HomeStudent Archival EssaysResearch Essay - Solomon Morad Jaboor

Research Essay - Solomon Morad Jaboor

by Dhevarajan Devadas

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S. M. Jaboor Naturalisation Document
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Syrian Banquet - An Enthusiastic Gathering, The Advertiser, The Advertiser 1910
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John Rafael Deportation Documents 1928

The White Australia policy, which lasted under various guises from 1901 to 1973, did much to shape Australia as an immigrant nation. The restrictions it placed on non-European immigrants meant that their experience in their new home was often vastly different from that of their European counterparts.  They often found themselves affected by prejudice, perceived as threats to the dominant white culture, and entangled in stifling bureaucracy designed to discourage settlement in Australia.

The Syrian immigrant community in Australia became sizeable in the 1890s, as emigration increased from the Ottoman territories of Syria and Lebanon.  There was much confusion regarding their racial identity as they largely appeared white and were Christian. While they were still officially regarded as “Asiatics”, the general consensus was to treat them leniently compared to Chinese and Indian immigrants.[1]

In this early wave came a young man named Solomon Morad Jaboor, who arrived in the Colony of Victoria in 1891.[2] 22-year-old Jaboor went on to establish himself as a successful merchant and emerged as a leader of the Syrian community in Victoria. This essay is about his interactions with the immigration authorities that policed the White Australia Policy, shedding light on how it affected individuals facing differing circumstances.

Jaboor was born in Bisaba Village in Mount Lebanon in 1869.[3] He studied in the American Presbyterian missionary school and was himself employed there as a teacher for some years.[4] Deciding to seek his fortunes in Australia, he travelled to Victoria from Aden via the S.S. Yarra on 5 November 1891.[5] Upon his arrival, Jaboor quickly found employment as a clerk in Exhibition Street.[6] With his excellent English skills and Bible knowledge, he was also invited to run missionary services for the local Syrian community in Melbourne.[7]

In 1894, Jaboor applied for naturalization and submitted three references to support his application.[8] The Methodist minister and social reformer AR Edgar wrote that Jaboor was “in every respect worthy of being acknowledged as a British subject”.[9] Edgar also pointed to his education from Church missionaries in Syria as a positive point.[10] Another minister at the Presbyterian Church of Parkville praised Jaboor for his strong command of English and religious knowledge, writing that he was confident that Jaboor would be a “loyal British subject and Victorian citizen”.[11] The emphasis on Jaboor’s Christianity and English skills was deliberate as Syrian immigrants frequently highlighted them as positive attributes affirming their identities as members of the “civilised Christian race”.[12]

Jaboor was soon joined in Victoria by his brother Daher, who established a watchmaker’s business in Johnson Street.[13] Both of them first appear in the newspaper archives in 1896, when Jaboor placed a missing person’s notice in The Age requesting country readers who may know the whereabouts of “D.M. Jaboor, hawker by wagon” to contact him at his Exhibition Street address.[14]

While there is no record of when Daher was reunited with his brother, the very next time he is mentioned is in a report from 1898 when both brothers appeared in Maffra Police Court.[15] A Syrian hawker named John Badrey had assaulted Daher over a dispute regarding watch repairs and Jaboor testified that he had later been approached by Badrey’s relatives to influence his brother to drop the charges.[16] However, as the conditions stipulated by Jaboor went unmet, Badrey was hauled to court and fined two pounds or 14 days of imprisonment in lieu.[17] Such disputes between Syrian hawkers were common, and were sometimes held up as examples of their malignant presence in communities.[18]

By 1904, Jaboor had set up a successful import and manufacturing business with an Indian immigrant named Marm Deen. Their premises in Lonsdale Street were large and the property was listed in an auction as a “good rent producing property” given the prosperity of the business.[19] It was also around this time that Jaboor had his sole instance of negative publicity when the business was fined 2 pounds for breaching the Factories Act by using a workroom to house his staff.[20]

Having established himself as a respectable businessman in Melbourne, Jaboor began assisting fellow Syrians and even hawkers from other immigrant communities who were in distress, legal troubles or had dealings with the immigration authorities. The introduction of the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901 meant that the majority of cases where Jaboor assisted were regarding applications for the Certificate of Exemption from the Dictation Test (CEDT). This test was imposed on all non-Europeans entering Australia from 1901 onwards. The applicant was required to write out 50 words in any European language that was dictated by immigration officials.[21] The CEDT allowed non-European immigrants wishing to travel overseas temporarily to reenter Australia without being subject to the test again.[22]

Jaboor mainly assisted in CEDT applications by providing character references or bond sureties for the applicant. For example, in 1928, Jaboor wrote an appeal requesting for an extension in the CEDT of Brahm Singh, an Indian hawker who had fallen ill while on leave back home.[23] The Collector of Customs granted this appeal. However, Jaboor wrote back a month later to reveal that he had omitted the date from which the extension should be in effect in his original appeal and requested a further three months.[24] This was also granted on condition that the extension fee was paid.

Another similar case occurred in 1927 regarding another Indian hawker, Nuttoo, who also requested an extension of his CEDT.[25] Jaboor’s appeal praised Nuttoo as an “honest and straightforward” individual whom he had known for nearly twenty years.[26] An extension of six months was granted and and Jaboor was informed of the fee for a new certificate.[27]

The scenario of applicants departing Australia before their CEDTs were granted occurred several times as the archives show. The main cause appeared to be miscommunication between applicants and clerks.[28]

One such case that Jaboor was involved in was that of yet another Indian hawker Goolam Mahomed in 1913. Goolam had applied for a CEDT, but had left before it had been granted due to a miscommunication between him and the clerk processing his application.[29] The authorities rejected the appeals of his white employer and a Hindustani language teacher who knew him.[30] Jaboor then wrote his own appeal emphasisng Goolam’s reputation as a “well and favourably known” hawker in Victoria.[31] The appeal was still rejected but Goolam was offered the option to enter Australia for six months without taking the dictation test to see his son here and return to India with him. A reply to this effect was sent to Jaboor with the additional stipulation that a bond was to be furnished for the exemption to be granted.[32]

It is notable that most of the hawkers that Jaboor interceded on behalf of were Indians rather than Syrians. The two ethnic groups were often at loggerheads over hawking licences and accusations of causing nuisance in towns.[33] However, police records indicate that these accusations were exaggerated and that hawkers from both communities were just as likely to be charged with offences.[34]

While Jaboor’s assistance to Indian hawkers may have been out of personal kindness, in public he was a firm advocate for the Syrians to be accepted as part of the white community and not “Asiatics”. At a banquet to celebrate the second anniversary of the new Turkish Constitution in 1910, he lauded the Australian guests for having “recognised a white man as such, irrespective of his country, and that worthy citizenship did not depend upon a man’s birthplace, but very much upon his personality and his social and moral position in the community”.[35] Jaboor also espoused the same view at another banquet where he urged that “the stigma of associating Syrians with the prohibited Oriental races should be removed by the Commonwealth”, adding that “this brand of inferiority should not be applied to Syrians”.[36]

Similar views were espoused strongly by Syrian communities throughout Australia. From Queensland to New South Wales, they strongly objected to being included in the same categories as Chinese, Japanese or Indian immigrants. Some community leaders argued that the Syrians’ “looks, habits, customs, religions, blood, are those of Europeans” and and that they should be “treated like other white races”.[37]

The largely positive responses that Jaboor’s correspondence received from the immigration authorities stemmed from his reputation as both a prominent Syrian community leader and businessman. By 1910, he was the president of the Ottoman Association of Victoria, which was unsurprising given that most immigrants from the Ottoman Empire were Syrians from Jaboor’s home province of Mount Lebanon.[38]

SM Jaboor is standing sixth from the left. This photo was taken at a banquet hosted by the Ottoman Association of South Australia in 1912.png
SM Jaboor is standing sixth from the left. This photo was taken at a banquet hosted by the Ottoman Association of South Australia in 1912

SM Jaboor is standing sixth from the left. This photo was taken at a banquet hosted by the Ottoman Association of South Australia in 1912.[39]

The media often approached him to comment on issues relating to the Ottoman Empire and the Syrian community. In 1911, Jaboor gave a long interview to the Melbourne Herald about Turkey’s chances in the face of Italy’s declaration of war.[40] He expressed confidence in Turkey’s new British trained navy and the unity of the Christians and Muslims in defence of the Ottoman Empire.[41]

However, his attitudes dramatically changed once World War One began. Two days after Britain declared war on the Ottoman Empire, Jaboor resigned his position as chancellor of the Turkish Consulate in Melbourne, stating that he “cannot see a way to continue in the service of a Power antagonistic to Great Britain”.[42] It is evident that his attachment to the British Empire was far stronger than any nationalistic fervor or default loyalty to his homeland. Nevertheless, given his long service as the Ottoman representative in the city, it was clearly a decision that Jaboor did not take lightly.

There is no mention of Jaboor in the archives during the war until 1917 when he was listed as an executive committee member of the Syrian Relief Fund.[43] It had been set up specifically to address the plight of the Christians in Syria and the Mount Lebanon regions of the collapsing Ottoman Empire.[44] Again, the fact that the inhabitants were Christians was heavily played up to create a sense of duty among Melbourne’s white population to assist. Jaboor continued to serve as a Syrian community leader throughout the war and beyond. In 1922, he presented a token of appreciation on behalf of the Syrians to a retiring Superintendent of the Victorian police.[45]

Syrian immigration after the war continued to be conditional on the basis of “whiteness”, religion and sufficient means of support.[46] The stipulation that only those who already had friends or relatives in Australia could apply to immigrate meant that many applications were accompanied by references from their Australian sponsors assuring that they were financially capable of providing for their newly arrived relatives.[47]

The most significant change that resulted from the war was the official recognition by the Australian government that Syrian Christians were distinct from the mainly Muslim inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire, and were loyal to Britain rather than the Turks.[48] Syrian Christians were eventually exempted from restrictions placed on “enemy aliens” and naturalisation applications after the war frequently included favourable reports about the contributions by the Syrian community to the war effort.[49] This distinction, while not awarding Syrians equal rights to that of Europeans, did finally accord them the favourable treatment separate from the “oriental races” which they had long demanded.[50]

 Large numbers of Christians from Mount Lebanon continued to settle in Australia, and Jaboor was involved in the cases of several applicants who had relatives in Victoria. Some cases involved people wishing to sponsor their relatives to come live with them in Australia. One such individual was James Batrouney, a grocer who wished to apply for a CEDT for his parents, George and Nezha Facoory who were then in New Zealand, to join his family in Carlton.[51] In his reference letter, Jaboor wrote about the parents’ “exemplary character” and emphasised their status as “British subjects by Naturalisation”.[52] He also reaffirmed that the family would provide for them comfortably and that “there is no possibility of their becoming a burden on the State”.[53] On the strength of this assurance, permission was granted for the Facoorys to settle in Melbourne.[54]

The fear that non-European immigrants would end up as burdens on the State was also a key factor in determining the outcome of their applications. In 1930, a Syrian named John Raphael was issued a deportation order after he was found to be suffering from tuberculosis.[55] This decision was made despite Raphael successfully obtaining permission to settle in Australia two years earlier.[56] Jaboor appealed on him behalf arguing that his health had “considerably improved”, and that his uncle was also willing to bear the expenses for his treatment at a sanatorium.[57] Nevertheless, the medical authorities determined that Raphael would take at least five years to fully recover, increasing the chances of him becoming a burden on the state, and he was deported two months later.[58]

Even in cases of bereavement, the primary consideration of the immigration authorities was whether the applicant was able to assimilate into white society, and had the appropriate means of financial support without any possibility of becoming the state’s burden. In 1928, Shafaka Khyat, the widow of prominent Syrian businessman George Khyat, petitioned the authorities to allow her younger sister to come live with her and help take care of her children.[59] Jaboor emphasised that Mrs Khyat was “prepared to guarantee her sister’s maintenance” in his accompanying letter.[60]

A subsequent report by the Investigation Branch included a copy of George’s will lodged with the Victorian Supreme Court and noted that Mrs Khyat “may be regarded as satisfactorily situated from a financial point of view”.[61] It also positively lauded the sister’s convent education, good English and the considerable education that Mrs Khyat’s children were receiving from mission schools.[62] Permission was duly granted for her to live in Australia.[63]

The fate of those Syrians who had left Australia years ago but wished to return was complicated further when they did not have the required CEDT or had left before federation in 1901.[64] They were required to prove prior domicile satisfactorily before they were permitted re-entry and few were successful.[65] The demand for extensive documentation before approvals were granted was common, and even then did not guarantee readmission into Australia.[66]

One successful case was that of John Torbey, who sought readmission into Australia in 1929.[67] He claimed to have been born in Warrnambool in 1904 and had lived there till 1907 when his family returned to Syria.[68] His grandmother, who had continued living in Carlton, decided to bring John over to Australia again after the death of his father and sent him a copy of his birth certificate to prove his citizenship.[69] However, as there were no records of the Torbey family leaving in 1907, John was only allowed into Australia on a hefty $100 bond while his claims were verified.[70]

He produced a large number of supporting documents: photographs of the family taken in Melbourne, a certificate from the “Head of Clergy” in Mt Lebanon identifying him as the owner of the birth certificate, a certificate from the Lebanese Minister of the Interior confirming his family ties, and an Emergency Certificate of British Nationality issued by the British Consul General in Beirut.[71] The authorities also obtained statements from his grandmother, uncle and two acquaintances of his father, including Jaboor.[72] Only upon the detailed examination and verification of all these documents was John released without bond and issued a passport.[73]

The final case that Jaboor assisted in was that of Mary Sedawie in 1930. She applied for a CEDT in order to visit a sick brother in the United States.[74] Having known her for nearly thirty years, Jaboor described her as “very industrious” for supporting her family after her husband’s death in 1910 “without outside help”.[75]

Her file is the only one among all of Jaboor’s cases that includes the full police investigation report that was part of most CEDT applications.[76] It contains the police interview with Sedawie as well as that of Jaboor himself.  The constable verified the photographs of Sedawie with her as well as with Jaboor.[77] He also included a note that Jaboor was personally known to him and vouched for his good reputation.[78] It is likely that similar checks were done with Jaboor for other cases in which he wrote appeals as well. A certificate was duly issued and Sedawie departed for the United States in May 1930.[79]

Jaboor does not appear in the National Archives records after 1930. Newspaper archives show that he continued to serve as a Syrian community leader for the rest of his life, notably in presenting donations on behalf of the Syrians for war relief and hospital fundraising efforts in 1941 and 1945.[80] Solomon Morad Jaboor passed away on 24 May 1946 at the age of 77, and is buried at Brighton General Cemetery beside his wife Margaret, who had died two years before him.[81]

The experiences that Jaboor had with the immigration bureaucracy throughout his life here in Australia shed insight into how the Syrian community grappled with its uncertain place in the immigration system’s racial hierarchy, and the extensive effort they had to put in to be allowed to live in Australia.  The Syrian community’s constant emphasis on their “white” and “Christian” attributes is perhaps an indicator of how they were most affected by the White Australia policy: The stripping away of their unique identity in favour of almost total assimilation into white society.

References


[1] Anne Monsour, “Religion Matters: The Experience of Syrian/Lebanese Christians in Australia from the 1880s to 1947,” Humanities Research 12 (2005): 93.

[2] Memorial for Letters of Naturalisation, 4 September 1894, Solomon Morad Jaboor-Naturalisation, A712 1894/Y6380, National Archives Australia.

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid

[7] Letter from Presbyterian Church of Parkville, 8 September 1894, Solomon Morad Jaboor-Naturalisation, A712 1894/Y6380, National Archives Australia.

[8] Memorial for Letters of Naturalisation, 4 September 1894, Solomon Morad Jaboor-Naturalisation, A712 1894/Y6380, National Archives Australia.

[9] Letter from AR Edgar from Central Methodist Mission, 10 November 1894, Solomon Morad Jaboor-Naturalisation, A712 1894/Y6380, National Archives Australia

[10] Ibid

[11] Letter from Presbyterian Church of Parkville, 8 November 1894, Solomon Morad Jaboor-Naturalisation, A712 1894/Y6380, National Archives Australia.

[12] Anne Monsour, “New century, old story! Race, religion bureaucrats and the Australian Lebanese story,” Palma Journal 11 (2009): 17.

[13] “Maffra Police Court,” The Maffra Spectator, 6 October 1898: 4, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/67408793.

[14] “Missing,” The Age, 4 November 1896:1, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/193453868.

[15] “Maffra Police Court”.

[16] Ibid

[17] Ibid

[18] Monsour, “Religion Matters,” 94.

[19] “Sales by Auction,” The Argus, 25 February 1905:3, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/9889268.

[20] “Breaches of the Factories Act,” The Argus, 8 July 1904:3, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10328525.

[21] “Immigration Restriction Act 1901,” National Archives Australia, accessed October 1, 2015, http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/a-z/immigration-restriction-act.aspx.

[22] Ibid

[23] Letter from SM Jaboor to Collector of Customs, 25 January 1928, Application for Certificate of Exemption from Dictation Test extension for Brahm Singh, B13 1920/12405, National Archives Australia.

[24] Ibid

[25] Letter from SM Jaboor to Collector of Customs, 30 September 1927, Application for Certificate of Exemption from Dictation Test extension for Nuttoo, B13 1924/26906, National Archives Australia.

[26] Ibid

[27] Letter from Collector of Customs to SM Jaboor, 8 October 1927, Application for Certificate of Exemption from Dictation Test extension for Nuttoo, B13 1924/26906, National Archives Australia.

[28] Letter from AR Swanton to Collector of Customs, 7 April 1903, Certificate of Exemption for Goolam Mahomed, B13 1912/19512, National Archives Australia.

[29] Ibid

[30] Ibid

[31] Letter from SM Jaboor to Collector of Customs, 8 November 1913, Certificate of Exemption for Goolam Mahomed, B13 1912/19512, National Archives Australia.

[32] Letter from Collector of Customs to SM Jaboor, 27 November 1913, Certificate of Exemption for Goolam Mahomed, B13 1912/19512, National Archives Australia.

[33] “Renewal of Hawkers’ Licenses: The Syrian – Indian Question,” The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 January 1896:3, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14033220.

[34] Ibid

[35] “The Ottoman Banquet,” The Advertiser, 28 November 1910:10, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5215147.

[36] “Syrian Banquet: An Enthusiastic Gathering,” The Advertiser, 30 August 1910: 8, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5233459.

[37] Anne Monsour, “Undesirable Alien to Good Citizen: Syrian/Lebanese in a White Australia,” Mashriq & Mahjar 3 (2015): 89.

[38] “Ottoman Party in Australia: Interview with the Sydney Consul,” The Advertiser, 24 November 1910: 11, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5213353.

[39] “Ottoman Association of South Australia,” Chronicle, 14 September 1912: 33, accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/88745984.

[40] “Turkey’s Chances,” The Register, 2 October 1911: 7, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/59212798.

[41] Ibid

[42] “Personal,” The Advertiser, 7 November 1914: 14, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/5427247.

[43] “Syrian Relief Fund,” Spectator and Methodist Chronicle, 17 September 1917: 13, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/154181911.

[44] Ibid

[45] “Items of Interest,” The Argus, 9 June 1922: 8, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4630729.

[46] Anne Monsour, “Undesirable Alien to Good Citizen,” 88.

[47] Ibid.

[48] Monsour, “New century, old story,” 23.

[49] Ibid

[50] Monsour, “New century, old story,” 16.

[51] Letter from SM Jaboor to Home & Territories Department, 26 November 1923, N. Facoory - Permission to come to Australia, B13 1924/16748, National Archives Australia.

[52] Ibid

[53] Ibid

[54] Letter from Secretary to SM Jaboor, 16 December 1923, N. Facoory - Permission to come to Australia, B13 1924/16748, National Archives Australia.

[55] Memorandum from Collector of Customs, 2 July 1930, John Raphael (Syrian) ex "Cephee" July 1928 - Deported per "Eridan" July 1930, B13 1930/6207, National Archives Australia.

[56] Ibid

[57] Ibid

[58] Ibid

[59] Letter from SM Jaboor to Home & Territories Depatment, 6 July 1928, SM Jaboor and Mrs Shafaka Khyat re estate of George Abraham Khyat, B741 V/5209, National Archives Australia.

[60] Ibid

[61] Transmission from Investigation Branch to Home & Territories Department, 20 August 1928, SM Jaboor and Mrs Shafaka Khyat re estate of George Abraham Khyat, B741 V/5209, National Archives Australia.

[62] Ibid

[63] Ibid

[64] Monsour, “New century, old story,” 15.

[65] Ibid

[66] Ibid

[67] Statement from John Torbay, 4 November 1929, Mrs Barbara Torbey and grandson John Torbey, B13 1929/19639, National Archives Australia.

[68] Ibid

[69] Ibid

[70] Letter from Boarding Inspector to Collector of Customs, 4 November 1929, Mrs Barbara Torbey and grandson John Torbey, B13 1929/19639, National Archives Australia.

[71] Letter from Collector of Customs to Home & Territories Department, 7 November 1929, Mrs Barbara Torbey and grandson John Torbey, B13 1929/19639, National Archives Australia.

[72] Ibid

[73] Letter from Collector of Customs to Barbaray Torbey, 22 December 1931, Mrs Barbara Torbey and grandson John Torbey, B13 1929/19639, National Archives Australia.

[74] Letter from SM Jaboor to Collector of Customs, 21 March 1930, Mrs Mary Sedawie (Syrian) - Application for Certificate of Exemption from Dictation Test, B13 1930/16979, National Archives Australia.

[75] Ibid

[76] Monsour, “Undesirable Alien to Good Citizen,” 88.

[77]Report from Investigation Branch to Collector of Customs, 29 March 1930, Mrs Mary Sedawie (Syrian) - Application for Certificate of Exemption from Dictation Test, B13 1930/16979, National Archives Australia.

[78] Ibid.

[79] Memorandum from Collector of Customs, 26 June 1930, Mrs Mary Sedawie (Syrian) - Application for Certificate of Exemption from Dictation Test, B13 1930/16979, National Archives Australia.

[80] “Large Sum Raised by Churches,” The Age, 29 October 1945: 4, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/205655978.

[81] “Deaths,” The Argus, 27 May 1946: 2, Accessed 1 October 2015, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/22252243.