Did the French General Henri Gouraud kick and insult Saladins grave in 1920 after putting down an anti-colonial uprising?

Question

I was told of an incident where a French general in 1920 after having put down an anti-colonial uprising, supposedly went on to insult the grave of Saladin. I attempted to find a source for that belief but the nearest I come is an article that doesn't state sources which has the following claim:

Similarly, it has not forgotten either the content or the tone of the statements made by French General Henri Gouraud when he entered Damascus in July 1920. Striding to Saladin's tomb next to the Grand Mosque, Gouraud kicked it and exclaimed, "Awake Saladin, we have returned. My presence here consecrates the victory of the Cross over the Crescent."

Are there any reliable sources for this claim, or do we have some idea where it's originating from?

Answer 1

Probably not.

Dr Jonathan Landis, Director of the Center of Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, searched for the source of the story and provides a well-reasoned analysis of the evidence in a 2016 blog article:

A reporter, Maria Rosette Shapira, who was attached to the French force, covered both events for the French weekly, L’Illustration. Shapira, who wrote under the pseudonym Myriam Harry, described the battle of Maysaloun and, briefly, Goybet’s arrival in Damascus in an article published on 21 August. It is her follow-up piece, which was printed on 11 September, that is of interest, because it hints that Goybet may have said something that caused offence.

[...]

Unless a definitive eye-witness emerges, Harry’s reportage suggests that it was Goybet, rather than Gouraud, who is more likely to have made the notorious remark.