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1927

Al-kashfiyya khidma wataniyya (Scouting is a National Service)

Developed by British officer Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) in 1907, scouting was first introduced into the Middle East in 1912, a history analyzed in Jennifer Dueck’s The Claims of Culture at Empire End (2010). It became more known after World War I, with the largest groups first forming in Damascus and Beirut. In the latter, a Sunni, Muhyi al-Din Nusuli, in 1920 founded al-Kashshaf al-Muslim, which in 1922 was recognized by the International Scout Federation (ISF) as the Muslim Scouts of Syria. Earliest recruits were at the school of the American University of Beirut, though most enrolled at the Islamic College (Kulliya Islamiyya) and the schools of the Maqasid Islamic charity organization. During the 1925-1927 anticolonial Syrian Revolt, the French Mandate authorities disbanded the scouting groups, though they soon recovered. In 1927, too, the pro-French Catholic Scouts de France were founded, and small secular French and Jewish units came to life as well. Moreover, scouting picked up speed also outside the French Mandate, e.g. in Egypt and Palestine, as Arnon Degani’s “They were prepared: the Palestinian Arab Scout Movement 1920-1948” (2014) shows.

Back in the French Mandate, the Muslim Scouts of Syria and Lebanon joined ranks in 1931. In 1933, there were 45 troops involving 3,000 members. But in 1934 the French authorities clamped down on them, concerned about support for Syro-Lebanese unity. Lebanese and Syrian scouts split. If in the 1930s especially Muslim scouts formed part of a widening organizational involvement of youth in anticolonial nationalist politics, they had seen themselves as nation-building pioneers already in the 1920s. As the below text shows, in their eyes scouting allowed (male) youngsters to develop physical strength, be outdoors and get to know “their” nation’s natural habitat, and hone self-help, leadership skills, and team spirit, among other desirable traits. In this sense the below text, which was printed without a byline in the Beiruti journal al-Kashshaf (The Scout), was complex, not unlike Baden-Powell’s beliefs as expressed in his seminal Scouting for Boys (1908). It meant to strengthen individuals’ self-reliance while simultaneously serving a collective end, in Baden-Powell’s case the British Empire, here the Lebanese-Syrian nationalist cause.

July 24, 1985

Cable No. 5604, Charge d'Affaires Murazumi to the Foreign Minister, 'Your Visit to the Middle East (Notifying the United States)'

A telegram from Charge d’Affaires Murazumi to the Foreign Minister summarizing a meeting between with the State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Pelletreau regarding the American hostages in Lebanon.

September 27, 1985

Summary of Remarks for Use in Meeting of Japanese and Syrian Foreign Ministers at the United Nations

In the notes for a meeting between Japanese and Syrian Foreign Ministers at the UN, Japan urges Syria to continue assisting in the release of the American hostages and assures Syria they are putting pressure on Israel to release the Lebanese hostages held in Israel.

September 27, 1985

Cable No. 2483, Ambassador Kuroda to the Foreign Minister, '40th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Meeting of Japanese and Syrian Foreign Ministers)'

In this telegram, Ambassador Kuroda of Japan summarizes the main points of a meeting between Japanese and Syrian foreign ministers where they discuss the growing friendship between Japan and Syria, the American hostages in Lebanon, and Israeli Foreign Minister Shamir’s visit to Japan.

July 28, 1985

Cable No. 5689, Ambassador Matsunaga to the Foreign Minister, 'Problem of the Release of the American Hostages'

A telegram from Japanese Ambassador Matsunaga to the Foreign Minister summarizing a meeting between the Ambassador and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McFarlane about the American hostages in Lebanon.

August 12, 1985

Cable No. 664, Ambassador Kato to the Foreign Minister, 'Problem of the Release of the American Hostages (Second Meeting of Special Envoy Nakayama and Foreign Minister Shara)'

A telegram from Ambassador Kato to the Foreign Minister summarizing a meeting between Special Envoy Nakayama and Foreign Minister Shara on the future of the relationship between Japan and Syria and the American hostages held in Lebanon.

August 12, 1985

Cable No. 663, Ambassador Kato to the Foreign Minister, 'Problem of the Release of the American Hostages (Meeting of Special Envoy Nakayama and President Assad)'

A telegram from Japanese Ambassador Kato to the Foreign Minister summarizing a meeting between Special Envoy Nakayama and President Assad about the relationship between Syria and Japan and the American hostages in Lebanon.

August 12, 1989

National Intelligence Daily for Saturday, 12 August 1989

The CIA’s National Intelligence Daily for 12 August 1989 describes the latest developments in Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Somalia, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, South Africa, Ecuador, Namibia, and Cuba.

July 29, 1989

National Intelligence Daily for Saturday, 29 July 1989

The CIA’s National Intelligence Daily for 29 July 1989 describes the latest developments in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Honduras, Cambodia, the Soviet Union, China, Chile, Sri Lanka, India, and Panama.

January 14, 1989

National Intelligence Daily for Saturday, 14 January 1989

The CIA's National Intelligence Daily for 14 January 1989 covers developments in Afghanistan, France, Cuba, Lebanon, Syria, the Soviet Union, and China. Certain portions of the document are redacted due to b(1) and b(3) exemptions.

Pagination