The Damascene Blog

Hotel Siege

When the French bombarded Damascus on May 29, 1945, Parliament Speaker Saadallah Al-Jabiri took refuge at the Orient Palace Hotel, located in the city center, opposite to the Hejaz Railway Station. Upon knowing that Al-Jabiri was staying there, the French beseiged the hotel and began to shoot at the building to terrorize him into surrender. From the besieged hotel, Al-Jabiri called the Russian Ambassador in Damascus asking for help. A short while later, he was escorted from the hotel to the Ambassador's car. He later managed to flee to Lebanon and then to Cairo, where he campaigned for the Syrian cause. The result of extensive diplomatic efforts at home and abroad was British and international intervention that forced the French to cease their military offensive and recognize Syria's independence. The last French soldier left Syrian soil on April 17, 1946.

Moving Notice

I moved to typepad.com. I was able to import all the old posts but I couldn't import the comments. The archives can still be reached at http://damascene1.blogspot.com.