NAPOLEON IN PALESTINE
Bonaparte approaching _Jerusalem_――Anti-Jewish accusations
――Bonaparte and the Christians――Suleiman _Pasha_――Abdallah
_Pasha_――Haim Farhi’s martyr death――The Farhi family
――Generations of martyrs.
THROUGH the primitive but excellent channels of information of the
Eastern caravans, Bedouins and Dervishes, Bonaparte must have heard
of this treatment of the Jewish minister by the “Butcher,” and of the
other atrocities committed by him. The expulsion of the French from
Acre, Sidon and Beyrout by this _Pasha_ in 1791 was still fresh in his
memory as an insult to France.
Haim Farhi continued his services; his popularity suffered no
diminution, and it was evidently he who provided Acre with the
necessary supplies, kept communications open with the hinterland, and
made it possible to offer the stoutest resistance ever recorded in
history. Great Britain helped, the Turks and Arabs were brave, and
Jazzár with all his savage caprices possessed, no doubt, remarkable
abilities as a general; but the soul of the entire organization was
Haim. Winning him over would have meant breaking down the defence;
but it was impossible to win him over.
Under such conditions Bonaparte approached _Jerusalem_. He had reached
_Ramleh_ (between _Jaffa_ and _Jerusalem_) and intended to besiege
the Holy City, but he changed his mind and turned to Acre. Meanwhile
rumours spread that the Jews were helping the French as spies, and
that they sympathized in their hearts with Bonaparte. This is the
familiar story which hatred and calumny set on foot whenever people
are excited, and there is any opportunity of stirring up thoughtless
credulity and brutal instincts against a weak and defenceless minority.
Bonaparte captured _Gaza_ on the 25th December, 1799. The Jews of
that place had to endure brutal treatment at the hands of Bonaparte’s
soldiers, so that many seized the opportunity of escaping. The Jews of
_Jerusalem_ were, meanwhile, in the greatest danger of being massacred
by the Mohammedan inhabitants, who accused them of being in secret
communication with Bonaparte with a view to the surrender of the city.
The Mohammedans actually believed that all the Jews of _Jerusalem_
were spies and traitors, and they secretly resolved among themselves
to kill all the Jewish inhabitants as soon as Napoleon marched on
_Jerusalem_. This resolution, however, got abroad and was communicated
by a Mohammedan, a confidant and friend of the Jews, to two
_Rabbis_ named Algazi and Meyuchas, who saved Palestinian Jewry, and
particularly the _Jerusalem_ Jews, by their presence of mind and wise
precautions, such as arranging public prayers, helping to fortify
the city, _etc._ The sight of the venerable, grey-headed _Haham_
Meyuchas standing with a spade in his hand did not fail to impress the
Mohammedans. The Jewish community was thus saved; still at _Tiberias_
and _Safed_ the Jews were savagely treated by Bonaparte’s soldiers.
It is impossible to know who circulated the accusation against the
Jews. Such accusations are like proverbs; nobody knows their author,
they are in the air, they appeal to the imagination, gain currency and
subsequently become dogmas; nobody has examined their soundness, there
is no evidence, no reason, there is merely a vague generalization,
and yet people believe in them. We cannot know what some Jews may
have thought of Bonaparte’s attempt: oppressed, persecuted, insulted
as they were by the Jazzárs, some of them may have thought that
Bonaparte’s victory would be their salvation, although, on the other
hand, the behaviour of his soldiers caused great suffering. But in
practice the Jews were most loyally devoted to the Ottoman cause.
The Jews were saved, and the outraged Farhi remained in service.
According to the testimony of all his Christian contemporaries, this
Jew, like a real Christian, “loved his enemy.” When Jazzár died,
in 1808, he arranged the ceremonies of the funeral with remarkable
devotion. Jazzár was succeeded by Suleiman _Pasha_, who confirmed Haim
in his dignity. Suleiman, an _ex-mameluk_, ruled with Farhi sixteen
years, and this was the happiest period for Palestine. Suleiman died
in 1824, and Abdallah, the son of Ali _Pasha_ of Tripoli (_ob._ 1815
at Acre), who was educated and looked after with great care by Farhi,
was appointed _Pasha_ of Acre. Very soon after the appointment of
Abdallah _Pasha_ the Jewish minister came to a tragic end. Abdallah
showed himself not an impetuous barbarian of the Jazzár type, but
a miserable and treacherous murderer. Jealous of his benefactor’s
popularity, and seeing that it was impossible to disfigure him further,
he ordered his _Kiaja_ (minister of the police) to assassinate the
old and venerable statesman, and to throw his body into the sea. The
implacable tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the dead man’s family
and friends, who implored him to allow the body to be buried. It
is said that the body was left floating for several days near the
harbour, and that the _Pasha_ ordered his servants to attach heavy
stones to it and then to throw it into the sea. Farhi’s property,
the personal fortune which he had acquired not as the result of his
official occupation but as a member of an old and wealthy family,
was ransacked and confiscated. His family escaped, and his widow
died, in consequence of hardships, on her way to Damascus. As to the
pretext for the murder of Farhi there are various accounts. According
to Damoiseau, a French renegade, Abdallah (in whose service he
was) proposed the building of some new fortifications. There was no
practical reason for the fortifications; relations with the European
powers being friendly, the measure could only stimulate the suspicions
of the Porte. Moved by these reasons and by considerations of economy,
Farhi objected. He was sentenced to death, and the _Kiaja_ was
authorized to carry out the execution. This he did by attacking the
old man suddenly in his house, and murdering him in the night. But
Abdallah never thought afterwards of building any new fortification.
The version given by _Rabbi_ Joseph Schwarz (1804‒1860) in his
_T’buoth Ha’arez_ (Jerusalem, 1845) is somewhat different in details,
but the facts are essentially the same. Another traveller, Professor
J. M. A. Scholz (1794‒1852), happened to be at that time in the
neighbourhood of Acre, and he confirms the first version. He gives
also the precise date of the assassination: the 24th August, 1824.
Peaceful and loyal as the Jews in the East were, this monstrous crime
seems to have put an end to their great patience. The brothers of Haim
in Damascus arranged to send an expedition of revenge. This was the
first time for several centuries that Jews had gone forth as fighters
in their own cause. The _Pashas_ of Aleppo and Damascus concluded
a treaty, and supported the expedition arranged by the Farhis. They
besieged Acre, and had it not been for a spy sent to the camp of the
Farhis, who succeeded in treacherously poisoning Solomon Farhi, the
expedition would have had an excellent chance of success. The death
of Solomon, however, put an end to the expedition, of which he was the
organizer and leader. The last survivor of Haim’s brothers was Raphael.
He also was a distinguished statesman. He was Minister at Damascus in
1820, and after the restoration of Ottoman rule in Syria was elected
to the Council of that town.
Rev. John Wilson¹ gives a further account of his visits to Damascus
in 1843. “6th June.――Mr. Graham and I visited the house of the chief
_Rabbi_, Haim Maimon Tobhi. He had been eighteen years resident at
Damascus, but is a native of Gibraltar. He had obtained, he said,
an English passport, entitling him to British protection, from Lord
Palmerston (1784‒1865); and he had been elected to office on account
of the privilege which he thus enjoyed, it having been conceived by
the Jews, that the name of an English subject, borne by him, would
give weight to his dealings with the Turkish Government” (_Ib._ 330).
“On the second day of our excursions among the Jews we visited one of
the princely mansions of the Farhis, the richest bankers and merchants
of Damascus.” In a footnote Wilson quotes [Sir John] Bowring’s [F.R.S.]
(1792‒1872) _Report on Syria_, _p._ 94: “As a class, the Jewish
foreign merchants of Damascus are the most wealthy.... The two most
opulent are believed to be Mourad Farhi and (Raphael) Nassim Farhi,
whose wealth in trade exceeds one and a half millions each. Most of
the Jewish foreign houses trade with Great Britain.” In the first of
these mansions Wilson admired the library, containing nearly the whole
of Jewish literature, to which Jewish students had free access for
purposes of study. He met there some of the _Rabbis_, who told him
that the Jews of Damascus were supposed to number 5000 souls, and
those of Aleppo 6000. He and Mr. Graham, who accompanied him, were
then introduced to the female members of the household, who “deported
themselves with a dignity and grace which would have done credit to
the nobility of Europe.” “On the 8th of June we visited the mansion of
Raphael, the chief of the Farhis. On our arrival we were received by
a Jew, who humbly described himself to us as the ‘worthless Jacob
Peretz,’ a quondam tutor to the children of the great man, and who in
acknowledgment of his services is, with his whole family, retained as
part of his household, which, he informed us, consists of from between
sixty to seventy souls.” This establishment was even grander than that
which we visited yesterday.... Mr. Graham expressed his doubts whether
those in our own Royal palaces are superior to them. He then gives
particulars of the principal apartments and reproduces a _Hebrew_
inscription with an English translation (of his own). Of special
interest is Mr. Wilson’s description of the head of the family,
Raphael, the Nasi of the Damascus Jews, an old man who was at that
time seriously indisposed, but received him and his friend with great
kindness, and took them to his library, which was very large.
¹ Land of the Bible. _Ibid._, _pp._ 330‒341.
In 1840, during the riots following the accusation against the Jews,
Raphael and his sons suffered very severely. Raphael died very soon
after Wilson’s visit. This was the end of this Jewish family, whose
history is bound up with the history of Palestine and Bonaparte’s
expedition. They have a twofold claim upon our attention, first as
eminent Jewish statesmen, and secondly as Palestinian martyrs.