New issue of Great Arab Revolt’s mouthpiece out

AMMAN — The Jordan Times distributes on Thursday the 26th issue of Al Qibla newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Great Arab Revolt.

The four-page newspaper dedicates its editorial to talk about the “Arab spirit”, in which the chief editor, Fuad Al Khatib, praises Arab volunteers who joined the forces of the revolt to defend the fledgling Arab kingdom declared by the leader of the revolt, Sharif Hussein Bin Ali.

Khatib highlights the fact that not only bedouins, but also urban youth from Hijaz and other areas were joining the fight against the Union and Progress Party-led government in Turkey, which, he said, was repressing Arabs and trying to uproot their culture. 

The paper also reprints an op-ed from the Egypt-based Muqattam newspaper in which the writer comments on a speech by the legendary Egyptian leader, Saad Zaghloul, who criticised the rulers in Istanbul for not activating the Ottoman League and supported the Arab renaissance movement blooming in Mecca under the Hashemite leadership.

King Hussein Bin Ali declared Hijaz a Kingdom after he launched the revolt in June 1916. 

Al Qibla also runs in the issue an interview with the then-foreign minister, Prince Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, the founding King of Jordan, who led the conquest of Taef, a city to the south of Mecca. 

It also coveres daily life news of Hijaz and developments in WWI. 

The distribution of Al Qibla by The Jordan Times and other local dailies is part of celebrations of the centennial of the Great Arab Revolt.