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144-816: The Movement was formed in 1940 as the Arab Ihya Movement by Syrian expatriate Michel Aflaq. Shortly after being founded, the Movement became involved in anti-colonial Arab nationalist militant activities, including Aflaq founding the Syrian Committee to Help Iraq that was created in 1941 to support the anti-British and pro- Axis government of Iraq against the British during the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941. The Syrian Committee sent weapons and volunteers to fight alongside Iraqi forces against

288-535: A landowner , was a corrupt and capitalistic politician, who was to blame for the Syrian army's defeat. Aflaq called for al-Quwatli's resignation, and wrote several al-Ba'ath articles criticising his presidency and his prime minister, Jamil Mardam Bey . Aflaq was later arrested on the orders of al-Quwatli's prime minister Bey. Al-Quwali's government was brought down in a coup d'état led by military officer Husni al-Za'im . Al-Za'im banned all parties, claiming that Syria

432-503: A "shallow, false faith." According to Ba'athist ideology, all religions were equal. Despite his anti-atheist stance, Aflaq was a strong supporter of secular government, and stated that a Ba'athist state would replace religion with a state "based on a foundation – Arab nationalism, and a moral – freedom." Fouad Ajami criticised Aflaq for a lack of real substance, stating, "Nearly three hundred pages of text yield no insight, on his part, into what went wrong and what needed to be done; there

576-638: A "thief" and later sentenced him to "death via absentia " in 1971. The Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party rejects this, and does not believe that al-Arsuzi contributed to Ba'athist thought. Born on 9 January 1910 in Damascus to a middle class Orthodox Christian family, his father, Joseph, worked as a grain merchant . Aflaq was first educated in the Westernized schools of the French Mandate of Syria . In 1929, he left Syria to study philosophy abroad at

720-519: A base of operation against Shishali's rule – Aflaq and the rest cooperated with non-Ba'athist opposition forces too. Shishakli was toppled in February 1954. Following the overthrow of al-Shishakli, Syria held its first democratic elections in five years. The Ba'ath Party, led by Aflaq, al-Bitar and al-Hawrani, had 22 members elected to parliament. This increase in influence can largely be attributed to al-Hawrani – several old ASP strongholds voted for

864-693: A communist activist, but broke his ties with the communist movement when the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party supported colonial policies through the Popular Front under the French Mandate of Syria . Later in 1940 Aflaq and al-Bitar established the Arab Ihya Movement (later renaming itself the Arab Ba'ath Movement , taking the name from Zaki al-Arsuzi 's group by the same name ). The movement proved successful, and in 1947

1008-477: A deep distrust of others and became, according to some of his associates, paranoid . When the two Ba'ath movements merged and established the Arab Ba'ath Party in 1947, the only subject discussed was how much socialism to include; Wahib al-Ghanim and Jalal al-Sayyid from the al-Arsuzi led Ba'ath movement wanted Aflaq and al-Bitar to adopt more radical socialist policies. The Arab Ba'ath Party's first congress

1152-606: A first name. According to the German orientalists Martin Robbe and Gerhard Höpp, the conversion happened before 1988. Regardless of the disagreements about his religion, he was given an Islamic funeral. According to the Berkley Center, anonymous members of Aflaq's family claimed that Aflaq's conversion was a lie made up by Saddam Hussein which he used as a tool to distance Ba'athism from Christianity . The tomb constructed on

1296-601: A great neo-Mesopotamian Iraqi nation by having himself compared to Nebuchadnezzar II and Hammurabi . In June 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) banned the Ba'ath party. The additional step the CPA took—banning all members of the top four tiers of the Ba'ath Party from the new government, public schools and colleges—was criticized for blocking too many experienced people from participation in

1440-736: A member, but no figures from the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath Party were given a seat on the committee. Tahsein al-Atrash, leader of the Ba'ath branch at the time, was shot dead in November 1981. The party was a member of the Lebanese National Movement , a political organisation led by Walid Jumblatt of the Progressive Socialist Party . Throughout its existence, it has controlled the Palestinian Arab Liberation Front . Following

1584-435: A mixture of radical Hobbesian and Marxist ideas, Michel Aflaq viewed religion as the " opiate of the masses ", which subverted efforts for the advancement of a socialist revolution . In 1956, Aflaq asserted that religion was a tool used by the elites of the traditional social order to maintain a corrupt system which facilitated the oppression and exploitation of the weaker classes of the society. He also claimed that religion

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1728-691: A month". The Ba'ath movement was not running as smoothly as the rest of the world believed; the Iraqi Regional Branch was already starting to lose membership. The Iraqi military and the party's militant arm, the National Guard , detested each other. Al-Sadi, the Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Regional Branch, was eventually exiled to Madrid , Spain on 11 November by several military officers and moderate Ba'athists. An anxious Aflaq hastily traveled from Syria and dissolved

1872-649: A new government. Al-Razzaz, Aflaq's successor as secretary general, came from the pro-Aflaq faction. With the defection of al-Hafez, he ordered that the National Command was the de jure ruling body of the Ba'ath Party. He appointed al-Bitar Prime Minister, Umran defence minister, Mansur al-Atrash as Chairman of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command and al-Hafiz retained his post as President of Syria . Salah Jadid ,

2016-419: A pan-Arab leader. Nasser started launching bitter propaganda attacks against the party; Aflaq was dismissed as an ineffectual theorist who was mocked as a puppet " Roman emperor " and accused of being a "Cypriot Christian". In several Ba'ath Party meetings, Aflaq responded with pure anger, and became an anti-Nasserist. Because of the position he took, Aflaq had a falling out with al-Bitar who still believed there

2160-408: A religious sense – Aflaq was a Christian who worshipped Islam. Aflaq did not believe it was necessary to worship Muhammad, but believed that all Arabs should strive to emulate Muhammad. In the words of Aflaq himself, Arabs "belong to the nation that gave birth to a Muhammad; or rather, because this Arab individual is a member of the community which Muhammad put all his efforts into creating […] Muhammad

2304-537: A right to a fair trial like anyone else. Omar once told a journalist, "the Syrian regime has turned against the Ba'ath and is no longer Ba'athist one". The party does not support Syria's expulsion from the Arab League and asserts that foreign nations should play a neutral role in the Syrian Civil War . On 4 February 2012, the executive committee of the Ba'ath Movement released a communiqué condemning

2448-572: A socialism with Arab characteristics, which was not part of the international socialist movement as defined by the West. Aflaq believed in the separation of state and religion, and was a strong believer in secularisation , but was against atheism . Although a Christian, he believed Islam to be proof of "Arab genius". In the aftermath of the 1966 Ba'ath Party split, the Syrian-led Ba'ath Party accused Aflaq of stealing al-Arsuzi's ideas, calling him

2592-653: A staunchly anti-Aflaq civilian faction calling themselves the "Regionalists" – this group had not dissolved their party organisations as ordered by Aflaq in the 1950s. The Regional Congress of the Syrian Regional Branch, in March 1965, devolved power from the center, the National Command, to the Regional Command. From then on, the Regional Secretary of the Regional Command was considered Syria's ex officio head of state. The Regional Secretary had

2736-410: A student circle, which usually met on Fridays. That year, the Arab Ihya Movement , a political party, was established by Aflaq and al-Bitar. They used most of their spare time in 1941 to agitate for the party. It was in 1942 that Aflaq showed his skills as "a compelling speaker" who was able to utilize the "theatrical pause" to great effect. The party changed its name to Arab Ba'ath Movement to signify

2880-542: A work of great artistic merit, designed by Iraqi architect Chadagee , was located on the western grounds of the Ba'ath Party Pan-Arab Headquarters, at the intersection of Al-Kindi street and the Qādisiyyah Expressway overpass. Although there were rumors and accusations that his tomb was destroyed during the 2003 Iraq War , the burial chamber and building above it were left untouched. Its blue-tiled dome can be seen above

3024-669: A year before the Lebanese Civil War broke out. He refrained from taking part in Iraqi politics. He published several works during this period, the most notable being The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution in 1975. Aflaq regained some of his influence when he befriended Saddam Hussein , President of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. During the Iran–Iraq War the Iranian leadership accused Hussein of being under

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3168-725: Is and what ought to be. In his thought, both are molded into the same category: that which is attainable . In contrast to his longtime friend and colleague Salah al-Din al-Bitar , who was more practical when it came to politics, Aflaq was a "visionary, the dreamer rather unfitted for political life". Aflaq was described by his associates as an " ascetic , shy and intense figure living a simple and unpretentious life." He has been accused of seeking help from other people instead of fulfilling his goal by himself or with others he led; Aflaq collaborated with Gamal Abdel Nasser , Abd al-Karim Qasim and Abdul Rahman Arif in 1958, to Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Ali Salih al-Sadi in 1963 and finally in

3312-414: Is confined to the inner world of the party." In contrast to other philosophers, such as Karl Marx or John Locke , Aflaq's ideological view of the world makes no clear stand on the materialistic or socioeconomic behavior of humanity. While other philosophers make distinctions between what is real and what is not real, that is between prescriptive and descriptive analysis, Aflaq did not as a rule define what

3456-605: Is considered by several Ba'athists to be the principal founder of Ba'athist thought. He published various books during his lifetime, such as " The Road to Renaissance " (1940), The Battle for One Destiny (1958) and The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution (1975). Born into a middle-class family in Damascus , Syria, Aflaq studied at the Sorbonne , where he met his future political companion Salah al-Din al-Bitar . He returned to Syria in 1932, and began his political career in communist politics . Aflaq became

3600-749: Is led by Ahmed Choutri (secretary of the Regional Command). The party is banned and Choutri was forced to flee to Iraq during the 1990s because of governmental repression against the Algerian Ba'ath movement. The party sympathises with the Iraqi Ba'athist insurgency and supports Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri , leader of the Iraqi branch. Following his return to Algeria in 2003, Choutri wrote The Baathist Faith of President Saddam . The Nationalist Democratic Assembly ( Arabic : التجمع القومي الديمقراطي , Al-Tajamu'u Al-Qawmi Al-Dimuqratiyah ) represents

3744-497: Is led by Qassem Salam Said as Secretary of the Regional Command while Abdulwahid Hawash serves as Deputy Secretary. It publishes the newspaper Al-Ehyaa Al-'Arabi ( Arabic : الإحياء العربي , English: Arabic Renaissance ). The party carried out clandestine political activity until 1990 and was registered as the National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party on 10 February 1997. It had initially sought to register as

3888-540: Is only the visible infatuation with words", and "Aflaq summons the party to renounce power and go back to its 'pure essence'. There is some truth in this critique." Aflaq spent much time and energy writing optimistically about the future, and the past, of the Arab Nation, and how the Arab World could be unified. As Kanan Makiya, the author of Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq , notes: for "Aflaq, reality

4032-734: Is the party branch in Lebanon. The branch held its second congress in October 2011. However, the existence of the pro-Iraqi Lebanese branch of the Ba'ath party has much longer roots. Following the 1966 split in the Ba'ath movement with party members split between Syrian and Iraqi allegiances, the Iraqi wing was led by Abd al-Majid Rafei. Other prominent members at the time of the split were Jihad George Karam, Rafiq Nasib Alfaqiya, Karam Mohamed Assahli, Hani Mohamed Shoiab, Ammar Mohamed Shabli, Hassan Khalil Gharib and Asaf Habin Alharakat. At first,

4176-441: Is younger and its political position more at the left of the historically Baath Movement and is headed by Kheireddine Souabni and Ahmed Seddik. The Ba'ath Movement is a member of the Popular Front , a communist-dominated front with strong popular backing. The National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region ( Arabic : حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي القومي - قطر اليمن Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki Al-Qawmi – Qutr Al-Yaman )

4320-573: The 1991 Gulf crisis . In 1990, the party was composed largely of students who had studied in Ba'athist Iraq . The party, which was small in 1990, was influential in certain sectors, was opposed to the National Islamic Front and was staunchly secularist . Members have historically been torn between the Ba'ath and other secular party movements, such as the Sudanese communists . Because of Saddam Hussein's amicable relationship with

4464-621: The 1992 parliamentary elections and was the only party (with the exception of the Republican Party for Democracy and Renewal ) to field candidates for senate elections. However, the party secured only one percent of the vote nationwide and did not secure a seat in either Parliament or the Senate. Kabry Ould Taleb Jiddou, the party's leader, was awarded the office of Secretary of State by the newly elected Government because of his electoral campaign. The branch supports full Arabization of

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4608-498: The 8th of March Revolution , Aflaq's position within the party was weakened to such an extent that he was forced to resign as the party's leader in 1965. Aflaq was ousted during the 1966 Syrian coup d'état , which led to a schism within the Ba'ath Party. He escaped to Lebanon , but later went to Iraq. In 1968 Aflaq was elected Secretary General of the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party ; during his tenure he held no de facto power. He held

4752-421: The Arab Ba'ath Party , to accuse Aflaq and al-Bitar of stealing his party's name from him. Though both men were promoting a party platform based on an Arab nationalist stance, Aflaq and al-Arsuzi became bitter rivals. On 24 October 1942, both Aflaq and al-Bitar resigned from their teaching positions, now determined to devote themselves fully to the political struggle. In 1941 the Syrian Committee to Help Iraq

4896-833: The Arab Liberation Front (ALF). The ALF was established in 1969 at a National Congress of the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party to weaken the hold al-Sa'iqa , the pro-Syrian Ba'ath organisation in Palestine had over the ba'athist movement. In contrast to al-Sa'iqa, the ALF never had access to a large recruitment pool. There were few Palestinians in Iraq, and the Palestinians living in Iraq were generally well-educated. Because of this, ALF could not and would never have

5040-592: The Bahraini uprising . It is headquartered in Zinj . The party opposes the government's naturalisation policies and contends that it is unfair for ethnic Bahrainis to compete equally with foreign workers for jobs. The Nationalist Democratic Assembly remains pro-Saddam Hussein and according to its webpage supports the Arab Spring . It opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq , considering it an act of brutality against

5184-1016: The French Communist Party (FCP), continued France's old politics towards its colonies. Aflaq, and others, had believed that the FCP followed pro-independence policies towards the French colonies . It did not help that the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party (SLCP) supported the FCP's decision. From then on Aflaq saw the communist movement as a tool of the Soviet Union . He was impressed by the organisation and ideology of Antun Saadeh 's Syrian Social Nationalist Party . Upon their return to Syria, Aflaq and al-Bitar became teachers at Tajhiz all'-Ula, "the most prestigious secondary school in Syria". Aflaq taught history, while al-Bitar taught math and physics. By 1940, Aflaq and al-Bitar had managed to set up

5328-549: The Iran-Iraq War . With Iraq's invasion of Kuwait , the Ba'ath party lost its popular appeal and the financial aid from the Iraqi embassy dried up. By 1990, there was not much left of the original Ba'ath movement. Another party, the National Vanguard Party ( Arabic : حزب الطليعة الوطني , romanized :  Hizb Al-Taliyeh Al-Watani , French : Parti Avant-Garde nationale or PAGN),

5472-788: The Iraqi Regional Command and the Revolutionary Command Council . Aflaq was elected Secretary-General of the National Command at the Ninth National Congress, held in February 1968 in Beirut, Lebanon, by the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party. He retained his post until his death in 1989, when he was succeeded by Saddam Hussein . After Saddam was executed on 30 December 2006, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri became de facto leader of

5616-619: The President of Iraq and a Nasserist, plotted a coup against the Ba'ath Party on 18 November, which succeeded. The dream of cornering Nasser's pan-Arab project was over; instead, it was Nasser and the Nasserists who were cornering the Ba'ath movement. On hearing the news, Aflaq and several Ba'athists fled Iraq for Syria. After a falling out with the Military Committee, of which he was a member, Muhammad Umran told Aflaq about

5760-465: The Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch, exclaiming that the National Command would rule Iraq in its place until a new Regional Command was elected. This was not greeted warmly by the majority of Iraqi military officers and Ba'athists – the idea that a Christian was to rule over a Muslim country was considered "insensitive". The situation in Iraq did not improve, Abdul Salam Arif ,

5904-460: The Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation , the body ruling Sudan, the Ba'ath branched was oppressed by the authorities. Later in 1990, 26 Ba'athi military officers were executed in Khartoum after a failed military coup. In 2002, a group led by Mohamad Ali Jadein broke away from the branch and established the independent Sudanese Ba'ath Party , which has no affiliation with neither

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6048-529: The Sorbonne in Paris. During his stay, Aflaq was influenced by the works of Henri Bergson and met his longtime collaborator Salah al-Din al-Bitar , a fellow Syrian nationalist. Aflaq founded an Arab Student Union at the Sorbonne and discovered the writings of Karl Marx . He returned to Syria in 1932, and became active in communist politics, but left the movement when the government of Léon Blum , supported by

6192-590: The al-Assad rule . A Jordanian academic, talking to the American embassy in Amman, Jordan, said that "there are far more real Ba'athists outside the party than inside", noting that the present party is downplaying (and even replacing) ideological components to get more followers. The party was able to gain some support in the 1990s because of its status as a Ba'ath Party branch and it was able to help finance thousands of scholarships to Iraqi universities. However, with

6336-541: The conflict , whether by Israel, Turkey or Iran, as the party believes all such countries have ulterior motives and seek to undermine Syria. The party was outlawed in the early 1990s and two Iraqi Intelligence Officials were detained on 14 April 1991 with $ 38,000 in their possession, money which the Egyptian authorities claimed was to be used to fund sabotage operations in Egypt. Several other Egyptian Ba'athists, including

6480-416: The coup d'état of 1969 against King Idris , a new revolutionary government was established, led by Muammar Gaddafi . The government was recognised as Nasserist because the new administration proclaimed its goal as "liberty, socialism and unity", rather than "unity, liberty, socialism" (the Ba'ath Party's slogan). This change in order was important because of the ideological split between the Ba'athists and

6624-511: The original Ba'ath Party split into Iraqi-dominated and a Syrian-dominated ba'ath movements . The two movements established separate National Commands; the National Command was in theory the highest party body in both movements and controlled their respective ba'athist movements. However, in both countries the National Command was under the control of its respective Regional Command. In the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath movement, all National Command members came from their regional branch—for instance, there

6768-583: The unified Ba'ath Party , was established in 1955, but the Ba'ath Party was outlawed under Zine El Abidine Ben Ali . Following the Tunisian Revolution , the Tunisian Ba'ath Movement ( Arabic : حركة البعث التونسي Haraket Al-Ba'ath Al-Tounisi ; French : Mouvement Baath tunisien ) was established at its First Congress on 3–5 June 2011 and legally registered on 22 January 2011. However, ba'athists have been active in underground politics since

6912-506: The 1950s to establish the Arab Socialist Baʽ;ath Party. Michel Aflaq Michel Aflaq ( Arabic : ميشيل عفلق , romanized :  Mīšīl ʿAflaq ‎, Arabic pronunciation: [miˈʃel ˈʕaflaq] ; 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist . His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he

7056-532: The 1950s. The Ba'ath Movement celebrated the fifth anniversary of the death of Saddam Hussein . Omar Othman Belhadj, Secretary-General of the executive committee of the Ba'ath Movement, said that "Hussein's execution was symbolic, they did not kill a person but rather the ideas he represented and fought for. Hussein was killed for being against colonization and for being a defender of Arab unity and independence of Arab countries". He further noted that he did not support killing Muammar Gaddafi , saying that Gaddafi had

7200-491: The 1970s to Saddam Hussein . There are several Ba'athists, mostly from the Syrian-led Ba'ath Party , who believe Aflaq stole Ba'athist ideology from its original founder, Zaki al-Arsuzi . These individuals have denounced, and labelled, Aflaq as a "thief". In his writings, Aflaq had been stridently in favor of free speech and other human rights and aid for the lower classes. During the Military Committee's gradual takeover of power in Syria, Aflaq rallied against what he saw as

7344-446: The 1980s. The organisation also produced broadcasts for Radio Baghdad. The first pro-Iraqi activities was in 1968, but it was organizationally established in 1972. The Mauritanian Ba'athist divide their history into two phases: founding (1976–1982) and deployment (1982–1990). There is little available information on the 1968–1970 period and Ba'athist activity started in earnest in the early 1970s. The party's first clandestine congress

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7488-685: The 2003 invasion of Iraq the party was nearly forced into bankruptcy and lost most of its followers when it failed to finance the return of students from Iraq. The Ba'ath branch was denied legal registration in 1992. The party was legally registered in 1993, but forced to change its name from the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to the Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( Arabic : حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي الاردني Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki Al-Urduniy ). Khalil Haddadeen, Jordan's former minister of information,

7632-484: The American invasion. Repression against the ba'athists has not been reduced. In 2003, several ba'athists were jailed on suspicion of trying to overthrow the government. A reason for the close relationship between Iraq and Mauritania was the strength of the Mauritanian ba'athist party. The party was banned in 1999 following the official instauration of bilateral relations with Israel . The National Vanguard Party

7776-405: The Arab Ba'ath Movement merged with al-Arsuzi's Arab Ba'ath organisation to establish the Arab Ba'ath Party . Aflaq was elected to the party's executive committee and was elected "'Amid" (meaning the party's leader). The Arab Ba'ath Party merged with Akram al-Hawrani 's Arab Socialist Party to establish the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1952; Aflaq was elected the party's leader in 1954. During

7920-465: The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1995, but that name was given by the authorities to the pro-Syria Ba'athist party . Politically, the party is allied with the ruling General People's Congress and during the 2011 Arab Spring this position caused an internal split. In March 2011, it was reported that the Hodeidah branch of the party had sided with the uprising after violent attacks on protesters in

8064-470: The Arab nations was, according to Aflaq, through a revolutionary movement. Aflaq was influenced by Marxism in that he saw the need for a vanguard party to rule the Arab Nation for an indefinite period of time (the period would be a transition from the old to the new). The need for liberty was one of the defining features of Ba'athism, however, liberty not in the sense used by liberal democracies . Aflaq

8208-513: The Ba'ath Party because of al-Hawrani's presence. By this time Aflaq was losing much of his power to al-Hawrani and his supporters, who were in a majority in the party. proof of this was the decision of the Ba'ath Party to collaborate openly with the Syrian Communist Party (SCP), a move Aflaq opposed. Aflaq was elected the party's Secretary General of the newly established National Command, a title equivalent to 'party leader', by

8352-482: The Ba'ath Party on 3 January 2007. As Secretary of the Iraqi Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, he was the highest-ranked surviving member of the former Ba'ath party. Since November 3 2020, the party is headed by Salah Al-Mukhtar. The party branch in Algeria, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Algeria ( Arabic : حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي في الجزائر Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki fi Al-Jaza'ir ; French : Parti Baath arabe socialiste d'Algérie ),

8496-541: The Ba'ath leadership for doing too little to help the Palestine Liberation Organisation during the conflict. During the conflict, Aflaq lobbied extensively for Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Aflaq wanted Iraqi intervention; al-Bakr, however, refused to get Iraq involved in such a conflict. Because of this, Aflaq returned to Lebanon in self-imposed exile. The government of Hafez al-Assad , the President of Syria , condemned Aflaq to death in absentia in 1971. After four years of self-imposed exile Aflaq returned to Iraq in 1974,

8640-467: The Ba'ath were harassed and in between 1982 and 1983 55 Ba'athists were arrested by the government. However, by 1986–1987 the Ba'ath had managed to infiltrate the officer corps and the enlisted ranks, making them a threat to Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya and his rule. Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya , with Saddam Hussein 's approval, expelled and banned Ba'athist personnel in the military in 1988. Mauritania strongly supported Saddam Hussein 's Iraq during

8784-404: The British. Aflaq unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the Syrian parliament in 1943. After the Syrian election defeat, the Movement sought cooperation with other parties in elections in Syria, including the Arab Socialist Movement of Akram El-Hourani . The Party merged with Al-Arsuzi's Arab Baʽath Party in 1947, and al-Hawrani's Arab Socialist Movement later merged into the party in

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8928-419: The French Mandate authorities to grant the movement a party license. The Arab Ba'ath Movement did not become an official party until 1947, when it merged with al-Arsuzi's Arab Ba'ath Movement to found the Arab Ba'ath Party . The Arab Ba'ath Movement, led by Aflaq and al-Bitar, drew supporters from al-Arsuzi's Ba'ath Movement; during the 1940s, al-Arsuzi started to seclude himself from the public eye, he developed

9072-412: The Iraqi people. The party actively supports the overthrow of the existing monarchy , with a peaceful transition to democracy. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Egypt Region ( Arabic : حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي- مصر Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki – Misr ) is an active branch in Egypt. The party supports the removing of Bashar al-Assad of Syria, although calls for no foreign intervention in

9216-412: The Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party in Bahrain . The group is led by Hassan Ali as Secretary General and Mahmoud Kassab as Deputy Secretary General. It was established by Bahrainis who had studied in Ba'athist Iraq during the 1960s and 1970s. The party boycotted the 2002 parliamentary election , but not the 2006 election . The 2011 parliamentary by-election was boycotted by the party in solidarity with

9360-417: The Iraqi-led party led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein , still proclaimed Aflaq to be the founder of Ba'athist thought. In February 1966 at the Ninth National Congress, held after the coup which ousted the pro-Aflaq faction, the Iraqi delegation split with the Syrian Ba'athists. The Iraqis held the true Ninth National Congress in February 1968 in Beirut, and elected Aflaq as Secretary General of

9504-403: The Libyan regional Ba'athist organisation. The Libyan National Movement (LNM), an Arab-nationalist organisation, was founded by Ba'athist lawyer 'Umran Burweiss. The LNM (still in existence) was originally financed by Iraqi Ba'athists and produced relatively high-quality propaganda materials. For example, it issued audio cassettes which were smuggled into Libya with Sawt at-Talia during

9648-528: The Marxist factions led by al-Shufi and Ali Salih al-Sa'di , in Syria and Iraq respectively, were the majority group. Another problem facing Aflaq was that several of his colleagues were not elected to party office, for instance, al-Bitar was not reelected to a seat in the National Command. Instead of the traditional civilian leadership, a new leadership consisting of military officers was gradually growing; Jadid and Amin al-Hafiz from Syria and Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Salih Mahdi Ammash from Iraq were elected to

9792-430: The Military Committee to save the Syrian Ba'ath movement from annihilation. The party's Third National Congress in 1959 supported Aflaq's decision to dissolve the party, but a 1960 National Congress, in which Jadid was a delegate representing the then-unknown Military Committee, reversed the decision and called for the Ba'ath Party's reestablishment. The Congress also decided to improve relations with Nasser by democratising

9936-400: The Military Committee's strongman, responded by arresting several Umran supporters. Umran responded by dismissing a handful of pro-Jadid officials. The most important of these dismissals was the removal of Ahmad Suwaydani from the post of head of the country's military intelligence to head of the Officer Administration. On 23 February a coup d'état led by Jadid and Hafez al-Assad overthrew

10080-411: The Nasserists. Following Gaddafi's revolution, several People's Committees were established. These committees (which at the beginning were led by the people) arrested several ba'athists. Amr Taher Deghayes, founder of the Libyan Ba'ath branch, was later arrested by Gaddafi's security forces and died after three days in jail. Deghayes' death allegedly sparked a large anti-government demonstration (which

10224-426: The National Command. Aflaq's election to the secretary generalship also proved to be his final break with al-Bitar; before the congress convened al-Bitar announced that he had left the Ba'ath Party and given up on the Ba'athist movement as a whole. Aflaq moved to Baghdad following his reelection to the secretary generalship in February 1968. He stayed there until 1970, when Black September happened, he criticized

10368-568: The National Command. While the Military Committee was in fact taking control over the Ba'ath Party from the civilian leadership, they were sensitive to such criticism, and stated, in an ideological pamphlet, that civilian-military symbiosis was of major importance, if socialist reconstruction was to be achieved. To the outside world, Aflaq seemed to be in charge. As the Tunisian newspaper L'Action tunisienne  [ fr ] put it; "The philosopher who made two coups [Iraqi and Syrian coups] in

10512-671: The Rejectionist Front. The invasion of Iraq toppled the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party, headquartered in Baghdad. This weakened the movement and since the Iraqi military coordinated much of the ALF's activities the ALF has also been considerably weakened. The ALF's first leader was Zaid Haydar from the Jordanian Ba'ath branch. Other leaders include Munif al-Razzaz , Abd al-Rahim Ahmad and Mahmud Isma'il. Most recently, it

10656-455: The Revolutionary Command (NCRC), consisting entirely of Ba'athists and Nasserists, and controlled by military personnel rather than civilians from the very beginning. The relationship between the Ba'athists and the Nasserists was at best, uncomfortable. The Ba'ath Party's rise to power in Iraq and Syria put Nasser, as he put it, "between the hammer and the anvil". The establishment of a union between Iraq and Syria would weaken his credentials as

10800-470: The Saudi Ali Ghannam , advised caution, believing that if he pressed the Military Committee too hard the military would take over the Syrian Regional Branch, and then the Ba'ath Party—as had happened in Iraq following the ousting of the Iraqi Regional Branch. Because of their concerns, Aflaq kept quiet. But to his astonishment, keeping quiet caused him to lose his post as Secretary General – Aflaq

10944-577: The Syrian Ba'athist Regional Congress, the Military Committee "proved" that it was rebelling equally against Aflaq and the traditional leadership, as against their moderate social and economic policies. The Military Committee was bent on removing Aflaq from a position of power, believing that he had become old and frail. At the Sixth National Congress held in October 1963, Aflaq was barely able to hold on to his post as Secretary General –

11088-604: The Syrian Government and the Ba'ath Party leadership. Aflaq was exiled from Syria, and ordered never to return to his homeland. Members of the party's other factions fled; Aflaq was captured and detained, along with other pro-Aflaq supporters, in a government guest house. When the new rulers launched a purge in August that year, Aflaq managed to make his escape, with the help of Nasim Al Safarjalani and Malek Bashour , both closely trusted friends and colleagues, and hence

11232-635: The UAR from within. A faction within the party, led by al-Hawrani, called for Syria's secession. When the UAR broke up in 1961, some members applauded the dissolution, among them was al-Bitar. The Ba'ath Party captured 20 seats, down from 22, in the 1961 election . In 1962, after four years, Aflaq convened the Fifth Congress in Homs . Al-Hawrani was not invited; cells that had stayed active and defied Aflaq's orders, and Ba'athists who became Nasserists during

11376-416: The city. The party contested the 1993 parliamentary election in alliance with the pro-Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, winning seven seats. After the election, relations between the two Ba'athist groups soured and they contested further elections separately. The party contested the 1997 parliamentary election (failing to win any seats) and called for a boycott of the 1999 presidential election . Said,

11520-474: The committee's secret plans to oust the civilian leadership, led by Aflaq, and take over the Ba'ath Party. Shortly after, Umran was sent into exile as Ambassador to Spain for supporting the Aflaq faction. Aflaq responded to the threat posed to his leadership by invoking his office as secretary general, and calling for the National Command to dissolve the Regional Command . He was forced to withdraw his request, when

11664-525: The concrete T-walls surrounding the Camp's perimeter. What liberty could be wider and greater than binding oneself to the renaissance of one's nation and its revolution? The liberty we seek is not opposed to legislative measures to curb the exploitations of feudalists, capitalists and opportunists. It is a new and strict liberty which stands against pressure and confusion. Dictatorship is a precarious, unsuitable and self-contradictory system which does not allow

11808-755: The consciousness of the people to grow. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party slogan "Unity, liberty, socialism" is the key tenet of Aflaq's and Ba'athist thought. Unity meant the unification of the Arab people into one nation, the Arab Nation . The creation of an Arab Nation would have direct implications on Arab development. The establishment of this new state would lead to an Arab Ba'ath (literally meaning " Renaissance "). The Arab nations of his time could only progressively "decline" if not unified; these nations had various ailments – " feudalism , sectarianism , regionalism , intellectual reactionism ". The only way to "cure"

11952-402: The construction of a strong party apparatus the party succeeded in gaining power. The Iraqi-based party was originally committed to pan-Arabism (like its Syrian counterpart). After taking power in 1968, the party adopted Iraqi nationalism and encouraged Iraqis to identify themselves as cultural heirs of Mesopotamia with a medieval-Islamic identity. Saddam Hussein sought to be seen as leader of

12096-702: The control of a Christian, and Aflaq himself was labelled "a Christian infidel". Effectively, throughout his tenure as secretary general in Iraq, Aflaq was given all due honour as the founder of the Ba'ath movement, but on policy-making, he was ignored. Aflaq died on 23 June 1989 in Paris , after undergoing heart surgery there. Saddam Hussein claimed that Aflaq converted to Islam before his death. According to anonymous Western diplomats, Aflaq's own family disagreed with that claim, however Aflaq's son, Iyad, confirmed that his father thought about conversion in 1980. Upon his disputed conversion, he supposedly adopted " Ahmad " as

12240-700: The control the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement had over the ALF, the ALF always held a pro-Iraqi position in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The ALF was a founding member of the Rejectionist Front in 1974, rejecting the PLO's Ten Point Program . Abdel-Wahhab Kayyali (a member of the PLO Executive Committee ) froze his seat on the committee in protest, instead of following the example (resignation) of

12384-547: The country, a view considered racist by critics. Ould Haidalla introduced an anti-ba'athist policy which continued under his successor, President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya . However, the Mauritanian Government supported Iraq during the Gulf War , and Iraq–Mauritania relations became so close that (inaccurate) rumors circulated internationally that Saddam's family had taken refuge in the country following

12528-561: The dominant Arab nationalist movement, found itself in disarray after three years of Nasserist rule. Only a handful of Ba'athists were given public office in the UAR's government, al-Hawrani became vice president and al-Bitar became Minister of Culture and Guidance. Several members, mostly young, blamed Aflaq for this situation; it was he who dissolved the party in 1958 without consulting the National Congress. Hafez al-Assad and Salah Jadid amongst others, eventually established

12672-523: The dominant liberation movement. A key pro-Iraqi Ba'athist was Abdel Gadir Jeilani, who became the leader of the ELF-PLF-Revolutionary Council in the 1980s. In Iraq, the Ba'ath party remained a civilian group and lacked strong support from the military. The party had little impact and the movement split into several factions after 1958 and again in 1966. The movement was reported to have lacked strong popular support, but through

12816-499: The equation of what is essentially, and essentially is not, Arab. Arab nationalism , just as Islam had been during the lifetime of Muhammad , was a spiritual revolutionary movement, leading the Arabs towards a new renaissance : Arab nationalism was the second revolution to appear in the Arab world. All Arab religious communities should, according to Aflaq, respect and worship the spirituality of Islam, even if they did not worship Islam in

12960-633: The establishment of a military dictatorship, instead of the democracy for which Aflaq had planned. These ideals were never realized by the governments that used his ideology. Most scholars see the Assad government in Syria and Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq to have only employed Aflaq's ideology as a pretense for dictatorship. Ba%27ath Party (Iraqi-led faction) The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (spelled "Ba'th" or "Baath", "resurrection" or "renaissance"; Arabic : حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī ), also referred to as

13104-616: The first half of the 1970s and in the 1972 general election al-Rafi was elected to parliament from Tripoli. Ali al-Khalil, a former member, was elected from Tyre. The party was active in Southern Lebanon and was built with generous aid from Iraq. During the Lebanese Civil War , the Lebanese parliament formed the National Dialogue Committee in 1975. Assem Qanso of the pro-Syrian Ba'ath Party became

13248-512: The first leader of the party branch in Jordan after the 1966 split. Since the establishment of the authoritarian political systems in Iraq and Syria , the popularity of the Ba'ath Party has largely diminished, but Ba'athist ideology remains popular. The reason being that both Ba'ath parties (the pro-Iraqi and the pro-Syrian) have replaced ideology with blind allegiance to Saddamist discourse or

13392-532: The known world. The idea of Islam being a culture rather than a faith took special attention from Arab Christians such as Aflaq. These views, however, were highly unorthodox and controversial when aired in lectures at Damascus University. They garnered significant criticism from devout Muslims, who viewed the suggestion that the Arab genius was the flowering of Islam rather than the revelation of God as offensive. Additionally, Christians accused him of selling out and nicknamed him 'Muhammed 'Aflaq'. Being influenced by

13536-426: The late 1940s, Aflaq and al-Bitar gave free lessons on Ba'athist thought, and in 1948 they established the newspaper al-Ba'ath (English: rebirth / resurrection ). Aflaq tested the Ba'ath Party's strength during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War after early Syrian defeats – he led several demonstrations against the government led by President Shukri al-Quwatli . He personally led demonstrations and claimed that al-Quwatli,

13680-440: The leader of the Arab Ba'ath, was not given any position, or membership in the party. Aflaq as Amid was responsible for ideological affairs and became the party's mentor, while al-Bitar controlled the party's day-to-day management. The merger would prove problematic, several members of the al-Arsuzi-led Ba'ath Party were more left-leaning, and would become, later in Aflaq's tenure as leader, highly critical of his leadership. In

13824-593: The leadership of Saddam Hussein . The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region was banned in 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies . Note: for the 1st–8th National Congresses, see the national congresses held by the unified, pre-February 1966 Ba'ath Party. Following the 1966 Syrian coup d'état , which overthrew the Aflaqite faction led by Michel Aflaq , Salah al-Din al-Bitar , Munif al-Razzaz and others,

13968-419: The majority of Ba'ath Party members proved to oppose such a move. A contest for power, between Aflaq and the Military Committee, ensued in the open; but it was a struggle Aflaq was losing. It was plain from the very beginning that the initiative lay with the anti-Aflaq forces. To counter the military threat, Aflaq invoked party rules and regulations against them. To counter this, the Military Committee befriended

14112-494: The mid-to-late 1950s the party began developing relations with Gamal Abdel Nasser , the President of Egypt , which eventually led to the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR). Nasser forced Aflaq to dissolve the party, which he did, but without consulting with party members. Shortly after the UAR's dissolution, Aflaq was reelected as Secretary General of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party. Following

14256-491: The new government. Thousands were removed from their positions, including doctors, professors, schoolteachers and bureaucrats. Many teachers lost their jobs, sparking protests at schools and universities. Under previous Ba'ath-party rule, one could not reach a high position in the government or a school without becoming a party member and party membership was a prerequisite for university admission. While many Ba'athists joined for ideological reasons, many more were members because it

14400-491: The only government post he would ever hold; he held it from August to December 1949. Al-Attasi's presidency did not last for very long either, and in 1951 Adib Shishakli took power in a military coup. Aflaq at first extended his support to the new government, believing that he and the Ba'ath Party could collaborate with Shishakli because they shared the same Arab nationalist sentiments. His analysis of Shishakli proved to be wrong, and one of Shishakli's first decisions as ruler

14544-463: The orders of Hussein was later used as a military barrack by American soldiers after the 2003 American invasion of Iraq for troops stationed within the Green Zone . Aflaq's family reported that the tomb was badly damaged during the invasion. Upon his death in 1989 he was given a state funeral. A large tomb and mausoleum were erected to form a shrine for him. The tomb, widely regarded as

14688-586: The other half with its leadership in Baghdad. The two Ba'ath parties retained the same name and maintained parallel structures in the Arab world , but relations became so antagonistic that Syria supported Iran against Iraq during the bloody Iran–Iraq War ; it also joined the U.S.-led coalition against Iraq in the Gulf War . The Ba'athists seized power in Iraq for the first time in 1963, but were deposed several months later. The party's regional organisation governed Iraq between 1968 and 2003, for many years under

14832-404: The party's Second National Congress. When, under the United Arab Republic (UAR), Aflaq was forced by Nasser to dissolve the party, he disbanded the party by himself, instead of convening a congress on the matter. The UAR proved to be disastrous for the Ba'ath Party – the party was sidelined to a great extent by Nasser's government. The Ba'ath movement, which was on the verge in 1958 of becoming

14976-509: The party's headquarters were raided in May. Another pro-Iraqi Ba'ath party did take its place, the Party for Work and National Unity ( French : Parti pour le Travail et l'Unité Nationale , abbreviated PTUN). However, while PTUN is close to the Iraqi Ba'ath party branch, the group is small and largely inactive. A disorganised pro-Iraqi Ba'ath guerilla movement existed before the establishment of

15120-458: The people and because it prevents the people from a revolution against its oppressors and its enslavers." What Aflaq saw in Islam was a revolutionary movement. In contrast to other nationalities, the Arab awakening and expansion was attributed to a religious message. Because of this, Aflaq believed that the Arabs' spirituality was directly linked to Islam, therefore, one could never take Islam out of

15264-526: The period 1978–1984, the party intensified its effort of recruiting members within the military establishment. The Ba'ath party was one of the most fervent supporters of the Arabization policies in Mauritania. Because of their efforts, Mohammed Yehdih Ould Breideleil, the Ba'ath leader, was appointed Minister of Information for a short period in 1984. Under the rule of Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla ,

15408-485: The period of the UAR, were not invited to the congress. Aflaq was reelected as the National Command's secretary general, and ordered the reestablishment of the Syrian-regional Ba'ath organisation. During the congress, Aflaq and the Military Committee, through Muhammad Umran , made contact for the first time; the committee asked for permission to initiate a coup d'état; Aflaq supported the conspiracy. Following

15552-672: The poet Muhammad Afifi Matar , were also detained in April 1991 on suspicion of involvement in an Iraqi terrorist plot. Ba'athist organizations emerged in the leadership of the Eritrean Liberation Front in the 1970s, with pro-Baghdad and pro-Damascus groups competing for political dominance over the front. This split contributed to the downfall of the ELF and the emergence of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front as

15696-647: The political scene. As of 1983 the branch was led by Faisal al-Sani. The Kuwaiti Ba'ath Party branch collapsed during Gulf War because of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait . Saleh al-Mutlaq , the leader of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front , has been accused of trying to rebuild the party. It is presently known as the Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party ( Arabic : حزب طليعة لبنان العربي الاشتراكي , Hizb Al-Taliyeh Lubnan Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki ). It

15840-473: The post until his death on 23 June 1989. Aflaq's theories about society, economics, and politics, which are collectively known as Ba'athism, hold that the Arab world needs to be unified into one Arab Nation in order to achieve an advanced state of development. He was critical of both capitalism and communism, and critical of Karl Marx 's view of dialectical materialism as the only truth. Ba'athist thought placed much emphasis on liberty and Arab socialism –

15984-633: The power to appoint the Prime Minister, the cabinet, the chief of staff and top military commanders. Aflaq was unsettled by the way things were moving, and in May he convened the Eighth National Congress to get a showdown between his followers and those of the Military Committee. However, this never came to fruition. Several civilian members of the National Command, such as the Lebanese Jibran Majdalani and

16128-647: The pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement nor the pro-Syrian Ba'ath movement . The following year, after the invasion of Iraq 80 Sudanese Ba'athists return to Sudan under the condition that they would stay out of politics. The Syrian branch of the Iraqi-led party supported the Muslim Brotherhood during the Islamist uprising against the Syrian Ba'ath government. The first Ba'athist branch in Tunisia, then under

16272-463: The pro-Iraq and pro-Syrian Ba'ath branches are considered largely irrelevant in the Jordanian political scene. It is suffering from financial problems and it is criticized by religious Jordanians for its secularism , while others are weary of its Arab nationalist ideology. In a 1995 poll, 16.8 percent of Jordanians said they were aware that the Iraqi Ba'ath branch existed, making the Ba'ath branch

16416-507: The pro-Iraqi Ba'ath branch and the pro-Syrian Ba'ath branch worked side by side in the National Front, but with tension increasing between the Syrian and Iraqi Ba'athist factions the two parties were on a war footing. The party was active in 1960s demonstrations and al-Rafei was detained by Lebanese authorities for his political activities, but he was a candidate from Tripoli in the 1968 general election . The party expanded during

16560-454: The pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement, is a Ba'athist political party which was headquartered in Baghdad , Iraq , until 2003. It is one of two parties (with identical names) which emerged from the 1966 split of the original Ba'ath Party . In 1966, the original Ba'ath Party was split in half; one half was led by the Damascus leadership of the Ba'ath Party which established a party in Syria and

16704-584: The provisional Tunisian government's expulsion of the Syrian ambassador. The Ba'ath Movement expressed solidarity with the Syrian protesters and condemned the shooting of unarmed demonstrators. The committee predicted that the Syrian ambassador's expulsion would militarise the conflict, mobilising Arab opinion against the government and leading to military intervention. After the revolution, the Arab Democratic Vanguard Party emerged as second "Iraqi" Baathist Party in Tunisia. Its membership

16848-537: The radical changes which were sweeping the Middle East; Rashid Ali al-Gaylani , the Prime Minister of Iraq , had challenged Britain's domination over Iraq. The replacement of the word "Revival" with "Ba'ath" ( Arabic : بعث , literally means resurrection / rebirth ) signified that Arab revival had been replaced ideologically by the need for an Arab rebirth. The change of name led Zaki al-Arsuzi , leader of

16992-483: The same degree of influence over the Palestinian movement as al-Sa'iqa did. This caused the ALF to be controlled by the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement, thus weakening its effectiveness and influence, but saving it from infighting between Palestinianists and Ba'athists (a problem in al-Sa'iqa). However, the ALF's influence weakened periodically during its history due to infighting in the pro-Iraq Ba'ath movement. Because of

17136-469: The same shape in the Arab world as it did in the West. Aflaq called on all Arabs, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike, to admire the role Islam had played in creating the Arab character. But his view on Islam was purely spiritual, and Aflaq emphasised that Islam "should not be imposed" on state and society. Time and again Aflaq emphasised that the Ba'ath party was against atheism , but also equally against fundamentalism . For him, any fundamentalism represented

17280-460: The success of the February 1963 Iraqi coup d'état , led by the Ba'ath Party's Iraqi Regional Branch , the Military Committee hastily convened to hatch a coup against Nazim al-Kudsi 's presidency. The 8th of March Revolution , a military coup launched in 1963, proved successful, and a Ba'athist government in Syria was established. The plotters' first order was to establish the National Council of

17424-419: The third-best-known political party in Jordan (surpassing the Ba'ath Arab Progressive Party , the Syrian Ba'athist branch, by over 10 percent in the poll). In 2003 it was estimated that the party had fewer than 200 members. According to a Cablegate document dating back to 2007, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party figure Ahmed Al Dmour was considered one of the biggest threats to Islamic Action Front dominance on

17568-471: The time of the 1966 split, the Jordanian branch had an estimated 1,000 members. It was active in the Arab Liberation Front (ALF) and the ALF's first leader was the Jordanian, Zaid Haydar. Munif al-Razzaz , who joined the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath resistance in 1966, eventually became an ALF leader. From there, he climbed the party ladder and became a member of the National Command before he was placed under house arrest by Iraqi authorities. Shahir Abu Shahut became

17712-515: The word Arab socialism for his variant of socialism. Socialism, in its original form in the Arab world had, according to Aflaq, first come into being under the rule of Muhammad . The point of Arab socialism was not to answer questions such as: how much state control was necessary, or economic equality; but instead Arab socialism was a system that freed the Arab people from oppression and enslavement, which in turn created independent individuals. Aflaq opposed Marx's view that dialectical materialism

17856-407: Was a chance to reestablish good ties with Nasser. The break with Nasser weakened the original leaders of the Ba'ath Party, which in turn gave the Military Committee room to expand. After taking power, the Military Committee looked for theoretical guidance, but instead of going to Aflaq to solve problems (which was usual before), they contacted the party's Marxist faction led by Hammud al-Shufi . At

18000-400: Was a strong believer in pluralism of thought , but against pluralism in the form of votes. In theory, the Ba'ath Party would rule, and guide the people, in a transitional period of time without consulting the people because the party knew what was right. The last tenet, 'socialism', did not mean socialism as it is defined in the West, but rather a unique form of Arab socialism. Aflaq coined

18144-534: Was a way to better their options. Following pressure by the United States, the policy of de-Ba'athification was addressed by the Iraqi government in January 2008 with its controversial Accountability and Justice Act . This purported to ease the policy, but many feared it would lead to further dismissals. The Ba'ath Party was led by Saddam's former deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri until his death in 2020. At

18288-434: Was able to flee to Beirut , Lebanon, and later to Brazil . Aflaq's downfall caused a split within the Ba'ath Party; the party was de facto dissolved and two Ba'ath Parties were established, one Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party and one Syrian-led Ba'ath Party . The Syrian-led party was led by Jadid and his supporters and hailed Zaki al-Arsuzi , the founder of the Arab Ba'ath in 1940, as the father of Ba'athist thought , while

18432-401: Was accused of developing plans in collaboration with the Iraqi government to foment unrest in the country. Mohamed Ould Abdellahi Ould Eyye, the party's leader, was arrested in 2003 after a large anti-government protest demanding that the government break off relations with Israel and the United States and help Saddam Hussein. He and 13 other ba'athists were arrested by government forces and

18576-481: Was all the Arabs; let us today make all the Arabs Muhammad." The Muslim of Muhammad's days were, according to Aflaq, synonymous with Arabs – the Arabs were the only ones to preach the message of Islam during Muhammad's lifetime. In contrast to Jesus, who was a religious leader, but not a political leader, Muhammad was both – the first leader of Islam and of the Arab world. Therefore, secularisation could not take

18720-465: Was always a member representing the Ba'ath Party branch in Jordan. In theory, the National Command was the highest party organ between national congresses, with the power to control the affairs of Regional Commands in other regions (countries). Delegates to a National Congress elected the members of the National Command, who were eligible for reelection. While the National Command had few de facto powers, many of its leading members also held seats in

18864-400: Was crushed), followed by the imprisonment of several leading Ba'athists. In 1982, a trial began in which 25 Libyan Ba'athists were charged with membership in an illegal organisation and they were freed after torture. The following year, they were re-tried on the same charge: three were sentenced to death and others to life in prison. The arrests and trials of the 1980s led to the dissolution of

19008-420: Was elected to Parliament during the 1993 and 1997 elections on a pro-Iraqi, Saddamist platform . Currently, the Ba'ath branch has no members of parliament. In its first regional congress since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Regional Command alleged it would publicize an alleged letter from Saddam Hussein. However, the Jordanian press largely ignored the event. Today, in contrast to Ba'athist ideology both

19152-613: Was established to support the Iraqi Government led by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani against the British invasion during the Anglo–Iraqi War . Al-Arsuzi, the leader of the other Arab Ba'ath movement, was skeptical of the new committee, and opposed helping the Iraqis on the ground that they would lose anyway. In 1941 the movement began publishing documents under the name the "Arab Ihya Movement". Later, in 1945, Aflaq and al-Bitar asked

19296-485: Was founded in 1991 and it replaced the old Ba'ath movement which had disintegrated in 1990. The Mauritanian Ba'ath Party remains the largest Arab nationalist political force in the country. The branch has maintained good relations with the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party, even after Saddam Hussein's downfall following the 2003 invasion of Iraq . The party was able to field candidates for parliamentary seats during

19440-533: Was held in 1976. They opposed the rule of President Moktar Ould Daddah and used most of their early years in trying to infiltrate the ruling Mauritanian People's Party and state institutions. In the aftermath of the July 1978 coup , the Ba'ath branch took the conscious decision of trying to recruit Haratin people . They started publishing The Baaʿth and the Haratine in Mauritania to help them in their quest. In

19584-457: Was held in Damascus in 1947. Aflaq took the pre-eminent position of Amid , sometimes translated as 'doyen' or as 'leader'; and was elected to a four-member executive committee. Under the constitution adopted at the congress, this made him effective leader of the party, with sweeping powers within the organisation; al-Bitar was elected Secretary General of the National Command. Zaki al-Arsuzi ,

19728-543: Was led by Rakad Salem and headquartered in Ramallah , West Bank . Israeli Defence Forces arrested Salem in October 2002. Shahir Abu Shahut, former leader of the Jordanian Ba'ath branch, led the Ba'ath branch in Palestine from 1970 to 1975 from Baghdad. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Country of Sudan is the regional branch of the Ba'ath Party in Sudan. Kamal Bolad was the Regional Secretary in 1989 and Taiseer Mutassir

19872-434: Was not ready to establish a liberal democracy yet. Aflaq, who had been set free, was rearrested during al-Zai'm's presidency and sent to the notorious Mezzeh Prison . Al-Za'im's rule did not last for long, and in August 1949, he was toppled, and Hashim al-Atassi , who was democratically elected, took his place. Al-Atassi established a national unity government , and Aflaq was appointed to the post of Minister of Education ,

20016-439: Was regularly exploited by oppressive elites to sedate the people and prevent the outbreak of mass revolutions against the prevailing socio-political order. Aflaq wrote in his collection of essays titled " Fi Sabil al-Ba’ath " (trans. "The Road to Renaissance"): "... the oppressed who see religion in this era a weapon that the oppressors rely upon ... those who exploit the corrupt situation exploit this corruption because it drugs

20160-463: Was succeeded as Secretary General of the National Command by Munif al-Razzaz , a Jordanian of Syrian origin. However, the power between the two camps was unexpectedly reshuffled when Amin al-Hafiz defected to Aflaq's camp. In contrast to other military officers al-Hafiz had very little influence within or outside the party. Al-Hafiz's defection led to a resurgence of activity within Aflaq's faction, al-Bitar and Umran were brought back from Spain to form

20304-492: Was the Regional Secretary in 1990. While the branch has always been small, accounting for an estimated 1,000 members in 2003, it has been able to have a bigger impact than what its meager membership numbers would suggest, mostly due to Iraqi financing of the branch. After collaborating with the Arab nationalist Sudanese government for years, the Ba'ath Party broke off relations and became an opposition party in 1990—this would have disturbed Iraq if Sudan had not supported it during

20448-605: Was the only truth, but believed that the "importance of material economic conditions in life" was one of the greatest discoveries in modern history. Even so, Aflaq was critical of both capitalism and communism, and did not want either of the two power blocs to collapse during the Cold War , believing that the Cold War was a sort of check and balance on their power. For more than 2 decades, Michel Aflaq's essay compilation titled " Fi Sabil al-Ba’ath " (trans: "The Road to Renaissance")

20592-634: Was the primary ideological book of the Ba'ath party . The work was published by Aflaq in 1940. Aflaq's advocacy of a national revival conflicted with the problem of reconciling goals of Arab nationalism with the universal Islamic values so engrained in Arab life. His answer was to assert that Islam was the most sublime expression of Arabism : one had out grown out of the other and there is no contradiction between them. Arguing that Islam, from its inception, revealed in Arabic Qur'an, meets Arab needs, embodies Arab values and launched Arabs on their conquest of

20736-485: Was to ban all political parties, including the Ba'ath Party. The Ba'ath Party leadership, and several leading members, escaped to Lebanon in the wake of increased government repression. In Lebanon Aflaq and al-Bitar agreed to a merger of the Arab Ba'ath Party and the Arab Socialist Party (ASP), led by Akram al-Hawrani , to establish the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in 1952. The newly formed party worked as

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