The Parisian

by Isabella Hammad

  “Is that your daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  There was another long silence. When Midhat spoke again, he did so with a formality that suggested he had been considering his phrasing.

  “When I look at my life,” he said, “I see a whole list of mistakes. Lovely, beautiful mistakes. I wouldn’t change them.”

  That same expressive intensity had returned to his face. In the space of a few seconds Antoine assessed this sociable, humorous man as rather evasive—a person who ordinarily withheld a great deal. But it quickly struck him that he was probably being influenced by those rumours of Midhat’s psychosis, by the idea that a man would not enter an asylum without some discrepancy in his soul’s architecture. That might seem reasonable, but Antoine nevertheless pulled back on the collar of his presumption, which, after everything, still strained to race off down paths of cause and effect. Pensively, he listened for the piano. He heard only the cicadas.

  “I would change—perhaps I would change a few things,” said Midhat. “But how are we to know? We make the biggest decisions when we are young.”

  “You are still young.”

  Midhat raised an eyebrow.

  “You cannot be more than thirty-five.”

  “I am forty-one.”

  “Oh, that’s young. You have plenty of time to make more errors.”

  They both laughed, and whatever tension had emerged, or that Antoine had imagined into being, departed.

  “Go on,” he said. “Tell me more about this woman.”

  Midhat gave him a shocked grin. “How did you know it was a woman?”

  It was Antoine’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

  “Well. It was a very, very long time ago. In fact, I don’t even know if she is still alive. And if she is, she has probably forgotten. She might remember me. We always hope people remember us, but I’m not sure they do for very long. Maybe something reminds them, once in a while. Some object or other. But that would be only a brief breach—or at least, it should be brief, if one is to continue. The past comes back to me now and then.” He smiled. “But I do not live there.”

  Antoine faced forward, with a priest’s instinct that he must allow Midhat to speak unobserved.

  “One thing I would change is the mistake I made about your country. I had an idea about France, you know. I had a kind of fantasy of virtue. That I would change, or maybe,” his tone twisted, he skewed the thought, “maybe that is just the only thing I could have changed. The other things, it was all … just … out of my hands.”

  “You are not the first to make this error,” said Antoine. He adopted a pastoral air and interlaced his fingers: “But you know that a place cannot be virtuous. An idea may be virtuous. Not a place.”

  Down in the grove, the cat was snatching its way up a tree trunk.

  “You will go back?” said Midhat.

  “Oh, France does not love me. After the uprising, I think I will go to Cairo.”

  Midhat made a noise of interested surprise.

  “I would like to live more in the world,” said Antoine, “from now on.”

  “A worthy ambition.”

  “I have found it rather difficult, rather taxing …” He left off.

  Midhat did not ask him to complete the thought, and Antoine regretted his personal turning. He imagined Midhat was put off by it, that having come here to confess he did not expect his confessor to reciprocate. He took a last breath of his cigarillo, holding it very hard, and in his chest felt a now familiar bending inward of shame. After more shuffling noises from inside, the door opened. Out stepped an old man, followed by a younger one with a broken leg.

  “As-salamu alaykum.”

  “Wa alaykum as-salam.”

  The old man led the younger to a pair of seats further along, and pulling out a pipe, began stuffing it with tobacco. Antoine pressed the stub of his cigarillo onto the stone below the railing.

  “How many are dead?” said Midhat quietly.

  “I couldn’t tell you. Many. Probably many more have gone unrecorded. It has not been a bloodless revolution. Did you hear about the battle at Anabta? Dawn till dusk. Several women were martyred.”

  “You probably know more than most Nabulsis know,” said Midhat. “I should come to you for the news, one never hears it straight from anyone directly involved. My cousin …” He stopped. “My wife thinks someone in Nablus has a grudge against me. Do you know anything about that?”

  Antoine considered. This had occurred a few times during the years of his research—a Nabulsi asking him for information about Nablus—albeit few enough to count on one hand. It was a long time since he last examined his notes from those days. He scoured his memory. Beyond the recent remarks about Midhat being in hospital, he could vaguely recall some sidelong expressions of resentment but could summon no particulars.

  “I can’t think,” he said. “Prejudice is common.”

  “Yes, yes,” said Midhat, wearily. “I don’t care so much, anymore, what other people think of me.”

  “That’s good.”

  “We need a bit of it, it’s not nothing.” Midhat stretched one leg to put his ankle on his knee. “But I think my family is enough. My wife is the measure of my life. And I am always falling short. Ha! Then, my cousin … he was my moral measure. And I always fell short. My children are my family measure: but I fall short. By their expectations I am always a compromise, I always fail. On the other hand, I think,” unexpectedly his voice cracked—he leaned forward, his ankle slipped awkwardly off his knee, “without them, I would be nothing at all.”

  At this eruption of feeling, Antoine started. Midhat was staring wide-eyed at the olive grove. Without warning, his whole body lurched, and as though something were rising and forcing its way out of his mouth, he choked: “Father.”

  Antoine glanced at the door, wondering if he should call a nurse. Neither of the other men noticed Midhat’s agitation. But the girl—the girl’s eyes were fixed on him. Her arms had seized up, as one afraid of making a sudden move.

  Midhat held his knees with his long fingers, gaping at the distance. “Father,” he said again.

  “Yes.” Antoine put a hand on Midhat’s back. “Yes, I’m here.”

  With one long deep inhalation, as if surfacing from underwater, Midhat said: “I forgive you.”

  Antoine’s breath stopped. “What?” he said.

  He tried to stop the hand on Midhat’s back from shaking.

  At the valley’s edge, the sun plunged towards the mountain. A wide strip of sky was turning red. The heat thinned on the air, and the conflagration spread across the glass of the windows.

  In Midhat, something heavy gave way. He heard, or felt, the lapping of a black lake below him, and a sigh of stone-chilled air just released, and the tinkle of a deep well, shooting glances of light up at a man kneeling with his roped bucket. He felt the warm consistent pressure of the priest’s hand on his back.

  He moved his head, ready to thank him—and was surprised by what he saw. Antoine’s pinkish eyes were stretched in shock, and the soft lips amid the white beard were parted. Midhat took a deep, resigned breath. But his initial assumption—that the priest thought he was mad—faded as Antoine’s expression of terror transformed into one of searching, the pupils flicking side to side as he switched his focus between Midhat’s eyes. The adhan started.

  “Are you all right?” said Midhat.

  “Baba,” said Ghada.

  “Yes, habibti.”

  Ghada stood and wiped the back of her dress.

  “Yes yes,” said Midhat. “Yalla, we’re going home.”

  Looking back he caught a tiny contraction of the priest’s eyelids, which did not close completely, but rather, like the lens of a camera, reset their focus. Antoine nodded. He retracted his hand.

  “God,” he said, raising the hand in farewell. He did not complete the phrase.

  Key events in the development of the Palestinian and Syrian national movements

  1882–1903
First wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah): around thirty-five thousand Jewish immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, settle in Palestine and establish agricultural enterprises.

  1904–1914 Second wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah): around forty thousand immigrants with a strong ideological commitment to Zionism arrive in Palestine.

  1911 Foundation of the Arab nationalist organisation al-Fatat (the Young Arab Society) in Paris.

  1913

  18–23 June Arab National Congress: Arab reformist organisations and students living in Paris meet in the hall of the French Geographical Society to discuss the future of the region in the face of Ottoman policy, increased Zionist settlement, and British and French colonial interests.

  1914

  2 August Ottoman-German Alliance: Ottoman Empire secretly agrees to enter the war in alliance with the Central Powers once Germany declares war on Russia.

  6–10 September Miracle of the Marne: First World War battle fought along the Marne River in France resulting in an Allied victory against German armies.

  29 October Ottoman Empire officially enters the First World War.

  1915

  17 Feb (–9 Jan 1916) Dardanelles Campaign: British and French military campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula against the Ottoman Empire, resulting in an Ottoman victory.

  24 April (–1917) Armenian Genocide: Ottoman government systematically exterminates and deports its Armenian population.

  July (–March 1916) Hussein-McMahon Correspondence: in an exchange of letters, the British government agrees to recognise Arab independence after the war in exchange for the Sharif of Mecca’s help in launching a revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

  21 August Executions announced of eleven Arab nationalists, reformers, and members of the Decentralisation Party on the orders of Ottoman military leader Djemal Pasha (Jamal Basha).

  1916

  6 May Executions announced of twenty-one more Arab nationalists, reformers, and members of the Decentralisation Party on the orders of Djemal Pasha.

  16 May Sykes-Picot Agreement: secret agreement between Britain and France defining future spheres of control in the Middle East, premised on an Ottoman defeat. Borders defined of future Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq (hitherto known collectively as “Greater Syria”).

  10 June (–Oct 1918) Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, led by the Sharif of Mecca in collaboration with T.E. Lawrence largely in the Hejaz.

  1917

  2 November Balfour Declaration: public statement by the British government of support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

  9 December Jerusalem surrenders to British troops.

  1918

  19–25 September Battle of Nablus: British victory and Ottoman and German retreat.

  31 October Defeat of the Ottoman Empire. British and French Occupied Enemy Territory Administration begins in Ottoman territories, including Palestine and Syria.

  11 Nov (–July 1919) Egyptian Revolution: countrywide uprising against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan, leading to later British recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922.

  1919

  (–1923) Third wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah): around forty thousand Zionists settle in Palestine. This wave is triggered by the British conquest of Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, and the October Revolution in Russia and ensuing pogroms there and in Poland and Hungary.

  18 Jan (–21 Jan 1920) Paris Peace Conference: post-war discussion at Versailles, centring on German reparations and allocation of previous German and Ottoman territories. Concludes with signing of peace treaties and creation of the League of Nations (precursor to the United Nations).

  27 January First Palestinian National Congress in Jerusalem sends memoranda to Versailles rejecting the Balfour Declaration and demanding independence.

  June King-Crane Commission: survey, appointed by President Woodrow Wilson, of public opinion in the former Ottoman Empire regarding partition under a mandate system. Recommends an American, non-imperial government to guide the Arab peoples towards self-determination; concludes that most Palestinians oppose Zionism and that Zionists intend “a practically complete dispossession of the present non-Jewish inhabitants of Palestine, by various forms of purchase.” Report is submitted to Paris Peace Conference but goes unheeded.

  2 July Syrian National Congress is convened in Damascus.

  1920

  8 March Syrian National Congress declares an independent Arab Kingdom of Greater Syria under the rule of King Faisal.

  4–7 April Nebi Musa riots occur in Jerusalem.

  19–26 April British mandates over Palestine and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and French mandate over Syria and Lebanon are confirmed by the League of Nations.

  5 May Nablus Muslim-Christian Association lodges a protest with military governor against Zionism and the impending Mandate over Palestine.

  June Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organisation, is founded.

  1 July British military rule in Palestine ends and civil administration begins, led by High Commissioner Herbert Samuel (until 1925).

  24 July Battle of Maysalun: French victory over Faisal’s Syrian forces. The Arab Kingdom of Greater Syria is disbanded and Faisal is expelled from Syria.

  14 December Third Palestinian National Congress in Haifa calls for Palestinian independence under the same terms as the Mandate of Iraq, with a parliament elected by a one-citizen-one-vote system.

  1921

  11 April Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, is established.

  British appoint Haj Amin al-Husseini the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a new religious position.

  1–7 May Jaffa Riots: violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Jaffa. The investigative commission concludes the cause is Arab discontent with Jewish immigration for political and economic reasons.

  19 July First Arab Palestinian delegation leaves for London to negotiate with Secretary for Colonies Winston Churchill for independence.

  23 August Kingdom of Iraq founded under British administration (until 1932) with Faisal ibn Hussein as king.

  December Wooden crate bursts open on the Haifa docks, leading to the seizure of three hundred pistols and seventeen thousand rounds of ammunition smuggled from Vienna by the Haganah.

  1922

  3 June Churchill White Paper: document drafted in response to unrest calls for limiting Jewish immigration and stresses that the British government never

  at any time contemplated, as appears to be feared by the Arab Delegation, the disappearance or the subordination of the Arabic population, language or culture in Palestine. They would draw attention to the fact that the terms of the [Balfour] Declaration […] do not contemplate that Palestine as a whole should be converted into a Jewish National Home, but that such a Home should be founded in Palestine.

  Nevertheless, the government continues to support Zionist immigration.

  1923

  February–March Elections for a proposed Legislative Council fail, owing to a Palestinian Arab boycott.

  May Egyptian feminist Huda Sha‘rawi removes her veil in public when returning to Cairo from the Women’s Suffrage Alliance Congress in Rome.

  29 September British Mandate over Palestine and the French Mandate over Syria and Lebanon legally come into effect.

  1924

  (–1928) Fourth wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah): around eighty thousand Zionist Jews immigrate to Palestine, largely from Poland.

  1925

  25 March–1 April Anti-Balfour demonstrations: demonstrations and general strikes all over Palestine to protest the visit of Arthur James Balfour (Lord Belfour).

  July (–June 1927) Great Syrian Revolt against French rule in Syria resulting in French victory.

  November General strike in Palestine in support of the Syrian Revolt.

  1926

  16 February British authorities give retroactive legal recognition to land sold or negotiated during prohibition
period (1918–1920) and accept unofficial Zionist land books.

  16 May Collective Punishment Ordinance: British authorities formalize principle of collective punishment in Palestine.

  1927

  11 July Powerful earthquake hits Palestine, affecting Jericho, Nablus, Jerusalem, Ramle, Lydda, and Tiberias, and destroying several villages.

  1928

  20–27 June Seventh Palestinian National Congress in Jerusalem affirms demand for a democratic parliamentary government.

  1929

  (–1939) Fifth wave of Zionist immigration (aliyah): between two hundred twenty-five thousand and three hundred thousand Jewish immigrants arrive mostly from Germany, increasingly in response to the rise of Nazism.

  23–29 August Worshipping Jews bring furniture to pray at the Wailing Wall / al-Buraq Wall, which Palestinian Arabs fear signifies a change to the Status Quo of Holy Sites, as established by the Ottomans. Following political demonstrations by militant Zionist groups, Palestinians riot in several towns. Shortly after this, rioting Arabs perpetrate a massacre of Jews in Hebron.

  26 October First Palestine Arab Women’s Congress is held in Jerusalem.

  27 October Delegation from the Women’s Congress demonstrates in Jerusalem against the Balfour Declaration, Collective Punishment Ordinance, and maltreatment of Arab prisoners.

  1930 Under the leadership of Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the Black Hand Islamist group begins a militant campaign against Jewish civilians and the British Mandate.

  1931

  April Irgun, a paramilitary group and right-wing revisionist breakaway from the Haganah, is established by Ze’ev Jabotinsky and others.

  August Demonstrations in Nablus against the storing of weapons in Jewish settlements are broken up by police baton charges.

  1932

  3 October British Mandate over Iraq is terminated; Iraq gains independence.

  1933

  January–July Nazi Party comes into power in Germany. With increasing anti-Semitism in Europe, Jewish immigration to Palestine rises dramatically.

  8 September King Faisal of Iraq dies.

  27 October General strike in Palestine to protest Jewish immigration and British pro-Zionist policy, with disturbances in major towns.