64
simple sunny optimism. Freya Stark realized all too well that it could not
be assumed that Iraq’s political difficulties were over, nor that the Germans
would relent after such a setback. On the contrary, as may be inferred from
her realistic prognosis based on the residue she observed of Nazi propa-
ganda all around her, and the sullen expressions on the faces of many Iraqi
army officers, the Germans would doubtless return to the attack at the
right moment and would continue to foment trouble among the extreme
nationalistic elements in the country, with the collaboration in exile of
Rashid Ali, fugitive military officers, the ex-Mufti, and his Palestinian
retinue.^2 The ugly mood of the Arab street after the signing of the armi-
stice and the Regent’s return promptly erupted in an uncontrolled orgy of
violence. The terrible pogrom of 1–2 June known as the Farhud showed
that near-anarchy existed in Baghdad, and that the new government would
have to work hard to reunite Iraqis and restore a new, positive pub-
lic feeling.
Fig. 4.1 Emir Abdulillah of Hejaz, Regent of Iraq. His closest friends during the
war were not Arabs but the British diplomats Gerald de Gaury and Stewart
Perowne. Source: War Archive/Alamy Stock Photo