From: Bajram Peçi
Jerusalem and the Albanians, what connection can they have between them?
None! They are not few, but 1736 kilometers apart.
But… take your time! Wait long enough to browse the thousand-year history of the city of David and Solomon, of Jesus Christ and the prophet Muhammad, and you will see that the Holy City was owned by the Albanians from 1831 to 1840.
The Sultan of the empire that spanned three continents, the Ottoman one, Mahmud II, although with the massacre of June 10, 1826, he thought that he would end the power of the Janissaries, where the Albanians held the ruling positions, he could not foresee that one day , eight years later, the Albanians would again be the most serious threat to the throne and if Europe had not stopped them, the army of Mehmet Ali, this Albanian soldier, would have entered Istanbul triumphantly.
Anyone who has read biographical-historical books on Napoleon Bonaparte will encounter him in almost most of them, explained in a few pages and related to the event in the castle of Jaffa (Jaffa), very close to Jerusalem. It was the period of the campaign in Egypt, the time when Napoleon's army of 35 warriors left Cairo and Alexandria and set out to conquer the "Holy Lands". He easily overcame and broke through the feeble resistance he encountered on the way to Gaza, until he stopped before the wall of a fortress, Jaffa, which would neither break nor yield. It was the Albanian movement that protected it. He promised them their lives, but after four days of bloody fighting in the siege, they asked to take their weapons. So it was agreed, but, as historians say, after an entire night without sleep, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the shooting of those surrendered, almost all of them of Albanian origin.
According to the author of the biography "Napoleon", the Russian writer Evgeny Viktorovich Tarle, 6 thousand were brutally slaughtered on March 7 and 1799, 10. Other sources sometimes mention 2,440 soldiers, such as Simon S. Montefiore, and sometimes 4,100 soldiers. Only William L. Langar's "Encyclopedia of World History" gives the lowest figure - 1,200 Albanian soldiers killed.
Later, on the exile island of Saint Helena, Napoleon wrote: “…to keep a considerable number of prisoners in custody, it would be necessary to detach sufficient guards for them, which would seriously reduce the ranks of the army his, and if he had allowed them to leave as free men, it was reasonable to believe and fear that they might increase the ranks of Ahmed al-Jazzar's troops.
When it comes to Jerusalem and other "holy" lands, we Albanians can't be mentioned as protagonists. The lessons for the rule of this city have included all the Euro-Asian empires, all the biggest nations, those who would later write history. Political and religious interests have made this city, the capital of two peoples, the epicenter of three faiths, be talked about and written about more than any other city. About the presence of Albanians in these territories, only one episode of historical importance was known, which is worth mentioning in advance.
And here, 30 years later, Albanians appear again in this region as protagonists. Again as soldiers, but now with the power of the ruler of Egypt. With these Albanian nizams, terrible janissaries, the Ottoman Empire was able to extend its power to three continents. One of these "Ottoman" soldiers, according to encyclopedic sources, an Albanian from Kavalla, but most likely from Zêmblak i Maliqi of Korça, two years after the event of Xhafa, exploiting with his Albanian troops the military and political vacuum that had been created with the departure of Napoleon, had begun to extend his military authority. On the night of March 1, 1811, he managed to exterminate all the leaders and the elite of the Mamluk warriors invited to the Cairo castle "for the celebration of the son's birthday" and established the military regime, which, after the sultan appointed as the valiu of Egypt, he made it his absolute rule. The rule that lasted more than 150 years is known in the history of Egypt as the period of the "Albanian occupation".
Mehmet Ali had long since left the military expeditions in Arabia and Greece and the achievement of victories on behalf of Sultan Selim and Mahmud II. He started the expedition to Palestine and Syria on his own account. This war in the history texts has been named "Turkish-Egyptian War", but in reality Mehmet Ali's military troops were made up of Albanians. In the early days of his rule, the Pasha had 6,000 Albanian troops, which he multiplied over the years. The justification for the expedition was a dispute with Veli Abdullah, Pasha of Acre, over the accommodation of 6,000 Egyptian peasants who had fled to escape taxes. Mehmed conquered Palestine and Syria with ease. The only resistance was in the port city of Acre, which finally surrendered on May 27, 1832. Jerusalem had been occupied since December 1831.
After the fall of Acre, Mehmet Ali's army marched towards Anatolia. At the Battle of Konya, on 21 December 1832, the son, Ibrahim Pasha, routed the Ottoman army and there was now no military obstacle before them to prevent Ibrahim's forces from marching forward. When Mehmet Ali announced his intention to dethrone the sultan, Mahmud II, alarmed, accepted Russia's offer of military aid, which was rejected by the British and French governments. They intervened directly with troops and diplomacy. They brokered a settlement in May 1833, known as the Convention of Kutahia. Mehmet Ali would withdraw his forces from Anatolia in exchange for Crete; would receive the right of hereditary rule in Egypt and Arabia, and Ibrahim Pasha would be appointed the vali of Syria. Meanwhile, the Pasha's son had long been settled with his troops and lived in Jerusalem. The new Lord of Jerusalem was Ibrahim Kuqi.
"Albanian annexation 1830-'40" is called chapter 36 of the eighth part, "Empire", of the biography "Jerusalem", where historian Simon Sebag Montefiore describes the entry of Albanians into the holy city. “…the army marched through the city as Jerusalemites 'happy and satisfied', celebrating with lights, dancing and music in the streets. For five days, the Muslims, the Greeks, the Franciscans, the Armenians and even the Jews were having fun." But why were the inhabitants of the city so happy about the arrival of the Albanians? It had been more than 30 years since Jerusalem was oppressed by Abdullah Pasha, the grandson of the "Butcher" named Mustafa Krimineli and Haim Fahri.
With Ibrahim as governor in Syria and Israel, the possessions belonging to the Albanians took the form of an empire. He shocked the Muslims of Jerusalem when he replaced sitting on cushions and cushions with the European chair, but especially with drinking wine openly, by himself and anyone else who was now allowed. Mehmet's son, who had earned the nickname "Red" because of his red beard, how long he stayed in Jerusalem took care to establish equality before the law for all races; eased the oppression of Jews and Christians; they could ride horses in the streets and wear the clothes that Muslims also wore and they no longer had to pay the jizaya tax.
Jerusalem had been under Turkish occupation for centuries and for the first time, from these reforms, they were enjoying freedom. Jerusalem, deeply immersed in the eastern culture of life, the Arab-Persian one, during the ten years of Albanian rule, began to enjoy the freedom and the European way of life, the way it had been cultivated in Egypt for over 25 years. The Muslim fellahs could not digest the new forms of freedom and were led to revolt, which, by Mehmet Ali himself and his son, Ibrahim, was crushed, crushing the rebels and recapturing Jerusalem. Ibrahim invited the Europeans to set up consulates in Jerusalem and for the first time since the Crusades, allowed church bells to be rung.
"Albanians", writes Simon Sebag Montefiore, in the work "Jerusalem", "were enthusiastic modernizers who needed European support if they wanted to conquer the Ottoman Empire. Ibrahim allowed the minorities to repair their ruined buildings; the Franciscans fixed St. Saviour; Sephardic Jews began rebuilding the ben Zakkai synagogue, one of four synagogues in the Jewish quarter; the Ashkenazis returned to the Hurva synagogue, destroyed in 1720".
In 1838, Mehmet Ali announced to Britain and France that he would declare the independence of Egypt, Syria and Palestine from the Ottoman Empire. France supported it, but it was Britain that decided. The status quo of the Ottoman Empire was breaking. Russia had its own goals, within the framework of the Russian Empire. In Istanbul, the Turkish commander, Hafiz Pasha, assured Sultan Mahmud II that he was able to defeat the "Egyptian" army of Albanians. After receiving consent, he ordered his forces to advance to the Syrian border, attacked Ibrahim's troops and was destroyed at the battle of Netsibi, near Urfa, on June 24, 1839.
From moment to moment, Istanbul could fall into the hands of Mehmet Ali, but this was not allowed. Mahmud II died almost immediately after the battle and was succeeded by the 16-year-old Abdylmejid. The European powers and the British Government intervened vigorously, agreeing with Austria, Prussia and Russia to sign the London Convention. The convention offered Mehmet Ali the hereditary rule of Egypt, as part of the Ottoman Empire, as an obligation to withdraw from Syria, Jerusalem, the coastal regions and Mount Lebanon. Mehmet Ali was initially reluctant, believing he had the support of France, which cost him dearly as French support never arrived as British naval forces moved against Syria, Jerusalem and Alexandria; Austrian ships blockaded the Nile Delta and bombarded Beirut. Mehmet Ali agreed to the terms of the Convention. On November 27, 1840, the Albanians left Jerusalem and Palestine, the land that the British kept under their dictate until the end of the Second World War. The defeated army was reduced to only 18 troops, and Mehmet Ali and his descendants were granted the right to enjoy hereditary rule over Egypt and Sudan, as Ottoman viceroys.
The traces of these events and the ten-year Albanian influence in the city of Jerusalem and the Syria-Palestine territories are almost non-existent in their history texts. Even when they are mentioned, they are attributed to the Egyptians, who, for their part, have taken care to erase all traces of 150 years of occupation, except for the name of the island and Cairo's most prominent neighborhood, Zamalek. It continues to bear, with a slight change in pronunciation, the name of the Albanian village of origin of the great Mehmet Ali, Zëmblak, which they have not been able to change even though they do not know its origin. From the middle of the XNUMXth century, the divine face of an Albanian princess, Fevzia Fuat Ali, daughter of King Fuad, sister of King Farouk, wife of the shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, announced by Hollywood as "the most beautiful woman in the world of all times", was the last occasion when she was mentioned and spoken of as an Albanian and not an Egyptian princess. She was the last famous one of that family that left deep traces in the Europeanization of Egypt and Jerusalem, a time that is now remembered in her Islam as a dream, "...once upon a time!". With this princess, the dreamy game of Albanian human life beyond her hearth ends. This Albanian history of Jerusalem and Egypt remains even today in the purity of a myth. They were the only ones who never said that they are Ottomans and never forgot to mention that they are Albanians. /Telegraph/
Mehmet Ali Pasha's entry into Jerusalem
