Beirut 1916: The Secret Bank That Funded the Arab Revolt

In the darkest year of the Great Famine, as Jamal Pasha hanged patriots in Martyrs' Square, a small bank in Beirut smuggled gold to Sharif Hussein's Arab Revolt. This episode tells the story of Bank al-Hilal, founded by Michel Sursock and Habib Bustros, which secretly funneled British gold through neutral consulates to the Hejaz. We follow the couriers who risked death on the railway to Damascus, the qabaday who protected the transfers in the souks, and the moment when French intelligence caught wind of the plot. It's a story of survival, betrayal, and the financial infrastructure behind a revolution—all run from a back office in the Sursock Palace.

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