 Aqil had been previously courted by European powers to secure protection for their Christian and Jewish protégés . During the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war , anti @-@ Christian animosity spread to Damascus where Christians were massacred by Druze and Muslim mobs . It appeared that the violence would spread to Acre as well , but Aqil issued direct orders to Acre 's Muslim residents not to bring harm to the city 's Christians , stating he would " chastise ... with his sword " anyone who violated the orders . Aqil also protected the Christian community of Nazareth from harm as their coreligionists elsewhere in Ottoman Syria faced massacres . Part of this protection included warnings to local Bedouin tribes to refrain from assaulting the town and warnings to its Christian and Muslim residents to prepare themselves militarily in case of attack . Aqil maintained a close friendship with <unk> <unk> , a prominent Greek Orthodox resident of the town . 
