Summary
Lebanese Druze politician and soldier living in Geneva who repeatedly urged the Mufti to send an Arab Orthodox delegation to the Balkan kingdoms in 1937 (‘The House of the Priest’: A Palestinian Life (1885-1954), PDF p.130).
Details
- Adel Arslan, brother of the better-known Shakib Arslan, held various offices in the Ottoman Empire, took part in Amir Faisal’s short-lived Damascus government and the Syrian Uprising of 1925-1926, and briefly served in the cabinet of Syrian President Husni al-Zaim (1949) (editors’ note, PDF p.130).
- With Awni Abd al-Hadi he headed the Palestinian Arab delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1937, and in the Memoirs he presided over the Syrian delegation there (PDF p.130, p.145).
- In Khoury’s account Arslan’s letters to the Mufti proposing the Balkan delegation were transmitted to Yaqub Farraj, who threw them away; when Farraj had resigned from the Arab Higher Committee, Arslan’s further telegram led the Mufti to appoint Niqula Khoury and Emile al-Ghouri (PDF p.130-131).
- Arslan held a dinner in Geneva in honour of Khoury and al-Ghouri, telegrammed them from Geneva to drop everything and come from Bucharest because the League had proceeded to discussion of the Palestinian Cause, and joined the planning of their next steps after the partition discussion was postponed (PDF p.142, p.145, p.148).
Related pages
‘The House of the Priest’: A Palestinian Life (1885-1954), Niqula Khoury, Emile al-Ghouri, League of Nations, Awni Abd al-Hadi