The Commander

Revered by some as the Arab Garibaldi, maligned by others as an intriguer and opportunist, Fawzi al-Qawuqji manned the ramparts of Arab history for four decades. As a young officer in the Ottoman Army, he fought the British in the First World War, and won an Iron Cross. In the 1920s, he mastered the arts of insurgency and helped lead a massive uprising against the French authorities in Syria. A decade later, he re-appeared in Palestine, where he helped direct the Arab revolt of 1936. When an eff