Wikipedia

Syrian nationalism

Syrian nationalism,also known asPan-Syrian nationalism(or pan-Syrianism), refers to thenationalismof theregion of Syria,as a cultural or political entity known as "Greater Syria".

Flag of Syria

It should not be confused with theArab nationalism,which is the official state doctrine of theSyrian Arab Republic's rulingArab Socialist Ba'ath Party,and it should not be assumed that Syrian nationalism necessarily propagates the interests of modern-daySyriaorits government.Rather, it predates the existence of the modern Syrian state, which succeededFrench mandate rulein 1946. The term refers to the loosely definedLevantineregion of Syria, known in Arabic asash-Shām(Arabic:ٱلـشَّـام).[1]

SomeSyrian oppositionforces fighting against the current Arab Republic government are strong advocates of historical Syrian nationalism that harkens back to a "Golden Age", contesting theBa'athistnarratives of theAssad regime.TheFree Syrian Armyhas incorporated symbols of nationalist insignia into their flags and military uniforms during theSyrian civil war.[2]

History

edit

Origins

edit
Portrait ofSaladin

Syrian nationalism arose as a modern school of thought in the late 19th century, in conjunction with theNahdamovement, then sweeping theOttoman-ruledArab world.One of the towering historical figures in Syrian nationalism has been theAyyubidsultanSaladin,theSunnileader whore-captured Jerusalemand led Muslims to victory againstEuropean Crusaders.Following theBalfour declaration,Sykes-Picot dealand imposition of theFrench Mandate,Saladin was popularized by nationalists andIslamistsas a heroic figure of SyrianresistanceagainstZionismandWestern imperialism.[3][4][5]

Capitalizing on his status as apan-Arabicon, the rivalBa'athistregimes in Syria and Iraq both incorporated Saladin into their official propaganda. State propaganda comparedHafez al-Assadto Saladin in official portraits, statues, literature, etc. as part of the wider promotion of the pervasivepersonality cultofAssadism.After his father's death,Bashar al-Assadinherited the personality cult and intensified it with technocratic themes. In contemporary Syria, Saladin is portrayed as a national hero in mass media, Arab TV shows, educational curricula, popular culture, and conservative Muslim circles.[6][7]

Butrus al-Bustani,aMount Lebanon-born convert from theMaronite ChurchtoProtestantism,started one of the region's first nationalist newspapers,Nafir SuriainBeirutin the aftermath of theMount Lebanon civil war of 1860and the massacre of Christians inDamascusin the same year.[8]Bustani, who was deeply opposed to all forms of sectarianism, saidḤubb al-Waṭan min al-Īmān( "Love of the homeland is a matter of faith" ). As early as 1870, when discerning the notion of fatherland from that of the nation and applying the latter toGreater Syria,Francis Marrashwould point to the role played by language, among other factors, in counterbalancing religious and sectarian differences, and thus, in defining national identity.[9]

Islamic cleric Muhammad Rashid Rida

One of the major figures in the pan-Arab trend was the SyrianIslamistclericMuhammad Rashid Rida,who played a key role in the formation of Arab societies and campaigned for the autonomy of ArabvilayetslikeSyriafrom theOttoman Empire.Through his seminalpan-IslamistjournalAl-Manar,Rida wrote on a wide range of issues, with topics covering religion, politics, science, technology, and culture. A strong proponent of Arab unity; Rida criticized the autocratic rule of theOttoman dynastsand the domination ofTurkish nationalistCUPin imperial politics. He was also a vehement opponent ofEuropean colonial powersand urged theArab peopleto launch revolutionary action to resist Europe's imperialist plots.During World War I,Rida issued afatwaurging Syrians to support the Ottoman empire againstAllied colonial powersand simultaneously oppose groups linked to theYoung Turks.At the same time, he had established a secret society known as the "Society of the Arab Association" (Jam'iyyat al-Jami'a al-Arabiyya), which was clandestinely making efforts for the establishment of an Islamic Empire spanning theArabian Peninsula,Greater Syria andIraq;with its government being headquartered in Damascus. The empire was to be headed by an ArabCaliph,and the Caliph was to appoint a president for every five-year term, from a list of candidates suggested to him by the Council of Representatives.[10]

Revolutionary activistAbd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi

What is a nation or a people? Is it a heap of creatures... slaves of a king? Or is it a community connected by ties of race, language, fatherland, and common rights?!.. A nation that does not feel, in its entirety or its majority, the tortures of tyranny is not worthy of freedom

Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi,— InTaba’i al-lstibdad( "The Nature of Tyranny" )[11]

Rashid Rida's comradeAbd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi(1854-1902), a Syrian ofKurdishorigin born in Aleppo, was another major Muslim figure who championed Arab unity. Al-Kawakibi believed that Arabs are the best people to leadIslamic revival,and promoted the re-kindling of Arab consciousness as a means to empower theMuslim World.Through his books likeTaba'i al-lstibdad(The Nature of Tyranny) andUmm al-Qura(The Mother of Villages—Mecca), Kawakibi defied the Ottoman sultan and promoted Islamic revolution to overthrow various political tyrannies. Kawakibi believed that pristine Islam opposed tyranny and advocated a political system that was a middle road between democracy and dictatorship. He argued that tyranny leads to the weakening of the national spirit and the degradation of national culture. Kawakibi's second major work,Umm al-Qura,was about an Islamic congress of representatives from all across the Muslim world, who held debates to discuss Islamic socio-political revival. Rashid Rida popularised the work throughAl-Manarin 1902.[12]

The formation of the Syrian state

edit
Syrian PresidentShukri al-Quwatliannouncing declaration of independence from theFrench colonial rule,17 April 1946. French military withdrawal was completed two days earlier
Flag of theFirstandSecond Syrian Republics,which has been adopted by theSyrian oppositionas the national flag[13]

As in many other countries of the region, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the land now known as Syria was left without a common identity to bond the different ethnicities together. Already during the period of theTanzimat,thinkers like Butrus al-Bustani, belonging to the Nahda movement, were claiming the existence of a natural Syrian nation, or Great Syria, also known as the region of the Levant.

Nonetheless, after World War I, the area was subject to the division into spheres of influence operated by the British and the French with theSykes-Picot agreement.After a brief attempt in 1919 to establish an independentArab Kingdom of SyriaunderKing Faisal,in 1920 the territory was split into three separate regions under the control of France.[14]

After years of conflict and revolts, in 1936 Syria managed to negotiate a treaty of independence from France and became a nation withHashim al-Atassias its first president.[15]In the following years, Syria passed from being still under the influence of France to being controlled byVichy Francein 1940 during World War II, to becoming again occupied by British andFree Frenchforces with the 1941Syria–Lebanon campaign.After 1941, thePrime Minister of IraqNuri Pasha al-Saidexpressed his support for a Greater Syrian country that includesIraq,Syria,Lebanon,PalestineandJordan.[16]

After a five-year-long struggle, and with the end of the war, on 17 April 1946, Syria became a recognized independent state. However, theIsraeli–Palestinian conflictof 1948, and the rise of pan-Arabist nationalist movements, led to multiple coups d'état, the most famous that of 1949 byHusni al-Za'im.It was during this revolutionary period that theBa'ath Socialist Partyemerged for the first time.[15][17]The party, founded in 1947, promoted pan-Arabist and anti-imperialist ideas. It quickly gained popularity, becoming the second biggest party in theSyrian parliamentin the 1954 elections.[18][17]The Ba'ath party played a major role in offering the Syrian community a new imagined identity that could even connect them to other countries in the Arab world under existent traditions.[18]

Ideology

edit

Syrian nationalism

edit

Syrian nationalism posited a common Syrian history andnationality,grouping all the different religious sects and variations in the area, as well as the region'smixture of different peoples.However, Greater Syria does not have a history as a state, and its inhabitants do not identify as members of a Greater Syrian nation.[19]The idea of a Greater Syria is not inherently political; it bases itself on culture, seeing that people from the region share many traditions.[19]Pan-Syrian nationalism can be distinguished in two forms: a pragmatic and a pure form. The pragmatic form accepts pan-Arabism and sees the building of Greater Syria as a step forward to building an Arab nation. The pure form completely rejects the idea of an Arab nation, stating that Greater Syria is a complete nation on its own.[18]

Syrian nationalism is a generally secular movement, believing that a Syrian can have any religion indigenous to the area:SunniorShiaMuslim,ChristianorJewish.This has attracted many Christians to it (as well as to the equally non-religious Arab nationalism), since the Christian churches form a religious minority in theMiddle East,and often fear being dwarfed by Muslim majority populations. Syria's geography as a crossroads also explains the diversity of the area of Syria.[19]

Seated from left to right:Shukri al-Quwatli(future president),Saadallah al-Jabiri(future prime minister),Rida al-Shurbaji(co-founder of the National Bloc), SheikhSaleh al-Ali,commander of theSyrian Coastal Revolt of 1919.Standing are HajjAdib Kheir(left) andIbrahim Hananu,commander of theAleppo Revolt

Syrian nationalism often advocates a "Greater Syria", based on ancient concepts of the boundaries of the region then known as "Syria" (stretching from southernTurkeythrough Lebanon, Palestine into Jordan), but also includingCyprus,Iraq,Kuwait,theAhvazregion ofIran,theSinai Peninsula,and theCiliciaregion of Turkey.[20][21]

Historically, it is mostly after the end of the First World War that the pan-Syrian nationalism became very political with the creation of many political parties from the Syrian diaspora. Amongst these organizations were: the Syrian Union Party and the Syrian Moderates Party (both originating in Cairo); the National Democratic Party (Buenos Aires); the New Syria Party and the Syrian National Society (both in the United States). The National Democratic Party, the Syrian Moderates Party, the New Syria Party, and the Syrian National Society advocated a unified, federated and independent state of Greater Syria, with the United States as a guarantor of its independence. However, this nationalism did not last for long as these parties sympathized with Lebanese and Arab nationalisms. The only party that did not wane was the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, later founded.[22]

Role of language

edit

As the pan-Syrian ideology is based on a shared geographical culture, it is open to different opinions about the state of languages. The pan-Arabism seemed to exclude minorities as they would not necessarily speak Arabic, the pan-Syrian ideology gained followers.[19]While al-Bustani considered Standard Arabic an essential part of this identity, Saadeh considered Arabic to be one of the many languages of the Syrian people and instead believed that if a national language has to be used for shared communication and written culture, without losing everyone's other language, it has to be 'Syrianised' Arabic.[16]

Pan-Syrianism

edit

Apart from the conventionalpan-ArabismandArab nationalismadvocated by most Syrian nationalists, a minority of Syrian nationalists also articulated independent pan-Syrianism. Although pan-Syrian trends may include the idea that the nation is a part of theArab world,it also claims Syria as the leader of the Arab people, opposing therefore pan-Arabist movements that would position all Arabs on the same level. The movement culminated in the creation of a party, theSyrian Social Nationalist Party(SSNP) founded in 1932 byAntoun Saadeh.[23]

Antoun Saadeh,the founder of SSNP

Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP)

edit

A modern-day political movement that advocates the Greater Syria's borders with a pure form of pan-Syrian nationalism is theSyrian Social Nationalist Party(SSNP), founded in 1932 byAntoun Saadeh.[18]Saadeh, a strong proponent of theirredentistnotion ofGreater Syria,was an admirer ofAdolf Hitlerand incorporatedNazisymbolism into his party insignia.[24]

The SSNP considers the reason for its loss of territory to the "foreign"Israelisthat many Syrians embraced pan-Arab views which led to the dominance ofEgyptandSaudi Arabiaover the conflict, where they did not care about sacrificing what Syrians had for their agenda and personal benefits instead of limiting other non-Syrian Arabs to supporting Syrians' decisions. According to Antoun, this happened when the Syrians had a weak ideology that did not unite them.[25][26]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^Kamal S. Salibi(2003).A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered.I.B.Tauris. pp. 61–62.ISBN978-1-86064-912-7.To theArabs,this same territory, which theRomansconsideredArabian,formed part of what they called Bilad al-Sham, which was their name for Syria. From the classical perspective Syria, including Palestine, formed no more than the western fringes of what was reckoned to be Arabia between the first line of cities and the coast. Since there is no clear dividing line between what is called today theSyrianandArabian deserts,which form one stretch of arid tableland, the classical concept of what constituted Syria had more to its credit geographically than the vaguer Arab concept of Syria as Bilad al-Sham. Under the Romans, there was aprovince of Syria,with its capital atAntioch,which carried the name of the territory. Otherwise, down the centuries, Syria like Arabia andMesopotamia,was no more than a geographic expression. InIslamictimes, the Arab geographers used the name Arabicized as Suriyah, to denote one special region ofBilad al-Sham,which was the middle section of the valley of theOrontes river,in the vicinity of the towns ofHomsandHama.They also noted that it was an old name for the whole of Bilad al-Sham which had gone out of use. As a geographic expression, however, thenameSyriasurvived in its original classical sense inByzantineandWestern Europeanusage, and also in theSyriac literatureof some of theEastern Christian Churches,from which it occasionally found its way intoChristian Arabicusage. It was only in the nineteenth century that the use of the name was revived in its modern Arabic form, frequently as Suriyya rather than the older Suriyah, to denote the whole of Bilad al-Sham: first of all in the Christian Arabic literature of the period, and under the influence of Western Europe. By the end of that century, it had already replaced the name of Bilad al-Sham even inMuslimArabic usage.
  2. ^J. Gilbert, Victoria (2013).Syria for the Syrians: The Rise of Syrian Nationalism, 1970-2013(PDF).Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Northeastern University. pp. 54–64, 67–81. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 8 April 2023.
  3. ^Gruber, Haugbolle, Christiane, Sune; Heidemann, Stefan (2013). "3: Memory and Ideology: Images of Saladin in Syria and Iraq".Visual Culture in the Modern Middle East: Rhetoric of the Image.Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA: Indiana University Press. pp. 57–75.ISBN978-0-253-00884-8.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^Sayfo, Omar (15 February 2017)."From Kurdish Sultan to Pan-Arab Champion and Muslim Hero: The Evolution of the Saladin Myth in Popular Arab Culture".The Journal of Popular Culture.50(1): 65–83.doi:10.1111/jpcu.12503– via Wiley Online Library.
  5. ^"Why does Saladin have such an enduring reputation?".9 August 2021. Archived fromthe originalon 25 June 2022.
  6. ^Gruber, Haugbolle, Christiane, Sune; Heidemann, Stefan (2013). "3: Memory and Ideology: Images of Saladin in Syria and Iraq".Visual Culture in the Modern Middle East: Rhetoric of the Image.Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA: Indiana University Press. pp. 57–75.ISBN978-0-253-00884-8.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^Sayfo, Omar (15 February 2017)."From Kurdish Sultan to Pan-Arab Champion and Muslim Hero: The Evolution of the Saladin Myth in Popular Arab Culture".The Journal of Popular Culture.50(1): 65–83.doi:10.1111/jpcu.12503– via Wiley Online Library.
  8. ^Tauber, Eliezer (1 February 2013).The Emergence of the Arab Movements.Routledge.ISBN978-1-136-29301-6.
  9. ^Suleiman, p. 114.
  10. ^Tauber, Eliezer (1993).The Emergence of the Arab Movements.London E11 1RS, England: Frank Cass. pp. 51–53, 101–117, 251–253, 271–272.ISBN0-7146-3440-9.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. ^Tauber, Eliezer (1993). "5: 'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi".The Emergence of the Arab Movements.London E11 1RS, England: Frank Cass. pp. 27–28.ISBN0-7146-3440-9.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. ^Tauber, Eliezer (1993).The Emergence of the Arab Movements.London E11 1RS, England: Frank Cass. pp. 25–32, 246, 247.ISBN0-7146-3440-9.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link)
  13. ^J. Gilbert, Victoria (2013).Syria for the Syrians: The Rise of Syrian Nationalism, 1970-2013(PDF).Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Northeastern University. pp. 54–57. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 8 April 2023.
  14. ^N., Stearns, Peter.The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern world.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-534112-6.OCLC174538685.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ab"Syria: World War II and independence".Britannica Online Encyclopedia.8 September 2023.
  16. ^abEncyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics.Brill. p. 348, vol. 3.ISBN9004144730.
  17. ^abAvraham, Ben-Tzur (1968).The Syrian Baath Party and Israel; documents from the internal party publications.Center for Arab and Afro-Asian Studies [distributed by Sifriat Poalim, Tel-Aviv].OCLC117544.Compiled by A. Ben-Tzur.
  18. ^abcdPipes, Daniel (Aug 1988). "Radical Politics and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party".International Journal of Middle East Studies.20(3): 303–324.doi:10.1017/S0020743800053642.S2CID162323583.
  19. ^abcdPipes, Daniel (1989).Greater Syria - the History of an Ambition.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195060225.
  20. ^Sa'adeh, Antoun(2004).The Genesis of Nations.Beirut.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Translated and Reprinted
  21. ^Ya'ari, Ehud (June 1987)."Behind the Terror".The Atlantic.
  22. ^Yonker, Carl (2021). "Imagining Syria: Syrian Nationalism, Greater Syria, and the SSNP".The Rise and Fall of Greater Syria.De Gruyter.
  23. ^Yonker, Carl C. (19 April 2021).The Rise and Fall of Greater Syria: A Political History of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.ISBN978-3-11-072909-2.OCLC1248759109.
  24. ^M. Morone, Záhořík, Antonio, Jan; Akos Ferwagner, Peter (2022). "2: Antoun Saadeh and the Concept of the Syrian Nation".Histories of Nationalism Beyond Europe: Myths, Elitism and Transnational Connections.Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 42, 43.ISBN978-3-030-92675-5.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^Hussein, Hashim."Oh you deceived people by the fake pan-Arabism! We Syrians are one complete nation".ssnp.info.Retrieved9 January2019.
  26. ^Saadeh, Antoun."Arabism has failed".ssnphoms.Retrieved9 January2019.
  • Suleiman, Yasir (2003).The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology.Edinburgh University Press.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syrian_nationalism&oldid=1258441796"