AN ITALIAN FREE FIGHTER WITH OMAR MUKHTAR

A great story in a small book written by Fathi Ali Saahli of CARMINE IORIO GIUSEPPE.
Carmine Iorio was born to a Christian family in Naples, Italy in 1883. When he was a teenager he had a dream troubling him many nights and told his mother who called the village priest. He told the priest that he dreamt that he saw himself at the edge of a mountain and being transformed into a great bird, and when he was ready to fly a great serpent jumped at him and while he was struggling with the serpent he woke up. The priest told him not to worry, that at sometime in his future he would become something else and his struggle with the serpent is the eternal struggle between good and evil.
In 1901 he joined the Italian army and specialized in small arms maintenance and repair. On 15 October, 1911, he was a sergeant and a member of the marine force of 15,000 strong directed to occupy the City of Derna in eastern Libya. After ten days of bombardment and failed landings, the defending force of 3500 Turk and Arab soldiers were finally defeated and the Italians occupied the Turkish garrison of the city and made it their own.
Count Trombi was then appointed as a governor and the garrison was strengthened by 1500 soldiers and two battalions of Alpine Chasseurs.
Carmine Iorio became one of the soldiers in the Italian garrison of Derna. It seems that Carmine was very inquisitive of his new environment and wished to learn Arabic language and to understand the Quran. His battalion shared some of the vicious and heavy fighting against the Libyan Mujahedeen in January 1915 around Derna and near Martouba.
In 1916 Carmine made the great step of his life, he fled Derna garrison and delivered himself voluntary to the Mujahedeen in the outskirts of the Green Mountain. He was then taken to Al Fadeel Bu Omar الفضيل بو عمر one of Omar Mukhtar commanders where he declared his conversion to Islam and became known as Yousef El Musulmani يوسف المسلمانى .
Yousef became one of the free fighters of the land and a great help to the cause with his expertise in small arms and Italians tactics of war. He was present in the battles of Marsa Brega, Bir Bilal, Solug and many others. Omar Mukhtar made him a lieutenant and he married a girl from Kufra called Tibra Musa Al Majebri تبرة موسى المجبرى . He had two children, a boy called Mohamed محمد , and a girl called Aisha عائشة . His grandsons and granddaughters still live with us in their own home land.
His fantastic story ended abruptly when after twelve years and due to the betrayal of some traitors he was captured near Jialo oasis in 1928. As some high fascist officials were personally following up his case he was put to a quick trial on the spot , tried for high treason and given the verdict of capital punishment. He was then given the choice of converting back to his former religion and offered life instead, but he refused and willed only that his family –hidden then by his fellow Mujahedeen- to be left living peacefully with his fellow Moslems.
Historical eyewitnesses say that he stood gallantly and read few verses of the Quran before he was hit by the firing squad in the market Jialo square, and he was burried in Jialo.
A record of Carmine’s story is found in several Fascist writings, bearing in mind that they represent the Fascist point of view. Those include Dante Maria Tuninetti, Secretary of the Fascist Party of Cyrenaica, several military officers and the Minister of Colonies then.
In 1991, Salvatore Bono, professor of Afro-Asian History of Perugia University, Italy wrote a research about the soldier that became a fighter with Omar Mukhtar.

DOESN’T YOUSEF EL MUSULMANI DESERVE TO BE REMEMBERED BY US?

A BRITISH DOCTOR IN YEFREN

An excerpt from the British Journal of Nursing of 23rd April, 1912:
Quote, “Mr. Ameer Ali, President of the British Red Crescent Mission in Tripoli, is appealing for funds in support for the work of the Red Crescent Society.
He has received word from the director of the mission from Dahibat (in Tunisia) that, “the refugee coast population are suffering from starvation,” and asking that an appeal may be made to Great Britain, India, Egypt and the British colonies for relief funds.” Unquote.

In the summer of 1912, British Doctor Ernest H. Griffin was in Paris enjoying his vacation when he, “first heard the British Red Crescent Society was on the lookout for surgeons to assist the wounded Turks and Arabs in Tripolitania.”
He went back to London and soon joined the BRC. On 7th September, 1912 he was in Charing Cross station, “carrying with me to Tripolitania twenty large cases of surgical and medical stores, in addition to my personal luggage”, leaving to Marseille, and then by boat to Tunis city. He then continued to Sfax by train and to Bingirdan by a small boat. The mission entered then Tripolitania on horseback with camels carrying their luggage.
The mission consisted of two surgeons, two nurses and materials and supplies for a mobile hospital. After a short sojourn near Zavia town, the mission hospital was moved up to Yefren on 13th October, 1912 carried by a caravan consisted of 120 camels and protected by 24 gens d’armes provided by the chief of the Western Mountain Sullieman Al Barouni.
In Yefren, the hospital was installed in the ex Turkish hospital building and the members of the mission were lodged in the court building.
After Turkey had signed Lausanne Peace Treaty with Italy in October 1912, the last of Turkish soldiers were withdrawn on 07th December 1912, the Libyans of Tripolitania made then a Declaration of Independence of the young Arab State on 27th December 1912, and a government was established under Sullieman Al Barouni with its siege in Yefren, and Al Rabta near Gharyan became the new military headquarters instead of Al Azizia. This government controlled an area 300 km long from the Tunisian borders to Werfella at Ben Waleed and combined the Libyans who were opposing the Italians.
Libyans were left on their own for the first time of history in front a mighty and alien enemy, one of the major colonial powers of Europe.
Dr. E. H. Griffin wrote a book later on called ‘Adventures in Tripoli’ in which he left us a very detailed account of his stay in Yefren and Tripolitania. He referred to Al Barouni as an educated, intelligent and strong willed man. He described Yefren streets as being clean, paraffin lamps being lit at night and patrolled by gens d’armes. He described the existence of an organized people’s authority that provided the services needed to run a civic society such as justice, security, telegraph services with the free towns on the coast and Tunisia, and recruiting and training fighters for the Jihad against the Italian enemy.
He told us of Abdullah who was a French Moslem and Al Barouni explosives expert. He made friends with Sheik Sassi , local ruler of Yefren, with Khani who was Al Barouni flag bearer and Jameel the Turk telegraph operator who remained with his fellow Moslems in Yefren.
He observed that the Jewish community of Yefren lived in harmony with their Moslem neighbors and they were well treated by them, and both of them were very strict in observing their respective religions.
By the end of winter of 1913, he was assigned a mission of establishing a clinic to provide medical assistance down near Al Joush on the way to the coast. That was when he visited Al Rabta , the Mujahedeen camp.
He noted that the Libyan fighters were a panorama of all colors and all ages, and they were very poorly armed. Some of their arms were actually medieval like swords, lances and very ancient guns that were taller than a man, the only modern arms they had were captured from Italian soldiers. However, he added, that all of them shared an absolute love for their independence and their freedom. He described also that there were many refugees fleeing the coastal towns in fear of a repetition of Italian atrocities of Tripoli the year before. He wrote that many poor people were wondering aimless, hopeless and desperate and the war made beggars of many of them. By the end of March, 1913 he was heading back to Yefren when the great catastrophe fell down.

(( On 23rd march, 1913, the Italian army made a great offensive on a long front of more than 30 km from Al Rabta–Mantrous Al Asswad to Jandouba in Al Assabaa with an army of 40,000 Italians, Eritreans and local bands armed with modern rifles, mountain guns and vehicles, and was met with a total of 11,750 Libyan fighters and 250 horsemen, without any military modern hardware, in Jandouba. This was what to become the renowned battle of Al Assabaa or Jandouba, in which the Italians at great cost made their first major victory and hundreds of Mujahedeen won their passage to the afterlife. Sheik Mohamed ben Omar Beausaifi الشيخ محمد بن عمر البوسيفى chief of the knights, freed his horse, let it go, and tied his own legs to make the last stand and said his famous words addressing his horse:

بعد اليوم ما عاد في ركوب ولا ليك بعد اليوم صاحب، الصاحب اليوم يا يعيش عزيز ، يا يدوسوه الطليان بالكراهب
“After Today, there will be no more riding,
And you will have no master,
Either your master lives free,
Or be run over by the Italian vehicles.”

He died with 300 hundred defenders to make the withdrawal of Mujahideen from Jandouba possible.
At the end of battle the Italians made some push forward into the hinterland to the west and south.))

Dr. Griffin was approaching Yefren when he was met with refugees coming down the mountain fleeing the Italian offensive. He went back to the plains when he was met with more refugees heading towards the dessert fleeing the Italian advancement from Ajeelat and Azzizia. He described how people were running astray, leaderless, hopeless, homeless and starved. In times like these, the true qualities of Man were displayed. There were thieves, marauders and cut throats. There were also valiant people, honest and brave. There were people who cared and others who careless. There were grateful people and others who were ungrateful. There were good people and vile ones, en bref, there were angels and devils. Humanity presented all, its lowest , its highest and in between. There was also an exodus of Libyan fighters to regroup in a safe haven in the desert. For the Libyan, the desert became the refuge, the citadel and the last hope after the mountain fell to the enemy.
Griffin had to go through this nightmare with his companions. And while, the desert presented the last refuge for the Libyans, for him it was the way he had to cross in order to arrive to Tunisia, to a world where sanity still prevailed.
On this rout, he met all kinds of obstacles. He was subject to betrayal, deceit and treachery and was close to death more than once. But he was also helped very courageously and valiantly by his companions and some of his former grateful patients who were ready to defend him with their own lives until he arrived safely to the Tunisian border.

THANKS TO DR. E. H. GRIFFIN FOR ALL HIS HUMANITARIAN DEEDS IN OUR LAND AND FOR RECORDING OUR HISTORY WHEN OUR FIGHTERS WERE BUSY MAKING IT.

…..Later on…..

On 10th December 1914, Colonel Miani who led the campaign to the south to occupy Fezzan after the battle of Jandouba was defeated by Mohamed ben Abdulla Beausaifi محمد بن عبد الله البوسيفى and his fighters, one of the Libyan commanders of Jandouba , and the Italians were kicked out from Morzug and Sebha.
On 29th April 1915, the same Colonel Miani was defeated by a confederation of all Libyan forces in Al Gurdabia Battle معركة القرضابية – in Sirte – which resulted in a wide spread revolution in all Libya and the Western Mountain was liberated again once more – for sometime…..
The Italian invaders remained cornered in the coastal towns for about eight years until the plan of recolonizaition of Libyan provinces was put into effect under General Gazziani, the Butcher of Cyrenaica.

THE ISLAMIC ARTS AND CRAFTS SCHOOL OF TRIPOLI

The people of Tripoli were used on Thursdays afternoons in the sixties to watch young kids in their early to mid teens smartly dressed in clean , ironed and beautiful uniforms, walking down town in twos or more. Those were the students of the Islamic Arts and Crafts School on their weekly time off when they enjoyed some free time from their semi military discipline.
The creation of this school started as an idea as the good doers and considerate citizens of Tripoli city remarked by the latest years of the nineteenth century that there were Moslem poor and orphaned kids in their town that needed attention and to be taken care of. They thought of a school to teach those kids sciences and train them in modern trades in order to earn their living. The project was then adapted by the Administrative Council of Wiliyat Tripoli, headed at the time by the Turkish Wali Namik Pasha and in cooperation of a Civil Committee of the notables of the town. Donations were collected from able citizens, and the municipality of Tripoli city allocated a piece of land –used to be an old cemetery- of about 24,000 m2. The school was built then on 4,000 m2 and the rest of the land was to be used as means of bringing revenue for it.
The school was opened in 1899 during the reign of Wali Mohamed Hafid Pasha, and was named Al Hamedia Technical School –after Sultan Abdulhamid of Turkey, in the street of the same name. The government allocated a percentage of exportation taxes on commodities such as al halva and olive oil in addition of the hinterland ‘miry’ tax to support the school budget. The government also paid the salaries of the teachers and technical instructors. The school was run smoothly and efficiently and had its own regulations and texts and very quickly arrived a stage when it gained some sales income of the creation of its students.
It started with 108 students, to which was added a girls’ section in 1903 of 20 girls being trained on rug-making, embroideries and such crafts.
Mrs. Mabel Loomis Todd in her book ‘Tripoli, the Mysterious’ wrote about her visit the school probably in 1905; quote:
“The technical school for poor and orphaned children was housed in a new building, where we were greeted by the grave and competent principal. In their bare reception room Turkish coffee was immediately served. Through many other apartments we were escorted, where boys were working at turning-lathes, and making furniture, machinery and shoes, weaving silk into barracans, dress materials and curtains. The blacksmith shop was equipped with bellows and other appliances exactly like those in use for centuries, and three men were pounding an anvil, making a favourite Arab tune. All colors worked peacefully together, blacks from the Sudan, browns from Misrata and Gabes, lighter tinted Arabs – all races without distinction were amicably friendly.
Across a hot garden , past a paddock full of rams and goats (once an old Arab cemetery), we reached the building where girls were busy at rug–making, and where a demure jet-black maiden had to go ahead to warn the school of our coming, that the little girls, some of whom were old enough to be attractive, might adjust their barracans over their faces before the head of the school and the foreign gentleman should arrive. Under ten years the children remained uncovered.
All turned and saluted us with a charming manner, and at a signal turned again to their weaving, which they did with great speed, copying a design prepared by some supposable artist. Workmanship was very beautiful, pattern very bad – flags, patriotic insignia and the map of Africa, with hard outlines and crudely brilliant colours.” Unquote.
After the Italian invasion in 1911 the school was converted to a detention centre – the equivalent of Abu Ghareb in Tripoli. It was reopened in 15/09/1913 under the Italian colonizing authority. The girls school was closed and the machines and the printing press of the school were sold. During the second world war it was converted to a military garrison and a warehouse of military hardware.
It was reopened during the British Administration rule, and served its objective to the best after Independence. It became the needed recruiting pool for the booming oil industry and its graduates –who were example of good morals and discipline- were much welcomed to fill the technical jobs in the various oil companies operating then.
In 1972 its budget reached 200,000 Libyan Dinar of which 130,000 Dinars came from its sales and revenues. Its musical band was very popular during national festivals.
Since the revolution, many changes have occurred in the Libyan society that diminished the role of the school, however, the Islamic A & C School remains a live example of the compassion, caring and belonging the City and its Citizens had shown to their little brothers and sisters in their time of need almost a century ago.