Jamal al-Atassi
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Jamal Al-Atassi (1922−2000) ( ar, جمال الأتاسي) was a
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 loc ...
n
Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...
, politician and author. He was one of the earliest ideologues of the nascent Syrian
Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...
, which he joined soon after it was founded. He helped to lay out its
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
and was the man who came up with the party's
motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
, "''One united Arab Nation with an eternal Message''." He also served as chief editor of the party's daily newspaper, '' Al Baath''.


Early life

Dr. Atassi belonged to a prominent
political family A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sibli ...
, and was educated at
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
University where he earned a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
in
clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...
in 1947. He practiced in this field from 1950-1958, in his home town and Atassi political base of
Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
, until lured into the public arena by the Arab nationalist movement led by the
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian president,
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
. Atassi strongly supported the union with Egypt that formed the
United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...
in 1958. Once again eschewing his medical training, Atassi returned to journalism and became chief editor of the pro-Nasser daily, ''Al Jamaheer'' (''The Masses'') until the union became defunct in 1961. During this time he worked, lectured and campaigned in favor of Nasser. When a coup in Syria dissolved the union, he became a vocal member of the opposition dedicated to restoring the UAR. This position put him at odds with the country's new democratic government led by
Nazim al-Kudsi Nazim al-Qudsi ( ar, ناظم القدسي, Nāẓim al-Qudsī or Nadhim Al-Kudisi; 14 February 1906 – 6 February 1998), was a Syrian politician who served as President of Syria from 14 December 1961 to 8 March 1963. Early life and education ...
, and he was a political outcast during those years from 1961 to 1963, when a new coup in March of that year brought to power a more nationalist and unionist wing of the Baath. Jamal's own cousin, the future president
Nureddin al-Atassi Noureddin Mustafa Ali al-Atassi ( ar, نور الدين مصطفى الأتاسي, translit=Nūr ad-Dīn Muṣṭafā al-'Atasī, 11 January 1929 – 3 December 1992) was President of Syria from February 1966 to November 1970. Early life and ...
became Minister of the Interior, and Jamal became Minister of Information in the cabinet of Prime Minister
Salah al-Din al-Bitar Salah al-Din al-Bitar ( ar, صلاح الدين البيطار, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn al-Biṭār; 1 January 1912 – 21 July 1980) was a Syrian politician who co-founded the Arab Ba'ath Party with Michel Aflaq in the early 1940s. As studen ...
, one of the founders of the Baath party. He was also voted into the party's Revolutionary Command Council. A mere four months later Atassi resigned after coming to the realization that restoration of the UAR was not a party priority. He then formed his own party, the
Arab Socialist Union The Arab Socialist Union may refer to: *Arab Socialist Union (Egypt), active 1962–78 *Arab Socialist Union (Iraq), active 1964–68 *Libyan Arab Socialist Union, active 1971−77 *Arab Socialist Union Party (Syria), founded in 1973 *Democratic Ar ...
, an umbrella group of dedicated unionists who wanted to restore the UAR and reappoint Nasser as president of Syria. Jamal Al-Atassi with
Sami Droubi Sami Droubi (surname also spelled ''al-Durubi'' or ''al-Drubi''; 1921 – 12 February 1976) was a Syrian politician, career diplomat, writer, translator, university professor and philosopher. He worked as a Syrian diplomat throughout the 1960s, se ...
translated
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have be ...
's book
The Wretched of the Earth ''The Wretched of the Earth'' (french: Les Damnés de la Terre) is a 1961 book by the philosopher Frantz Fanon, in which the author provides a psychoanalysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization upon the individual and the nation, and dis ...
into Arabic.


Political Opposition

In 1970 Jamal al-Atassi supported
Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...
after the a coup that ousted his cousin Nour al-Deen as president. He hoped Assad would take a harder line on reunification with Egypt. In March 1972, Assad formed the National Progressive Front, a Baath-led coalition of socialist parties. He invited Atassi, who by this time was one of the most venerated nationalists in the country, to join a 13-member committee delegated with administering the NPF's political affairs. Realizing that Assad opposed restoring the UAR or the NPF, he left within a year and formed a new organization, the
Democratic Arab Socialist Union The Democratic Arab Socialist Union ( ar, الاتحاد الاشتراكي العربي الديمقراطي, ''Al-ittiḥād al-ishtirākī al-'arabī al-dīmūqrāṭī''; French: ''Union arabe socialiste démocratique'') is a Nasserist democ ...
. Assad promptly outlawed it and sought to isolate Atassi, who was therefore never allowed to enter parliament.


Later life

From that time until his death, he continued to extoll pan-Arabism and worked for this ideal, albeit within the rigid confines of the Assad dictatorship. Together with other illegal parties, his DASU formed the National Democratic Rally in 1980, to act as a sort of mirror version to the NPF. Jamal al-Atassi became its official spokesman. Such was his stature at the time of his death, that Assad ordered him a semi-official state funeral, honoring him as a patriot of conviction and principle. In a family of political giants, Jamal al-Atassi managed to carve for himself a distinct place in the Syrian political landscape, and commanded wide respect among his countrymen despite his continued opposition to the Assad government. He was known as a great political mind with his own views on Arabism and socialism. His death was followed closely by the death of Assad himself in 2000. During the
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 act ...
(June 2000 through the autumn of 2001), a reformist pro-democracy political discussion forum was named in his honor, until it was disbanded in a crackdown by the Syrian Government.


Literary works

* ''The History of European Socialism'' * ''Socialism: Its Past and Future'' * ''The Ideology of
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
'' * ''Gamal Abdel Nasser: The Revolutionary Experience'' * ''Articles on Socialism'' (With
Michel Aflaq Michel Aflaq ( ar, ميشيل عفلق, Mīšīl ʿAflaq‎, , 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 politic ...
and
Munif al-Razzaz Munif al-Razzaz ( ar, منيف الرزاز; 19 December 1919 – 16 September 1984) was a Jordanian-Syrian physician and politician who was the second, and last, Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, havin ...
).


References

*
Sami Moubayed Sami Moubayed ( ar, سامي مروان مبيّض) (born 16 July 1978) is a Syrian historian and writer who has written extensively on the modern history of Damascus from the late Ottoman period until creation of the United Arab Republic in 1 ...
"Steel & Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000" (Cune Press, Seattle, 2005). {{DEFAULTSORT:Atassi, Jamal al- Syrian nationalists 1922 births 2000 deaths Syrian ministers of information Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region politicians People from Homs Syrian Arab nationalists
Jamal Jamal ( ar, جمال ''/'') is an Arabic masculine given name, meaning "beauty",Jamal
at BehindTheName.com
and a surna ...
Syrian people of Turkish descent