The Foreign Service Journal, October 2021

16 OCTOBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Not only was el-Kader admired by the fine folks of northeastern Iowa, he also had a fan in President Abraham Lincoln for the courage he displayed during the 1860 Druze-Maronite sectarian war, which had spread from Mount Lebanon into Syria. El-Kader’s defense of the 20,000 Syrian and Lebanese Christians living in Damascus in early July 1860 also won him the affection and admira- tion of Napoleon III, Pope Pius IX and Queen Victoria. In addition to providing safe haven on his compound to hundreds of Arab Christians and other religious minori- ties, foreigners and diplomats, the emir and his sons bravely confronted the Druze fighters as they threatened a mas- sacre of Damascus’ Christian commu- nity. The emir insisted that armed jihad is to be used only when resisting aggres- sion and never against noncombatants. Incredibly, the Druze fighters backed off. (According to the British consul to Ottoman Syria, Charles Henry Churchill: “Abd el-Kader alone stood between the living and the dead.”) Other Heroic Muslim Figures Emir Abd el-Kader is just one of several truly heroic Muslim figures we can point to when discussing jihad with Muslims. Another is Moroccan Sultan Mohamed the Fifth, who defied Vichy demands that he discriminate against his 250,000 Jewish subjects, asserting instead that Jewish Moroccans were as precious to him as their Muslim compatriots. They were all Moroccans, and no distinction would be made among Moroc- cans, whatever their confession. To under- score his refusal to sign and implement anti-Jewish decrees sought by the Vichy and Nazis, Sultan Mohamed defiantly invited Morocco’s rabbis to join him on Throne Day 1941 as a sign of solidarity. A heroic Syrian nationalist who was imprisoned, nearly executed and even- tually exiled for opposing the French mandate and colonial takeover of Syria in the 1920s, Haj Fadel Aboud al-Hassan is revered by Armenians and Arabs for his actions to protect and provide sustenance to hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees driven to his village of Deir ez-Zour in eastern Syria during the 1915 Armenian genocide. Instead of complying with Ottoman demands that the Armenian refugees be killed or left for dead, Haj Fadel Aboud al-Hassan, as mayor of Deir ez-Zour, organized relief efforts to ensure that they received food and shelter; and he guaran- teed their security. Yet another, Tunisian leader Moncef Bey (Muhammad VII al-Munsif), held fast against anti-Jewish legislation demanded by the Vichy Italian occupiers and Nazis in 1942. At his induction as sultan on June 19, he brazenly invited Jewish Tunisian dignitaries, announcing: “You are my brothers, equal to the Muslims.” He repeatedly renounced and opposed attempts to oppress native and expa- triate Jews living in Tunisia. Tunisia’s 100,000-member Jewish community subsequently hailed him as “Protector of the Jews.” The late Moustapha al-Akkad’s quest should also be ours. It is in our country’s interest to hail the courage and resolve of these genuine Muslim heroes as we seek to persuade young Middle Eastern men and women to pursue justice in a just manner. n (Above) In this 1861 oil painting, Algerian leader the Emir Abd el-Kader protects the Chris- tians from Druze fighters in Damascus in 1860. (Inset) Portrait of Abd el-Kader, 1852. JANBAPTISTHUYSMANS NATIONALMUSEUMOFTHEPALACEOFVERSAILLES