PREFACE
Sectarian, regional and tribal loyalties' have undeniably played a role in the political and socio-economic history of Syria in the twentieth century, but opinions vary strongly as to how significant that role has been. Many Western and non-Syrian authors are inclined to attach great consequence to it, being of the opinion that these factors continue to be important even since the country became independent.
Many socialist-oriented Arab nationalist writers and Syrian politicians, on the other hand, completely reject this view and publicly take a contrary stand, particularly if it concerns a regime which has their support. Nevertheless, these same writers and politicians sometimes attach great importance to sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism when the issue at stake is the activities of opposing or deposed regimes or of political opponents within their own regimes.
All these factors can naturally be over- or underestimated according to the stand that is taken. The truth lies somewhere in between and can only be revealed by critically testing the factual material on as broad a basis as possible.
Our aim is to investigate the extent to which and the manner in which particularise loyalties and commitments such as sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism have played a role in the struggle for political power in Syria. Attention will be focused mainly on developments within the military and civilian political power elite in the period since the break-up of the United Arab Republic in September 1961, In so doing, we shall attempt to answer the question of how important were sectarian, regional and tribal criteria in the formation of power factions within the Syrian armed forces and the party organisation of the Ba'th, which took over power in 1963. Above all, we shall investigate which factors and developments have encouraged the strong rise of religious minorities, in particular of Alawis, Druzes, Isma'ilis and Greek Orthodox Christians, in Syrian political life since 1963.
None of the works on Syria published so far has dealt so extensively with these matters. The studies by Be'eri, Bicgel, Ma'oz, Van Dusen and others, all of which are listed in the bibliography, tend to stress one or other of the factors, neglecting the rest or leaving them out of consideration. Devlin, Petran, Rabinovich, Seale (1965), Torrey and others treat certain phases of Syria’s politico-historical developments in detail, but give only brief or oblique attention to sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism, if only because the role of these factors was not chosen as the central thesis of their studies.
Sources used
For many reasons it is difficult to obtain reliable material dealing with the subject of this study. In the first place, most available sources appear to be extremely partial and biased and are often of a propagandist nature. More important, perhaps, is the fact that in Syria and other parts of the Arab world a kind of taboo obtains on overtly speaking and writing about sectarian, regional and tribal contradistinctions.2 Such a taboo is practised particularly in Arab nationalist circles and is even stronger in the case of sectarianism than of either regionalism or tribalism. Political sensitivity prevents politicians from expressing themselves easily on a subject such as sectarianism, either orally or in writing, particularly if they have political aspirations for the future, in which case they have to allow for eventual repercussions should they express themselves openly about Syrian internal affairs that are usually considered to be ‘confidential’.
Moreover, the Ba'thist organisation which has held power in Syria since 1963 is of a secretive character, while Syria has been in a situation of (semi) war at varying intervals since 1948. It is only natural, therefore, that foreign researchers into contemporary political and social developments often meet with distrust as to their real purpose.
Documentation dealing with sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism in Syria has been drawn mainly from three categories of primary sources: internal Ba'th party documents; biographies, memoirs and polemical writings; the Arabic press and radio broadcasts. The information obtained from these sources has been supplemented by interviews.
Ba'th party documents
Many of the Ba'th party documents used in this study have not yet been published. They have been issued by both the civilian and the military sectors of the party apparatus and consist mainly of internal party bulletins, circulars, brochures, minutes of party meetings, and other documents issued by the party’s Syrian Regional Command, the National (i.e. pan-Arab) Command and their subordinate bureaus and sub-sections.
Many internal party documents which were previously classified as ‘secret’ have been published by Dar al-Tali'ah in Beirut in a series called Nidal (Hizb) al-Ba'th (‘The Struggle of the Ba'th Party’). This consists of eleven volumes in which the period up to 23 February 1966 is dealt with quite extensively. The Ba'th officially propagates an ideology that aims at realising the ideal of a united Arab society with a socialist system. Obviously, therefore, it is reluctant to admit that factors such as sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism, all considered as a negative residue of traditional society which hinders the awakening of a national and socio-economic awareness, have played any role in the struggle for power within the party’s ranks. Most of the material about these factors has therefore been drawn from hitherto unpublished party documents which, in many cases, were classified as secret at the time or were intended for restricted use within the party apparatus.
Biographies, memoirs and polemical writings
Biographies and memoirs of Syrian and other Arab politicians offer details and indications that are indispensable if we are to obtain a reasonably complete impression of the role of sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism in the struggle for political power in Syria. Almost all (auto) biographies or memoirs used in this study, including those of Munif al-Razzaz, Sami al-Jundi, Muhammad 'Umran, Mustafa Talas, 'Abd al-Karim Zahr al-Din, Shihli al-'Aysami and others, all mentioned in the bibliography, offer a partial vision or interpretation of events and circumstances which were experienced and lived through by the respective authors. This aspect sometimes gives their writings a polemical character. Even more polemical are the works of Muta' Safadi, Khalil Mustafa, Fu'ad al-Atrash, of members of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and others which are listed in the bibliography and are indicated in the notes to the text. Such authors constitute, as it were, exponents of opinions and ideas prevailing among particular Syrian population groups and are for that reason incorporated in this study.
It should be noted here that the available number of published memoirs concerning the period of Ba’thist rule since 1963 has been extremely limited as a result of political circumstances. Many key Syrian personalities who were directly involved in the developments described have not been able, or willing, to publish their personal interpretation of events, for instance because they were imprisoned, threatened or even assassinated (as in the case of General Muhammad 'Umran, who therefore did not have the opportunity to publish the second volume of his memoirs as he had originally announced). Others, for reasons of their own, simply did not have any inclination to write down their experiences. The result of all this has been that the group of those writing about Syria under the Ba'th has been restricted mainly to those few critical opponents who took the risk and had the courage to publish their accounts after being deposed themselves (like Munif al-Razzaz and Sami al-Jundi), or others who (like Khalil Mustafa) were subsequently imprisoned for long periods because of their publications; or those who were in power, and (as for instance Minister of Defence Mustafa Talas) occupied a position from which they could relatively easily publish accounts favourable to the regime.
The Arabic press anti radio broadcasts
The Syrian government-controlled press and radio rarely offer any insight into the role which sectarian, regional and tribal loyalties and commitments play in Syrian political life, be it behind the scenes or in public. In the exceptional cases in which Syrian mass media have offered any information at all, it was usually in reaction to, or in denial of, reports which had appeared in the foreign press or foreign broadcasts.
Non-Syrian, and more particularly the Lebanese, mass media have much more to offer in this respect. The Lebanese press has served more than once as a kind of safety valve for various political factions or regimes in ventilating criticism and propaganda against political opponents and rivals. In the years following the takeover of power by the Ba'th in Syria in 1963, various Ba'thist party factions lost, for different reasons, the chance of unimpeded expression of their political views via local mass media. They therefore sometimes resorted to establishing dailies and periodicals of their own in Beirut, such as al-Ahrar and al-Rayah, or, if they thought such action would be advantageous to their own position, they deliberately leaked confidential or secret information concerning the party or the regime to existing Lebanese dailies such as al-Hayat, al-Nahar, al-Jaridah, al-Muharrir and al-Anwar.3 In the period after Syria’s intervention in Lebanon in 1976, Syrian influence was extended to such an extent that the Lebanese media gradually lost their former freedom to report about developments in Syria itself. Consequently the Lebanese press in this respect lost its role as an important source of information.
The tracing of material in the Arabic press and radio broadcasts which would be relevant to this study was facilitated through publications such as The Arab World, al-Watha'iq al-'Arabiyah, Arab Report and Record, Middle East Record, and The Daily Report, Middle East (A North Africa of the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (Springfield, Virginia).
Interviews
Through interviews with a number of Syrian, Jordanian, Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese Arab politicians, who were directly or indirectly involved in the political developments and events described in this study, it was possible to add new data and insights to the material distilled from the above-mentioned primary sources. It goes without saying that these people do not all wish to be mentioned here, but they included the following (cx-)politicians: 'Abd Allah al-Ahmad, Colonel Jasim 'Alwan, Dr Jamal al-Atasi, Shibli al-'Aysami, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, Dr Elias Farah, Lieutenant-General Amin al-Hafiz, George Saddiqni (Syria); Dr Munif al-Razzaz, Dr Fawwaz Suyyagh (Jordan); Tariq 'Aziz, Zuhayr Bayraqdar (Iraq); Malik al-Amin, Dr Bashir al-Da'uq, Eng. Nicola Firzili, Basharah Marhij, Munah al-Sulh (Lebanon), none of whom bears any responsibility whatsoever for the interpretations laid down here.
Note on transliteration
The system used in this study for transliterating Arabic words is based upon that of the International Tournai of Middle East Studies. Diacritical marks arc omitted for the sake of convenience; at the beginning of Arabic words, the 'ayn is maintained. The transliteration system used will be lucid to those who know Arabic and less relevant to those who have no mastery of that language.
Acknowledgements
The present study is a revised and updated version of a doctoral dissertation, originally presented to the University of Amsterdam in March 1977, entitled De Rol van Sektarisme, Régionalisme en Tribalisme bij de Strijd orn de Politieke Macht in Syrie (1961-1976) (‘The Role of Sectarianism, Regionalism and Tribalism in the Struggle for Political Power in Syria 1961-1976’). I am indebted to Professor Dr S. Wild (University of Bonn), who supervised the preparation of the manuscript in its original form as a dissertation. I am grateful to Professor Dr J. Brugman (University of Leyden) for his valuable comment and criticism of the initial English version and to Mr and Mrs P. C. Harnmeijer and Mrs J. Sanders for improving the English style. My deepest gratitude goes to all those in the Middle East who helped me in collecting the data and material necessary for writing this book.
Chapter 6 and Tables 1-7 were earlier published in a different form as part of my article ‘Sectarian and Regional Factionalism in the Syrian Political Elite’, which appeared in The Middle East Journal (Vol. 32, No. 2, Spring 1978, pp. 201-10). I am obliged to the Middle East Institute, Washington, DC, which kindly allowed republication.
Finally, I am indebted to the Netherlands Organisation for the Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO) and the Oosters Instituut (Leyden), which financially supported this study.
Preface to the Third Edition
Since the demand for my book still persists after a period of more than sixteen years since its first publication in 1979, I found it appropriate to republish it in fully revised and updated form. The first edition has been substantially enlarged with four new chapters (7, 8, 9 and 10), as well as with several statistical tables, thereby covering the period of Syria under Ba'thist rule till 1996. Wherever necessary, the texts of the two earlier editions (1979 and 1980) have been changed and updated.
Since the publication of the first two editions, various studies have appeared which - mostly within the framework of a different context - give attention to the role of sectarianism, regionalism and tribalism, as well as to socio-economic and other factors. These have been taken into account, and include the works of Hanna Batatu, Alain Chouet, Alasdair Drvsdale, Raymond Hinnebusch, Eberhard Kienle, Hans Günther Lobmeyer, Elisabeth Longuenesse, Volker Perthes, Elizabeth Picard, Patrick Seale and others, all mentioned in the bibliography.
Of those who contributed to the third edition, I wish to thank in particular my colleagues Ferdinand Smit, Gerben Meihuizen and Alan Goulty for their valuable comments and criticism when I was writing the three final chapters; and Marcel Kurpershoek, for his valuable criticism of an earlier version of Chapter 7. I am grateful to Emma Sinclair-Webb, my editor at I.B.Tauris, for her valuable advice.
Although Sectarianism, Regionalism and Tribalism in Politics is still the central theme of this study, the original subtitle by that name has been altered to Politics and Society under Asad and the Ba'th Party, so as to reflect the somewhat wider framework of this newest edition. It is also to underline that the main period covered by this edition is that of the regime of President Hafiz al-Asad, who has now been in power for more than a quarter of a century, longer than any of his predecessors in modern Syria and indeed longer than any of his Damascus-based Arab predecessors as ruler of Syria since Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, the famous founder, in 661, of the Syrian-based Umayyad dynasty of caliphs.
Cairo, r January 1996
Introduction
Despite a great measure of cultural uniformity, Syria’s present population is characterised by strong religious and ethnic diversity.1 Subdivision of the population as to language or religion shows that 82.5 per cent are Arabic-speaking and 68.7 per cent are Sunni Muslims. In language and religion, the Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims constitute a numerical majority of 57.4 per cent of the whole population. The remaining groups can be classified as ethnic and/or religious minorities.
The major religions minorities in Syria are the Alawis (11.5 per cent), Druzes (3.0 per cent), Isma'ilis (1.5 per cent) and the Greek Orthodox Christians (4.7 per cent), who constitute the most important community of all Christians in St ria (14.1 per cent).
The principal ethnic minorities are the Kurds (8.5 per cent), Armenians (4.0 per cent), Turcomans (3.0 per cent) and Circassians. Whereas the Kurds, Turcomans and Circassians are almost exclusively Sunni Muslims, and in that respect belong to a majority of the population, the Armenians are Christians and thus represent both an ethnic and religious minority. Of the religious minorities mentioned above, the Alawis, Druzes, Isma'ilis and Greek Orthodox Christians arc almost exclusively Arabic-speaking.
Various factors have contributed to the existence of so many religious and ethnic groups in the area which today is called Syria, and to their survival:2
1. The three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all have their origins in the wider region of which Syria is part. The formation of sects and different schools within these religions led to a great diversity of faiths.
2. The Fertile Crescent, of which Syria is part, has in the past regularly been exposed to conquest by various population groups, such as the Arabs, Kurds, Mongols and Turks, and has always been a centre of tribal and individual movement.
3. At times the Middle East has been a place of refuge for people ...
Nikolaos Van Dam
The Struggle for Power in Syria
I.B.Tauris
I.B.Tauris Publishers
The Struggle for Power in Syria
Politics and Society under
Asad and the Ba'th Party
Nikolaos Van Dam
To the memory of my mother and father;
to Marinka;
to Nikolaos, Jan, Emma and Karel
I.B.Tauris Publishers
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Published in 1996 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 45
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Cover photo: street painting of Hafiz al-Asad, his late son, Basil (right) and his second son
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