A Concise History of the Middle East

204 • 13 THE ROOTS OF ARAB BITTERNESS

leaders years ago: "Whoever lives in our country, speaks our language, is

reared in our culture, and takes pride in our glory is one of us."

Up to the twentieth century, the term Arab was applied mainly to the

camel-raising nomads of Arabia, the bedouin. To the settled peoples of

Egypt and Syria, to be called an Arab was almost an insult. Turks used to

call them p/s arablar (dirty Arabs), which of course they resented. The idea

that Syrians and Egyptians might find glory in being Arabs, let alone in

uniting their countries in the name of Arab nationalism (as happened

in 1958 and almost recurred several times since), would have been re¬

garded as a joke. The question "What are you?" might have rated such an¬

swers as "I am a Syrian," "I am a Damascene," "I am a Sunni Muslim of the

Shafi'i legal rite," or "I am a carpenter." Even a tribal affiliation might have

been mentioned, but never "I am an Arab," at least not before the twenti¬

eth century. Even now, we note that there are some twenty countries that

see themselves as part of the Arab world, each with its own government,

flag, currency, stamps, identity card, and seat on the Council of the Arab

League. None would deny the league's loyalty to the ideal of Arab unity,

yet its member states go their separate ways. Even opposition to Israel did

not bring the Arabs together; rather, it divided them even more.

Historical Background

As we review the history of the Arabic-speaking peoples, we must remem¬
ber that they have not been united since the era of the High Caliphate, if
indeed then. Moreover, except for the bedouin, they did not rule them¬
selves from the time the Turks came in until quite recently. The very idea
of people ruling themselves would not have made sense to Middle East¬
erners before the rise of nationalism. Settled peoples cared that a Muslim
government rule over them, defend them from nomads and other in¬
vaders, preserve order, and promote peace in accordance with the Shari'a.
It did not matter whether the head of that Muslim government was an
Arab like the Umayyad caliphs, a Persian like the Buyid amirs, a Turk like
the Seljuk and Ottoman sultans, or a Kurd like Salah al-Din and his Ayyu-
bid heirs. Almost all rulers succeeded by either heredity or nomination; no
one thought of letting the people elect them.

The Arabs Under Ottoman Rule

From the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, most Arabs—all of them,

really, except in parts of Arabia and Morocco—belonged to the Ottoman

Empire. Even in periods of Ottoman weakness, the local officials and land-