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2020-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

The kingdom ruled with greater justice than the French and British, Rida argued: non-Muslims were equal to Muslims in every way. In Lebanon and Palestine, by contrast, Muslims suffered discrimination.43

Presentation of the Constitution

On July 5, 1920, Congress held a public reading of the entire draft constitution. More than eighty deputies gathered in the Abid building on Marjeh Square. They represented districts of Greater Syria that today lie in five separate states: about half were from Syria, a third from Lebanon and Palestine/Israel, and the remainder from Jordan and Turkey.44

Uthman Sultan, a deputy from Rashid Rida’s district of Tripoli, spoke on behalf of the constitution committee. A young professor from Damascus Law School, Sultan was humbled by the honor. He handed a copy of the constitution to Congress president Rashid Rida. The document was 148 articles long and bore the signatures of the twenty-four deputies who served on the constitutional committee and in Congress leadership.45

Sultan stepped to the podium. From beneath a tight tarbush that accentuated his plump cheeks, he looked across the chamber and addressed his fellow deputies:

Today, our Syrian nation prepares for a new era of independence. His Royal Highness Prince Faisal charged the Syrian General Congress, enjoying the trust of all the nation whom it represents, to draft a constitution for the new Syrian Kingdom, to organize it under a new structure, and to safeguard especially the rights of minorities. His Highness expressed the urgent need to set down the constitution now, as a civil weapon to protect the nation from the shock of colonial politics, whose propagandists use a variety of pretexts to take control of our country under misleading terms like tutelage, protectorate, and mandate.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.