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San Remo – stealing democracy from Syria
Anniversaries provide opportunities for reflection on both the past and present, and the recent centenary of the San Remo conference was full of thought-provoking reminders about the Middle East in its historic transition from Ottoman rule to the Mandate system for Syria, Iraq and Palestine.
The Allied conference was held from 19-26 April 1920 in a villa on the Italian Riviera. Britain and France agreed to recognize the provisional independence of Syria (then including Lebanon) and Iraq (Mesopotamia), while claiming mandates to govern them until they were able to “stand alone.”
Earlier, at the Versailles conference in 1919, the US president Woodrow Wilson, on the basis of his famous “14 points” for a new postwar world order, had supported the ambitions of the Hashemite Prince Faisal, the son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca, to rule Syria.
But the other Allied leaders schemed against the independence demanded by the Syrian Arab Congress that crowned Faisal as king of “a representative monarchy” in March 1920. France and Britain refused to recognize his authority and in July the French defeated Syrian forces at the Battle of Maysalun. Faisal was then sent into exile.
The American historian Elizabeth F. Thompson argues in her meticulously-researched new book, How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs*, that in the case of Syria, “the fragile coalition of secular modernizers and Islamic reformers that might have established democracy in the Arab world was destroyed, with profound consequences that reverberate still.
“The defeat of Syria sounded the death knell of post-war justice,” she continues. “The Paris peace conference’s reactionary efforts to restore that pre-1914 world order infamously provoked a second world war and decades of anti-colonial revolt.”
In the wake of Maysalun, Faisal’s departure and the conquest of Damascus, the French general Henri Gouraud, visited the city’s Umayyad Mosque, prompting persistent rumours that he had stood at the tomb of Saladin – who had defeated the Crusaders in the twelfth century - and declared: ”We have returned.”
Other British and American historians have tended to focus on the war years, on individuals like the intelligence officer T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) who supported the Arab revolt against the Turks. Arab scholars have presented the story as “national martyrdom” rather than democracy denied. Modern Syrians refer not to the Mandate period but French “occupation.” Thompson, however, insists bluntly: ”Democracy did not fail at Damascus; it was purposely stolen.”
San Remo serves as a useful starting point for considering a turbulent century across the Arab world. In Israel, by contrast, the anniversary has been celebrated as marking the moment when Britain’s Balfour Declaration in November 1917 – promising to “view with favour” the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine – was anchored in international law.
The significance of San Remo was that it converted the controversial terms of Balfour’s promise into a binding treaty, setting the stage for the League of Nations Mandate, which was finally approved in 1922 and was a landmark achievement for the then fledgling Zionist movement. The legal rights of Jewish people in Palestine were incorporated into the UN charter in 1945.
San Remo is far less well-known than Versailles or the Geneva conferences that followed the second world war. Indeed, many people have never even heard of it. But it – and related Franco-British diplomatic manoeuvring – left legacies that are still relevant to the Arab world today, because the consequences of the Allied betrayal of Wilson’s ideas proved lasting.
A key role, as Thompson shows, was played by the Lebanese-born cleric and Islamic reformer Sheikh Rashid Rida. He oversaw the drafting of a Syrian constitution that disestablished Islam in favour of equal rights for non-Muslims. But after the betrayal by France he then went on to influence the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt a few years later.
So it was not just about national sovereignty but about the appeal and credibility of rival political movements. ”Arab liberals who stood up to European imperialists in 1920 were discredited by their defeat, jailed and exiled,” she writes. “The French and British Mandates were colonial in all but name. With no venue for legal opposition, political leadership passed to those who employed violence in their resistance. By the time the British and French evacuated after World War II, power in the post-Ottoman world had passed to anti-liberal army officers, landowners and religious populists.”
Zooming ahead to recent years, Thompson sees significant implications for the failed Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 in both Syria and Egypt: “The very possibility that Liberals and Islamists might unite to build a democracy was beyond their imagination,” she concludes. “The rupture of 1920 continues to divide Syrian and Arab politics today.”
Thompson’s book has won high praise from fellow historians – and accusations of long-standing hypocrisy by western governments: “The perpetual hand-wringing in London, Paris and Washington over the lack of democracy in the Arab World is sort of like Jack the Ripper complaining about the high murder rate,” wrote Juan Cole. “Breath-taking in its moral clarity.”
IAN BLACK
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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