Umm Qais: 1920 treaty.

 

One of the most significant recent historical events within the village was the meeting in 1920 of leading Arab figures and thinkers to consider the British and French Mandates and the Sykes-Picot agreement.

 

The meeting was hosted in the Madafa and Hosh (courtyard) of Hajj Mahmoud al Rousan.

 

The meeting discussed the British and French Mandates and the Sykes –Picot agreement regarding the division of Bilad al Sham between the two western imperial powers following the end of Ottoman control after the First World War. Seventeen head Arab leaders from the region of Bilad al Sham including several figures from Umm Qais itself, met and discussed the outcomes of such a division of Arab land. Together they signed a treaty assuring their loyalties to King Faisal and their allegiance to Bilad al Sham sovereignty and integrity.