To secure permission to fund the rescue mission, the Egyptian Armenians sent a delegation to Aqaba composed of Abah Bedrosian, representing the Armenian National Union, Stepan Stepanian, representing the AGBU, and Krikor Armudlian. There they met with British officers and Emir Abdallah, a son of Sharif Husayn of Mecca. After the meeting, the delegation and rescue group proceeded to Abu Lisan, some seventy-five miles north of Aqaba, where they conducted negotiations with Emir Faysal, who had pitched camp there.128 Eventually, the Armenian representatives obtained the approval of the British general staff, which decided to back the group’s mission. On 21 August, five Armenian officers, accompanied by thirteen Bedouins, set out for the Jabal Druze, then still in Ottoman hands. Their mission was to make contact with the Druze tribal chiefs and convince them to support the Allied military operation. They were carrying letters signed by Faysal and money for the purpose of bringing the Druze chiefs around. The Armenian officers were also supposed to negotiate Druze approval of an organized escape of Armenian refugees from the Jabal to areas under British control. In the Druze bastion, the Armenian and Bedouin representatives held talks with the local chief, Sultan al-Atrash, who, it soon transpired, was of a mind to Read all
Humanitarian Assistance to Genocide Survivors in Palestine, 1917-1918
April 1918: Genocide survivors and army deserters who have made their way to Aqaba and joined the group charged with rescuing women and children held by Bedouins (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
The rescue team commanded by Levon Yotneghperian (no. 1), with Yesayi Kereshikian (no. 2), Garabed Kavafian (no. 3), and Hovhannes Kavafian (no. 4) (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Women and children liberated by the rescue team commanded by Levon Yotneghperian (right) and assembled in Der'a (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).