Ahmad al-Sharabati ( ar, أحمد الشرباتي; 1909 – 1975) was a Syrian politician and the defense minister of Syria between 1946 and 1948, serving in the post as Syria gained its independence from France and during the early days of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

Early life

Sharabati was born in Damascus in 1909, during Ottoman rule. His father, Uthman al-Sharabati, was a well-established merchant and a financier of the nationalist resistance movement against French Mandatory rule, which began in 1920. Ahmad was an engineer by trade, obtaining his graduate degree from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, after being a student at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

.Moubayed, 2006, p. 332.

Political career

French Mandatory rule

Sharabati returned to Damascus where he operated a tobacco plant and as a representative for

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

. In 1933, he helped co-found the Arab nationalist and anti-colonial organization, the

League of National Action The League of Nationalist Action ( ar, عصبة العمل القومي ''‘Usbat Al-'Amal Al-Qawmi''; french: Ligue d'action nationaliste), was a Syrian Arab nationalist anti-colonial political party, created in 1932–1933 by a lawyer of Homs ...

(LNA). The LNA called for the liberation of Arab countries from French and British rule and for the post-colonial economic integration of the Arab world. He left the LNA in 1936 to join the most prominent independence movement in Mandatory Syria, the National Bloc. Sharabati struck a particular alliance with the National Bloc's Damascus-based leaders, such as

Shukri al-Quwatli Shukri al-Quwatli ( ar, شكري القوّتلي, Shukrī al-Quwwatlī; 6 May 189130 June 1967) was the first president of post-independence Syria. He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Emp ...

and

Jamil Mardam Bey Jamil Mardam Bey ( ota, جميل مردم بك; tr, Cemil Mardam Bey; 1895–1960), was a Syrian politician. He was born in Damascus to a prominent aristocratic family. He is a descendant of the Ottoman general, statesman and Grand Vizier Lala ...

. Sharabati ran for parliament as a representative of Damascus in 1943, winning the seat. He was appointed by Prime Minister

Fares al-Khoury Faris al-Khoury ( ar, فارس الخوري, Fāris al-Khūrī) (November 20, 1877 – January 2, 1962) was a Syrian statesman, minister, prime minister, speaker of parliament, and father of modern Syrian politics. Faris Khoury went on to become p ...

education and national economy minister in March 1945. A year later, Syria gained full independence from France and was appointed defense minister by Prime Minister

Saadallah al-Jabiri Saadallah Al Jabiri ( ar, سعد الله الجابري; 1893–1947) was a Syrian Arab politician, a two-time prime minister and a two-time Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria. Jabiri was exiled by the French authorities to t ...

, despite scant knowledge and experience in military affairs. Sharabati's ally, President Quwatli tasked him to establish the post-independent

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

and was entrusted to win the favor of officers, which he was not able to do successfully.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharabati, Ahmad al- 1909 births 1975 deaths Syrian Arab nationalists Syrian nationalists Syrian ministers of defense Syrian ministers of education Syrian ministers of economy National Bloc (Syria) politicians Syrian people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Arabs from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Syrian people