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Damascus Spring
The Damascus Spring ( ar, ربيع دمشق, ) was a period of intense political and social debate in Syria which started after the death of President Hafiz al-Asad in June 2000 and continued to some degree until autumn 2001, when most of the activities associated with it were suppressed by the government. It started with the Statement of 99 and the establishing of the Committees of Civil Society, then the Statement of 1000 was issued carrying the signature of 1000 Syrian intellectuals in 2001. Background Officially a Republic, Syria has been governed by the Baath Party since 1963 and was under Emergency Law from 1963 until 2011; the head of state since 1970 has been a member of the Assad family. Under Hafez al-Asad, president of Syria from 1970 until his death in 2000, political activity had been strictly controlled, and from 1980 onwards effective opposition activity became almost impossible. Five principal security agencies served primarily to monitor political dissent: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions), and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Syrian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Albanians, and Greeks. Religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. The capital and largest city of Syria is Damascus. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maher Charif
Maher Charif (Arabic alphabet, Arabic: ماهر الشريف, Arabic transliteration, transliterated Mahir ash-Sharif) is a Palestinian people, Palestinian Marxist historian specialising in modern Arab intellectual history and the history of Arab political movements. He is working as a lecturer and researcher on medieval, modern, and Arab history at the Institut français du Proche-Orient, French Near East Institute in Syria. Charif, a Palestinian refugee resident in Syria, has been a member of the Central Committee of the Palestinian People's Party,"Les délégations étrangères" ("The foreign delegations"). ''L'Humanité''. 11 September 1993. Retrieved 21 Mar. 2009. https://www.humanite.fr/popup_imprimer.html?id_article=683948 (French) and is a frequent commentator on politics and society in Arab newspapers. His works include: *''Al-bahth 'an kiyan '' ''(The Search for an Entity)'', on the ideological evolution of Palestinian political movements *''Filastin fi-l-arshif as-sirri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. According to Sunni traditions, Muhammad left no successor and the participants of the Saqifah event appointed Abu Bakr as the next-in-line (the first caliph). This contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad appointed his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. The adherents of Sunni Islam are referred to in Arabic as ("the people of the Sunnah and the community") or for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called ''Sunnism'', while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites and Ahlus Sunnah. Sunni Islam is sometimes referre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings spread far beyond Egypt, influencing today various Islamist movements from charitable organizations to political parties—not all using the same name. Initially, as a Pan-Islamic, religious, and social movement, it preached Islam in Egypt, taught the illiterate, and set up hospitals and business enterprises. It later advanced into the political arena, aiming to end British colonial control of Egypt. The movement's self-stated aim is the establishment of a state ruled by Sharia law–its most famous slogan worldwide being: "Islam is the solution". Charity is a major aspect of its work. The group spread to other Muslim countries but has its largest, or one of its largest, organizations in Egypt despit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atassi
Atassi, also spelled Atassi ( ar, الأتاسي) ( tr, Atasi/ Atasizade) is the name of a prominent family in Homs, Syria, of a noble and ancient lineage, dating back to the 15th century AD. More recently, members of the family lead the national movement against the French mandate. The power and prestige of the family reached an apex at the formation of the modern Republic of Syria in 1936, when its second head of state, Hashim al-Atassi was elected president. Two out of the seven members of the constitutional assembly who drafted the first constitution of Syria in 1919 were prominent Atassis: Wasfi al-Atassi and Hashim al-Atassi. Two more scions, Lu'ay al-Atassi and Nureddin al-Atassi, were in turn installed as heads of state in the 1960s. Family members included magistrates, governors, ambassadors, heads of political parties, military officers and other public officials throughout Ottoman and modern times. Background Many leading family members assumed prominent religious a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamal Al-Labwani
Kamal al-Labwani ( ar, كمال اللبواني; born October 10, 1957 in Zabadani, Syria) is a Syrian doctor and artist, He was released from Adra Prison, near Damascus on November 15, 2011, according to state media. Before his release, Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience. Life Dr. Al-Labwani comes from the small town of Zabadani in the Rif Dimashq province, close to the Lebanese border. In 1982, while serving as a military doctor, he observed the Hama massacre, in which the government crushed the uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. This induced him to oppose the ruling Ba'ath party. He founded the Syrian Liberal Democratic Union and joined the "Damascus Spring" movement, which briefly flourished after Bashar al-Assad became President of Syria in June 2001 after the death of his father. Kamal al-Labwani was arrested in September 2001 after attending a political seminar in the house of fellow activist and politician Riad Seif. Al-Labwani was take ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aref Dalila
Aref Dalila ( ar, عارف دليلة) (born 1942) is a Syrian economist and former Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Damascus University. He is currently working as a Senior Economic Researcher at Orient Research Center in the UAE. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 2002 on charges of "trying to corrupt the constitution, inciting armed rebellion and spreading false information" for his political activity during the Damascus Spring period, and imprisoned until released by presidential pardon in 2008. Academic career Born in Latakia, Dalila holds a doctorate in economics from Moscow University. In the 1980s, he worked in Kuwait. Later he returned to Syria, taking the post of Dean of Economics at Damascus University. In 1998, however, his criticism of the economic policies of President Hafez Assad allegedly led to his being banned from teaching. Following his dismissal, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the People's Council of Syria. 2001-2008 imprisonment In 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riad Al-Turk
Riad al-Turk ( ar, رياض الترك, born 1930 in Homs) is a prominent Syrian opposition leader, former political prisoner for about 20 years in Syria, and supporter of democracy, who has been called "the Old Man of Syrian opposition." He was secretary general of the Syrian Communist Party (Political Bureau) since its foundation in 1973 until 2005. Overview Al-Turk joined the Syrian Communist Party while a student. He was imprisoned for the first time in 1952 shortly after finishing law school for opposing the military government that came to power in a coup. He was held for five months and tortured but never tried in court. He later wrote articles for the party newspaper, ''Al-Nour'', and became a leading party ideologue. He was imprisoned again in 1958 under Nasser for opposing the merger of Syria and Egypt in the United Arab Republic and held for sixteen months. Again he was tortured but not tried for any crime. Turk had for some time been leading a faction within the Com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riad Seif
Riad Seif ( ar, رياض سيف; born 25 November 1946) is a Syrian political dissident and prominent businessman who founded and led the Forum for National Dialogue. Seif was elected to the Parliament of Syria in 1994 as an independent and again in 1998. For several years he owned an Adidas franchise in Damascus.Wright, ''Dreams and Shadows'', 2008, p. 218 Career According to Seif, his career in business started with "a workshop for manufacturing shirts in 1963." In 1993, he began "building the New Adidas Company in 1993 ... the first of its kind in Syria", after acquiring a franchise for Syria from the Adidas Corporation. Following the death of Syrian leader Hafez al Assad in June 2000, Seif assembled "leading yrianintellectuals and independent voices" to discuss "how to open up Syria's ... political system." The group – which met every Wednesday evening, in Seif's living room and was later dubbed the Forum for National Dialogue – "debated human rights, pluralism, press ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezze Prison
Mezzeh prison () is a now-defunct Syrian prison overlooking the capital, Damascus. Mezzeh (also transcribed as ''al-Mazzah'', ''el-Mezze'' etc.) is the name of a neighborhood in western Damascus. Both military and political prisoners were held at Mezzeh prison. The prison was an infamous embodiment of Syrian government repression. Widespread human rights abuses and torture has been reported from the Mezzeh prison throughout its history but most notably during the rule of Hafez al-Assad (1970–2000). History The hill-top structure dates back to crusader days. During the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, the French rebuilt it in 1920s and used Mezzeh to house anti-colonial fighters and political prisoners. However, the prison took on a central importance for Syrian political life only in 1949, after the first Syrian coup d'état. Coup leader Husni al-Za'im, then imprisoned his predecessor in Mezzeh, only to follow three and half months later when he was himself overthrown. Since t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
