Oren Kessler

“On that system and by that faith there has been built out of the wreck of the Roman Empire the whole of our existing civilization.52”
― Oren Kessler, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict

“But Wauchope also took the Mandate’s “dual obligation” seriously. Soon after arriving in Jerusalem, he concluded that he needed an Arab—astute, discreet, and independent of mind and loyalties—among his advisors. He found one in Musa Alami, whom he named as a personal secretary for Arab affairs on the first day of 1933.67 For Alami, who had begun his civil service career under Bentwich, the appointment was the second time he would report to a senior official wholly committed to the Jewish national home. Wauchope was a rich bachelor with no need for a salary: Alami believed he probably spent far more than he was paid. An aristocrat and a humanist, his passions were music, theater, and books—not least the Bible. Alami could hardly find a single text on Palestine with which Wauchope was not acquainted.”
― Oren Kessler, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict