CONTROVERSY IN THE DAILY STAR BETWEEN LEBANESE AND 'WESTERNERS' - CURRENT ATTITUDE OF LEBANESE TOWARDS US RESIDENTS - ARAB PSYCHOLOGY

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02732051
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2021
• Case Number: F-2018-00204
• Publication Date: November 7, 1952

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COUNTRY Lebanon
C IDENTIAL
CURITY INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SUBJECT Controversy in the paily Star between Lebanese
and Nesterners"-- Current Attitude of Lebanese
towards US Residents - Arab Psychology
PLACE ACQUIRED
(nY SOURCE) Lebanon
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
DATE (OF INFO.) 11 Sept 52
SOURCE
HIS 0 UM M CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIO
OF THE UNITED STATES. WITHINTHEMEANIN
AND 764. OF THE U.S. COD
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DATE DISTR. 7 iy, V:. 52
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letter dated 11 September 1952,
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In vale letter the writer discusses an (b)(3)
Znglish language newspaper published in Beirut called the pally Star.
He further sets forth in detail a heated controversy which took
place between Arabs and Westerners as to the status of civiliazation
in the Near Sast compared to that existing in the US. The letter goes
on to discuss the proper method of evaluation of Arab eloquence, and
describes current Arab psychology.
- end
U.S. OM $ Only
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iSOCUrit
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"Who's uncivilized?1"
Sdk al-Gharb� Lebanon
11 September, 1952
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For some months now, Beirut has had an English language newspaper, the
Daily' Stir. Published by,a Lebanese citizen, the Star describes itself as an
independent newspaper, like its sister publication inrArabic, al-Hayat. In
its early days, at least, the Star seemed to merit the adjective scurrilous
which was freely applied to it, and indeed seemed to carry over into English
the intemperence and irresponsibility typical of the Arabic newspapers. This
fact occasioned considerable disillusionment if not disgust among the growing
colony of Americans and Engliigh in this area. But, apparently the publisher is
sincerely desirous of making a go of the paper, and realizes that he cannot
afford to alienate his market. And under the editorship of an American, the
paper has shown a steady improvement. Much of the improvement is due to the
publication of American columnists (the Alsops, Lippmann) and other signed articles,
but it is alio due to the improvement of the local staff and its product.
If a desire to tap the English-speaking market was one of the major moti-
vations behind starting the Star, another was to establish a means of putting
the Arab point of view across tb the Americans and English in this area. As
for the latter, they welcomed the Star because (to quote one of them) "it world
provide a wonderful forum where views of Americans in Lebanon and of the citizens
of Lebanon could be freely exchanged. Those 'beefs' which each has toward the
other could be aired in a climate of sportsmanship and fair play. . ."
I propose to reproduce the first such free exchange of views and "beefs"
as published in the Star recently. It all began with a letter signed by one
Eugene Amazon which was no model of restraint but which nevertheless pointed
the finger of blame at the most infuriating (to Westerners) aspect of life in
Beirut (in particular) and Lebanon: the lack of consideration and courtesy for
others which seams to be almost total.
"To the Editor: With respect to Saturday's issue of your paper there is
a column called "The Arab World" written by N.T. Purr in which he dismisses the
Arab-Israel question.
"Either he is a simple man or an uneducated one, as the conclusions he chooses
to draw from the facts are based on the kind of zeal and blindness which represents
exactly what it is in the Middle East that the Americans and the British do not
like.
says that the fact that the Arab states did not show more force 7hen
Israel tried to force its way into this area and especially since then, when Israel
has tried to enlarge its borders, these states stand and watch, was the reason for
the decline of American and British respect for the individual Arab.
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bt.
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"There is no connection.
"Nearly every westerner knows that the reason for the existence of Israel is
not the U.N. nor the individual Arab nor even the streagth of the individual Jew---
it was simply the petty kings and rulers generally of This part of the ',Torld who
aquabbled over how much money was to be given to the.fLght; who was to direct the
,lampaign; etc. The Jews did not win: the Arabs lost.
"With regard to the individual Arab wham Mr. Durr tries so hard to elevate,
is not respected in the west because he is not civi:Azed.
"This in itself is far from a crime�the Zulus a7e not civilized either but
they are respected. But the Arab pretends that he IS civilized. Ask him. But
Ihen watch him in nearly any act�particularly the act. of dealing with others.
"You people in Lebanon should be aware more than rast easterners of what T
oean: watch the cab driver on a thoroughfare; watch boa-A-rowers near a beach; listen
the horns of a thousand automobiles in the heart of a city in which it is for-
idden to blow a horn.
"Civilization is not measured by the number of larguages one speaks or the
amber of books he has read---it is measured by the way he lives in society, his
consideration for others.
"Consideration for others does not exist at all ir Beirut and only to a very
11 extent in the whole Arab world. That is the reason for the lack of respect."
text day, a Star editorial dealt moderately (if scriewhat aimlessly) with the
nvizcrn letter, concluding with this paragraph: "Mr. Amazon complains also that we
o not deal with each other as civilized beings. We do not know with wham he is
*aaling, or what kind of people he meets. But if we wee in his-place, we would
not generalize about personal cases to millions of Arabi he does not know. Fair
dgement� moderation and courtesy are essential conditions of civilization."
So-far, honors go to the Arabs. But on the day foaowing, the first letter
on an Arab reader, a student at the American University of Beirut, indicated that
4r. Amazon, was not to get off so easily.
"To the Editor: It would be interesting to know tae nationality of letter- .
vriter Eugene Amazon, who attacks the Arabs as 'uncivilized', and to learn what he
1. doing as a resident of this 'uncivilized' part of the world.
"Is he being restrained by force from returning to the centers of civilization,
or is he making a highly profitable living at the expene of his barbarous fellow-
-F,sidents of Beirut?
n What I particularly admire about him is the high degree of culture and civili-
4ation he displays toward the citizens of the country wlich has extended to him its
iespitality. This is particularly noticeable when he compares the Arabs (unfavorably)
,a.Zulua� and when he suggests that a distinguished bil!ngual Palestinian writer
ki scholar is a 'simple man or an uneducated one'.
"It is odd too, that he is hiding his statesmanship abilities in such an uncouth
oiace. It appears that he alone has been able to diseoTer that it was not the
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Balfour Declaration, nor the British and American supported Zionists, nor the
forcibly disunited fragments of the' Arab nation, nor the disadvantageous first
truce that brought near-disaster to the Arab forces in the first round of the
unfinished Palestine war, but simply the squabbling of petty Arab kings and rulerel
'It is comforting to learn that all the Arabs have to do to earn world respect
is for Beirut taxi-drivers and boat-rowers to show proper respect and consideration
to Mr. Amazon, and I sincerely, hope, in the interests of proper respect due America,
that Mr. Amazon never falls into the civilized hands of New York taxi-drivers with-
out a supply of coinage that would make Middle Eastern lbakaheeih, look like pin,-
money.
"But alas, I fear Mr. Amazon's highly civilized advice will fall on deaf ears.
The Arabs and Other Middle Easterners will probably go muddling ahead with their
aiehaklis, Najibs, Mossadeqs andIashanis, meeting force with force, intrigue with
intrigue, power politics with power politics, until they have.indiscr5inimitely ex-
pelled from the land all such highly civilized individuals as the political Zion-
ists, foreign satraps... and Mr. Amazons."
Four more outraged Lebanese raised their voices in the next edition of the
Star, all rubbed raw by the charge of being uncivilized. The concluding paragraph
of the first read: "Whatever the case is, the proof that the Lebanese are civili-
zed is that they tolerate those who call them 'uncivilized' to remain in their midst."
The second correspondent wrote briefly: "To my mind the person who treats others
as uneducated and uncivilized must be himself of a higher strata to be able to
evaluate. But when a man insults a person be never met aro_ judges him by his own
mean and low standards, these are the signs of mental deficiency to soy the least.
Mr. Amazon should keep to his friends the porters and scavengers (wham be takes as
stendArds in his letter) and confine his inspirations to such an environment as the
BUB du Port."
The third correspondent called Mr. Amazon Nan ignorant man with a sick mentality!,
and concluded his remarkii by swing, "If a commentator who gives hie opinion on
current affairs is considered uneducated and simple, I wonder what to term a fellow
who insults people in their own homes." The fourth writer said:
"The least we expect from Westerners who leave. their country, homes, family and
friends and come to this part of world Wei to make their own living, to be able
to fill their stomachs with food they could not afford to taste in their own homes
--the least and not the last we must expect from these people is to respect this
country and its people.
"A certain. Eugene Amazon, is quite an exceptional and amusing fellow. westerner.
Very frankly, he thinks we are uncivilized people and that is why we are not respected
in his country. Moreover, he sees the Zulus are uncivilized but respected. Please,
reader..., understand and digest.
"I will not go into details, as it is quite obvious that such a person is so
civilized that Dr. Charles Malik is considered by him worse than any Zulu, and so
all of us...
"You, Mr. Amason, your place cannot be in this country, and I advise you to go
back to your civilized country Chicago gangsters and the discriminating of the
'blacks'---all these things are of course the civilization you represent.
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"Persons like you can damage our relations with your !ountry much more effec-
tively than the whole efforts of the Communists. With res)ect, I tell you to go
back to where you belong."
Next day, three westerners added their voices to the aumult. One man, a Pan
American official, sought to pour oil---with no noticeable effect. "During my
stay in this country," he concluded, "and on visits to the surrounding Arab nations
T 'lave found only an unfailing courteey, kindness and frierriship, and a hospitality
Jolt was equally warm whether provided by my wealthier or poorer Arab friends. The
Lebanese are a naturally happy people living in a pleasant land. Thank you for two
hap ny years 1"
But another was more severe: "With regard to Thursda- 's issue, I, being a
foreigner in this country, agree with Mr. Amazon in some raspects. Can you deny
that others' feelings are neither resnected nor considered Different examples
can be forwarded in this matter, but one I must mention is. Are you yourself satis-
�led about this situation? Civilization is based upon fai.hfulness and respect,
and both are ignored among the Arabs."
The third man, an English bachelor "gone native", stuck to the subject for a
while, made a point, and wound up off in the bushes somewhare with a statement that
seemed to indicate he believed"civilizationiworth saving after all. He wrote, in
part: ". . . I belong to the same 'civilized' part of the world as Mr. Amazon.
Many of your indignant readers might say to him in their eager: 'If you think we
are uncivilized, why do you live among us? Why do you not go away?' But I say
to him: 'Come and live here with me, and soon you will see that what you leave
behind in the west is what needs rectification, needs it se badly that it might
aell be given up, for it is a cancer that can no longer be cured'.
". . . I have seen this civilization that Mr. Amason upeaks of---in the street
of New York where men and women walk with taut expressions upon their faces, march-
ing ahead to noWhere� and ending their days in night clubs ; I have seen it in West-
ern I'Airope where the struggle for power and food has turnee men into animals.
'Here, in the Lebanon, from my window overlooking the valley, I see the flocks
of sheep as they are taken out to pasture; once a week, on my Sunday hike, I sit
with a peasant family to eat roast meat and coarse bread wfth sour milk. Mr.
Amazon will give me up for lost. So do I, for even in thit peaceful atmosphere, I
am not sure that I Shall be left alone. Coon there will br a var---Ito P.17l. all
wars, to end aggression' of course---and then I shall shake my feeble bones, take
a ship back home and serve in the Home Guard."
rn the same issue, the broad and turgid flow of Arab ire continued as well.
In a long letter, one man argued that Time and History prova that the more civilized
mankind becomes, the more corrupt and selfish it becomes- �i.e., uncivilized. The
arude and primitive man (the noble savagei) is capable of more consideration for
his fellows than the civilized man. The inference is that the primitive man is the
really civilized man. He does not, however, go an to say aat the Arabs are primi-
tive. Rather, he points out that the Arabs have contributed to the advance of
civilization, whereas the Jews have done nothing, achievina mention only as "a minority
of parasites and trouble-makers wherever they were scattered in the various corners
of the earth." Mr. Amazon's anger at the Beirut taxi-drivers arises from racial
prejudice, the common ailment which is the reason for the aaclina of British and
American respect for the Arabs. "The only time," he goes ea, " when the Arab world
will command respect of the world is when they rise as one maified body to crush this
misplaced racial prejudice, and to impose justice as the We3tern powers have imposed
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injustice on its people."
The writer winds up in a burst of orotund, bitter prose: mtly educated friend,
Mr. Amazon, if you think that books and civilization will give you the refinement
of spirit and the consideration you seek so essential to civilization, you have a
long way to go. All you have to do is turn and look around you at the glorious
pillees of civilization, such as Great Britainand the United States, and yen: will
behold with your own eyes the fumes of treachery, biased inclinations, and selfish-
ness tieing in great clouds---Who knows, beware, you may be the next victim of one of
their strategic political acts of treason, whereby they might offer you a burning
sacrifice to their Golden Calf."
� Mr. Wares Ishaq, Assooiate Editor of the Star, entered the dispute with a long
signed article in the same fruitful issue. Entitled "In Defense of the West: From
Kitchener to Lana Turner", the article gave the back of its hana to western civilize�
tiOn. Wang note orthe indignant storm against the Amazon letter, the author
suggests this might well serve to add grist to Mr. Amazon's mill. He continued:
"I raise my 'race in defense of Mr. Amazon, in defense of western civilization
and culture. Let us not, in our baste and in our anger, forget the debts of the
east to the west oven in civilization and culture. For what were the people of
the east, 'what their outlook and vision, what their horizon, before the edam of
Kitchener, Gordon, Clive, Machiavelli, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner and Walt Disney?
"At the time when Confucius in China was still struggling with the intricacies
of philosophy and -sat with his disciples poring aver manuscripts of earlier times
tellirg of the Evolution of the Mind, the early European settler, after beating
back the inroads of the beast thielegh weapons of stones bad already just then dis-
covered fire---his first stop toward the development of the Atom and Rydrogen
baths.
"And in the Americas, several millenia before the advent of the Mayflower and
civilization, the Red Indian squatted outside his wigwam meditating before the
Fire, pondering oeet what his ancestors had taught him. It was to fall to his
successors to develop other uses for fire---and also to teach him that life in seg-
regated camps was healthier than in the wide open spaces. Ungrateful as the Red
Indian was, when he fought in Korea and fell in battle, he expected to be buried
in the same cemetery as his white comrade-in-arms�just because the gospel of Jesus,
now patented by European-owned publishing beuses, had been afforded to hiTht out of
compassion for his heathen mind. . . .
"At the time when the nomad in the Arab world was still gazing at the stare,
working out astronomical and algebraic problems, Europe's caves were bustlirg with
productive activity: newer and better weapons of stone, tin, bone and wood were
being manufactured. What is more, markets were being found for them. Bartered, they
could bring, in return what the tribe needed�sheep, fruit, vegetables, and even
women. . . .
While the devout in the east offered goats and sheep in sacrifice to their
God, in Europe they offered their first-born. Their gods were greater, and the
sacrifices too bad to be greater.
� "Let Mr. Amazon's critics remember the debt of all backward peoples in the east
to their western benefactors. In Africa---as in other remote islands inhabited by
western missionaries, explorers, traders, etc.---the native dweller was lifted out
Of his life of darkness. From the jungle he was brought to the city. From being a
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mere nobody, he became a partner of the west in promotim,g the cause of civiliza-
tion. The white man marked out especial pathways for hA use, especial cafes and
restaurants for his custom. Some, ungrateful and presunptious (sic) among the
natives, dared to use the sime road as the white man an to eat in the same cafes--
is white indignation unjustified? And after all that the white man had done for
them and for their souls!
"And what did the native have before the advent of the white man but the free-
,om of the jungle, the freedom of his crops, his coconuts, his pearls and his corals
^TIOSe worth he did not know. . . And instead of the nedicine man who, at best,
could throw out the devil, there are pharmacies which cam supply- potions guaranteed
,o cure everything from gout to syphilis, diseases whicl the native's backward mind
and body had been unaware before the advent of western nivilization. . �."
Mr, Ishaq goes on to note that the east is indebtet to the west for its advances
In recent decades, citing as examples the progress from honorable warfare With truces,
eingle combat and fair play to the more civilized modern type of mar with its more
hlaborate weapons, its mercilessness, its deceit, its 'rictimization of civilians and
Its approval of the stab-in-the-back. So with machiaociiian diplomacy. And so
with entertainrPnt: ". . . To Hollywood goes credit, arough portraying such forma
and figures as those of Ava Gardner and Lana Turner, flr bringing out those instincts
which, through inhibitions and prejudices, the people ef the east had got in the
habit of controlling.
"Indeed, even the presentations of Arab life in Fellywood is more picturesque
,han the Arabs know it to te. Haroun al-Rashid himself would have stroked his
-heard in appreciation had he seen the transparent chiffon given to his slaves by
Oecil de Mille. . . ." Etc., etc., etc. Still, the east has far to go, according
to Mr. Ishaq. Can we afford, he asks, to check the at ward hand�inrhand progress
with the west?
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"Our literature, in gaining popular appeal, has fuen to learn from the writers
of the vest, from such men and women as the authors o "Frendhy Florics", "Nights
In Paris", "Manhattan Blonde", etc., whom many short-Aghted eastern governments
have banned. Our cinema industry has to learn the held economic fact that it costs
more to dress stars. It costs less to undress them wed also bolsters boxoff ice results.
Many of our women, though rapidly coming up, still hesitate before adopting low neek,
lines. And many of our men, in spite of readin:-:. Havelock Ellis, still adhere to their
barbaric notions about the necessity of wedlock before." And on this note, the author
concludes.
The dispute continued for a few more days in the same vein, though it did not
again rise to the same heights of eloquence. A Captan Park tad the Star to be COD�
StrUctiVe instead of being sarcastic. Several other v entered the lists against 14r.
Amazon, pointing out that the Arabs don't lynch calated persons in the streets, that
although Mr. Amazon's letter was nasty, there were rod foreigners for the sake of
whom Mr. A. could be forgiven, and that the taxi-driers were not all bad. The final
letter in the series broke new ground in a sense: �Kalil Gibran was not born in the
Waldorf Astoria, nor was Al laziji a gradvate of Har-ard University. The United
States is not the cradle of culture. These people g)t their college education from
nature�the nature of Lebanon. It was from the'Leb%non that these world-famous men
of literature emanated. It was from the shores of LAPnon that our ships sailed carry-
ing to the world knowledge, culture, and education. It was here that the mind grew
and knowledge was born. It was here that we discove:ed the alphabet and spread it in
the world. . . . We welcome innocent orientation, it we despise insults and accuse-
,,ions. Perhaps it is high time that these people should know that we are fed up
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with their repeated aggressions on this country that offers them thankful hospi-
tality.!'
A second letter having arrived from the embattled Mr. Amazon which was longer,
,stronger and more detailed than the first, and convinced that no good purpose was
to be served by prolonging the dispute, the American editor dropped the whole thing.
He said that fifty letters had come in as a result of the Amazon letter, almost
all of thee from-angry Arabs. He had published only the most moderate and well-
written. He thoukht now that he should have published only the two beet of the
lot and the:inn/shed with it. As it was, the controvergy had gone on too long to
serve any useful purpose.
The American Minister thought so too; and in a circular to all the Americans
employed in the Legation, in Point IV, and those in the U.N. offices who are paid out
of State Department funds, be urged the necessity of discretion in dealings with
the Arabs, stated that the representation of American opinion was to be left to
the proper official organs and indicated that failure to comply would entail disci-
plinary action.
This first free exchange of ideas and "beefs" thus turned out to be unfortunate.
For this result, of course, much of the blame must attach to Mr. Amazon's one-
sided sweeping intemperance and his lack of tact. He started it. But if be had
been similarly sweeping in praise instead of condemnation, the reaction of his Arab
readers would, I think, have been just as enthusiastically unbalanced, just as emotion-
al, just as indiscriminate in the opposite direction. They would have healed Mr.
Amazon as a paragon among westerners, a man of real culture and civilization, and
the harbinger of a new era of friendship and understanding-between East and West.
This leak of restraint end willingness to be carried away on a tide of feeling
reflects the fact that in comparison with British and American norms, emotion among
the Anibal* lase subject to the tight rein of lOgic'or Of Objective fact or the habit
of caution. Indeed, expression in the Arabic language the unique art form of the
Arabs, seems to require free appeal to the emotions 41a the liberal use of over-
statement and exaggeration., in order to be effective. To "get across" in Arabic,
the art form, it is necessary to conform to the canons of the art, even if at the
expense of logic and precision. We have, I think, an exactly parallel case in the
purple aftertinements of our tonier magazines: "All at once...you're lovelYI,
Whether you pour yourself into a column of satin or surround yourself with a Haien-
ciaga balloon dress you can be slim as a reed but comfortable, too. That's the
heavenly feel r' th:t goes with the heavenly fit of a Warner's corselette. Like
wearing a powder base-r-it's thatlighti Like slipping into a tan---it's that smooth?'
Literal translation of such passages robs them of their eloquent appeal, rendering
them absurd or at best unconvincing, with the exaggerations, illogic and misstatements
of fact standing out clearly; this is just as true of Arabic as it is of English. Con-
versely, passages in bagliah� especially dry understatement which can be extremely
effective for us, tend when done verbatim .into Arabic to' make little impression or
even to be taken as meaning quite the reverse of what is said. AS if, in an era of
purple advertising, one were to says "'Warner's corselettes are comparatively light,
smooth and elope-fitting." Uninteresting, if true.
If a good deal of Arab eloquence on the popular issues of the day seems in trans-
lation to be rabid nonsense, We must realize that to a considerable extent this is due
to the neesesity for prdaein �Arabic-to inflate itself to meet a certain level of
expectation in order to be effective. I suggest the practieal:Arabvafter an initial
fluah of enthusiasm, perhaps, does not take Arab eloquence at face value any more than
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practical American woman would take an adveisiemewat like the one quoted above at
race value. 7174 must similhhly discount. And in the present case think the Ameri-
can Minister to Lebanon acted on the basis of the faoe halme of the letters in reply
to Mr Amazon, according them an influence for ill far out of proportion to their
real importance.
Given all this, one may still ask why the charge of being uncivilized should
the occasion for so much Arab eloquence, such a uniform and uniformly emotional
outburst against Mr. Amazon and all he is supposed to stand for. Why wasn't anyone
honestly amused? Surely, if such a letter as Mr. Amass:x.11s had appeared in the Times
.(London or New York) similarly unbridled against the British and Americans and written
by an Arab, the reactions would have been more varied. Some would have Agreed with
e charges insofar as they were true, and would have urged correction of the short-
comings in question as a matter of social desirability. Others might have composed
hhort humorous verses in honor of the occasion. Certainly someone would have done
the equivalent of writing something like: "Sir: With reference to the Amazon-Arab
controversy which has lately appeared in your columns, T feel it necessary to. object
most strongly to the irresponsible bandying about of thh name of an ancient &honor-
able people by uncultivated and,self-appointed spokesmsa of two barbarian cultures.
it may be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but, Sir, it is unfair to the
Plank. Yours, &c,(signed)Zulu."
The reason for the one-sidedness of the Arab reaction lies, I think, in the fact
that Mr. Amazon's shaft struck home in the most vulnerable part of the Arabs' =entail:
their sense of inferiority vis-a-vis the West in point of civilization. MhteriallT,
in terms of public morality and efficiency, in terms of power, they sense themselves
to be inferior to the West. They see their inferiority reflected and compounded by
the Westerners themselves in a host of doily examples. With their own sense of worth
severely shaken, it is inevitable that they should seek desperately for same basis
upon which to .refound their self-respect. The find it partly in the failures of
the West to live up to its own ideals-10r. Charles Niilcir U.N. delegate from Lebanimol,
Is one of the most eloquent critics of the West for betraying what it claims to stand
for. And they find it partly by turning back to the dive of Arab greatness and to
Muslim and/or Arab ideals. In effect, Amazon would dery them even this. To his
threat, they must react in anger. They are not secure huough in their own self-esteem
to admit shortcomings, or to be amused.
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2021/09/20 CO2732051