UNITY

What is the Syrian Social Nationalist Party? It is the party of the Fertile Crescent; includes the states of Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. It was founded politically by Antoun Saadah who fought against colonialism of the region and tried to unify the region, and was martyred upon execution in Lebanon in the summer of 1949. Syria is also known as Al Hilal Al Khasib. We are speaking of natural Syria rather than the Syrian Arab Republic which is a state created by colonialist divisions.

What is important, is that it entails the territory that was divided between England and France with the treaty of Sir Mark Sykes and Georges Picot of 1916 and Ottoman divisions of our peoples that promoted sectarian and feudal divsions. We seek to re-unite our region and form an Arabic bloc to protect our interests.  Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait are states of the Fertile Crescent area.

The language of the area is primarily Arabic along with minority languages spoken such as Aramaic, Armenian, and Kurdish. We respect all linguistic heritages in the region as we believe in pluralism. The SSNP is for unity of the Fertile Crescent bloc. It also expresses encourage for unity of the other Arabic blocs along the lines of pluralism and democracy and the fight against external exploitation.

The SSNP has more than one goal. It seeks to unify the Fertile Crescent. It seeks to promote intellectuality, education, and technology in the Nation, as it is a social party. It is interested in social issues and this could include ideas from both capitalism and socialism. The SSNP takes the society as a whole into consideration and is not classist.  The symbol of the party is the Zawba’a, which is the fusion of a cross and a crescent. It signifies our community awareness, acceptance; unity.

Economy

The North American Free Trade Agreement, the European Union, and the Gulf Cooperation council are all cultural and economic blocs. In the Fertile Crescent there exists no such bloc and this is not in the future interest of our peoples. The future dictates the necessity to create an economic bloc.  This entails economic integration of the fertile crescent or one market.

The smaller our nations are, the more vulnerable they could be to the larger economies. Secondly, it would be advantageous for other trading blocs to be dealing with a unified eastern market. Third, countries such as the state of Lebanon, with a dense population, could have access to other parts of the region. It would promote regional reliance rather than importing from the West, what can be produced in the region.

The local interest must coincide with a larger interest and market. We also are employing in this way some of the ideas behind political economy. This entails that economy plays a significant role in the development of the people.

Iraq

The Palestinians and the SSNP protest the embargo on Iraq and so do other Arabs. The Iraqi people are victims of American policies. Many Americans protested during the Gulf War and said "No Blood for Oil". In reality, much Iraqi blood has been exchanged for cheap American oil. These were Americans speaking the truth during demonstrations.

The mention of placing Western troops in the Persian Gulf is not a novel idea. President Eisenhower mentioned it in 1958 after he sent troops to Lebanon. Before him, the British were sending troops and mentioning the importance of having troop presence in the Gulf. Apparently the Americans have taken the role the British had as the British Empire. One calls this neo-colonialism.

Kuwait and Iraq were connected under Ottoman times and was historically part of the fertile crescent.  We do not concur with the use of force to unite our region.   The Iraqi regime sought to re-incoporate Kuwait into Iraq, since it was part of it.   The USA that labeled Iraq's regime as evil for doing this, aided Israel for decades in establishing themselves in Palestine, because Israel existed there 2100+ years ago, though a united Israelite kingdom did not exist for a long duration.

Saddam Hussein may not be a man of character. Yet, was George Bush honourable? He was the head of the CIA, had his son involved in lucrative projects in Kuwait after desert storm. Let us not forget he was involved with Manuel Noriega. Noriega was trained in the United States.  He was also allegedly involved in the Iran-Contra fiasco. One positive thing he did was see a certain hypocrisy in letting Israel continue to occupy land seized during the six-day war. The US attacked Nicaragua should we allow weapons inspectors to dismantle America’s weapons systems? How about inspecting Israel's Damona facilities that the jailed Vanunu spoke about?

In any case, during the Iran-Iraq war the Israelis were supplying Iran with weapons against Iraq and with the knowledge of certain American government officials and they were American weapons. This later outraged the Congress. The Israelis were to charge Iran extra and then channel the funds to the Contras in Nicaragua. At this time, Iran was supposed to be on America’s list of terrorist nations and Iraq was supposed to be helped by the US rather than be backstabbed. Was Saddam Hussein very wrong about what he said about the United States? We do not support Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, but are pointing to a double standard.

Though he has a serious record of human rights abuses, his anger was legitimate. Also, why was not the US on alert when its satellite showed Iraqi troops massed on Kuwait’s border? What about the conflicting statements of the US ambassador to Iraq, April Gallespie? Did they want an invasion and then send their soldiers in to have more control in the Middle East? If this is true, it would add salt to the injuries of the veterans who have Gulf War syndrome.

Iraq was the U.S.’s ally for many years. Then we see Kuwait pressuring Iraq to pay its debts and endangering itself while Saudi Arabia did not follow that path. The U.S. did nothing to mediate the impending crisis. The U.S. later spoke and condemned Saddam Hussein after they let him invade Kuwait. He was not condemned so much when he gassed Kurds in Hallabja; the US is not concerned about Kurds or Kuwaitis.  It is concerned about oil. Then again what would George Bush know about morality to lecture Saddam when he was part of the CIA that overthrew the Socialist leader of Chile, Salvador Allende? It would be analogous to having some foreign national trying to assassinate Bush backed by a certain country; that is called international terrorism. Also, the US used napalm on the Iraqis and burned many alive and that is a violation of Geneva conventions just as the Israeli dropping of napalm on Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon was a violation.

Iraq gets penalized for invading Kuwait. Israel, on the other hand, gets rewarded for keeping 1967 occupied Arab lands. It gets billions of dollars from Uncle Sam no matter what abuses of human rights they engage in. They can threaten China with human rights and then give Israel its check for human rights abuses. What hypocrisy it is to remember China’s Tiannamen but forget Israel’s killing of 45,000 Lebanese and Palestinians in Lebanon! The people in Iraq suffer and it is our suffering.  We express our solidarity with them and we express our solidarity with the Kuwaiti people who were victims like us all of this game. The Kuwaitis were wronged and the Iraqis were used to do this wrong in a sense.

Certainly the Iraqis are also being stripped of their weapons just as Libya’s chemical weapons plant was once attacked. It is acceptable for Israel to build nuclear weapons but not for Arab nations to have powerful armies. If one of the Arab leaders gives a slight excuse to the United States or is not wise, they will force their will upon that state. This was the case of Iraq. Certainly, Iraq’s leader is not a hero to us, but the United States had no problem being cordial with him when he sang their tune. They were also warm to Menachem Begin, the late Israeli Prime Minister, though he killed women and children and wrote about it. When some Arabs sided with Saddam it was because he was a vehicule for their frustration in regards to the oppression in the region caused by Uncle Sam and its "democratic" "ally" —Israel.

We do not want to see our Kuwaiti brothers strongly under the control of the United States. We do not apply to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, for we are not Latin American countries. It appears the Middle East is the new land of the Monroe Doctrine. We do not want our Kuwaiti brothers to be a colony and we do not want our Iraqi children to die of malnutrition. It is a serious crime for us to see our Iraqi brothers and sisters die this way. Iraq is the land of the two rivers, Babylon, Nineveh (Mosul), Basra, Baghdad, art, architecture, the wheel, literature, music, temples, land, and people. We ask that the embargo on Iraq be lifted or that an embargo on Israel be placed, so we can see the forces of justice at work, rather than the forces of bigotry. Enough said, something must be done to stop another 1,00,000 dead and it is not correct to dismantle Iraq’s chemical weapons when Israel, in violation of international law, has nuclear weapons and has invaded more countries than Iraq.

Women and Men

When people think of politics or nation building, they often think of male leaders and ignore the role of women. Queen Sheba, Queen Victoria, Indra Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Marie Curie, Zenobia of Tadmor (Palmyra), Syria, and Joan of Arc all played a role in the cultural and political lives of the people around them.

A woman, just as a man, should not be a spectator in the endeavours to build the nation. If you care, you will both play a role and encourage such participation across genders. Just as a male and female are essential roles in family building, so are they for the nation building for a nation is a large, extended family. There is no room for unhealthful gendercentric views.

Men surpass women in physical strength, in general, and that has been used to undermine the status of women in societies in the past. One must question the wisdom of using physical prowess, in modern times, as a reason to state one human being is superior to another human being. It is insecurity and imprudence that allows one to feel threatened by equality, under law, across genders and races. In any case, women may surpass men in certain fields and endeavors and vice versa.

It is often said women are more emotional than men. One may say that the emotions are just expressed differently. Men tend to react with violence and anger when compared to women. That involves emotions. Women tend to be too compassionate in many societies when the time is not appropriate. These are, of course, generalization and it differs within the genders themselves. Consult the appropriate psychology texts for a profound understanding.

Men of the Fertile Crescent can not build the nation alone. We value our women not just being there by our side, but being active. Women and Men can not build a family alone without the help of community and neither can men. Our nation requires every good woman and man, to make the Fertile Crescent all it can be in the world and spirit.

RACISM

Racism is a vital ingredient in engendering conflict. If one uses the definition in the strict and loose sense, it would also include neighbour fighting against neighbour, though they maybe from the same racial group in appearance and genetics. Ethnicity and race are attained through birth and not choice. Often, you hear someone has black, "Oriental", or "White" blood. In reality, blood is red for all races and a Caucasian can give blood to an African.

When we have racism towards black people, for instance, a process of dehumanization is occurring. On a simpler level, the Englishman and Irishman, who appear the same, in the past, dehumanized one another and now they are asked to work together. They appear the same, so what is the difference? The differences stem from socialization or what the different parents instill in their progeny. A philosopher one said that we live the scripts of the past. This is true to a large extent, but we can break the cycle and create a new story, or we can be sheep blindly moving to a slaughterhouse.

Essentially what separates people are their thoughts. A non-racist is one who is not holding racist thoughts. We all get negative feelings, but we can direct our thoughts. In the same way, the difference between a nervous person and a tranquil person is that the former is holding on to nervous energy and the calm person is not. You are, in a sense, what you think.

I will leave you with a story. According to a friend of mine, some Palestinians found a Jewish child after a fight. They took the Jewish boy and raised him just as they would one of their own and treated him no differently. That boy grew up to be a Palestinian fighter. Despite this fact, we fight one another in wars. Despite my knowing of this truth, others on the occupational side are occupying my lands and we have to resist.

We can have differences in thought and that is natural in the Fertile Crescent Yet, we should not have rivalries involving mental differences that involve destroying one another rather than uplifting one another. Let us have differences and let us respect them and see what we have that is similar and units us historically and culturally.

Crossing the Bridge of Divisions

In the Fertile Crescent, there are deep wounds and divisions. One should not be surprised. The ideas of divide and conquer were used by the colonial powers. They created new isolationist nationalisms that conflicted with the nationalism that spoke of a united Fertile Crescent. An example of these endeavours was the French thoughts of creating Druze and Alawite states.

We have common roots, languages, appearances, cuisine, and music. We often look at the negativity of others, without seeing that we, too, have our faults. Each one of us has positive contributions. Often, people first remember the negative and generalize. The Fertile Crescent peoples must accept what makes them different and unites them.

We know that we have fought one another and have had rivalries. When we were divided, we were relegated to certain groups. Often, groups are in competition with one another and in conflict. Especially, when outside forces having something to gain. That is our story. We do not seek harm to our friends… Let us, thus, make an effort to spread friendship and cooperation among Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis, Jordanians and Kuwaitis who are sons of the Syrian nation and Fertile Crescent.

The Palestinians in Lebanon are often used as a scape goat for that state's civil war. Certain Palestinian factions did carry out abuses and the SSNP opposed those moves, but not the legitimate fight against Israel.  When those bounds were overstepped, the SSNP opposed that behaviour as well as any behaviour from the Lebanese or Syrian fanctions that are not in accord with Pan Syrian principles of unity.  Nonetheless, conflict in the Lebanon was not due to the Palestinians.  It was due to sectarian troubles and external influences.

In reality, the Lebanese had a civil war in 1958 prior to 1975 and needed American help to maintain their sectarian dominated government. The Israelis entered Lebanon not because of a military threat.  The Israeli officially said that to the world, but it was known among Israeli circles that it was done to increase hatred among the Lebanese vis-à-vis Palestinians and to end the PLO’s political threat. The PLO since 1976 agreed to divide Palestine and was seeking a peaceful compromise. However, we believe in a solution that does not divide up Palestine and works to restoring regional unity.   This is the long-term solution.

This proved to be more threatening than anything military the PLO could do. As Arafat said when they tried to kill him in Tunisia in 1985 "They tried to kill me rather than negotiate with me". The Lebanese and Palestinians should realize they are both victims of Israeli aggression and manipulation.

The ancient Greek general Thucydides mentioned the folly of the Greeks fighting the Peloponesian war. It involved Greek tribes and cities against one another. It was a fratricidal war where Greek brothers killed one another and they had the same gods. He said that if the Greeks expanded their definition of what they considered friend, they would not engage in civil war. There was also the hypocricy of killing one another when they had the same idea of the divine. We have all done injustices to one another and victimized one another, and we hold the key through understanding, forgiveness and emotional restraint.

Obviously, we require diplomacy between one another. Diplomacy is ineffective in an environment of mistrust and fear. We, thus, must try to create a sense of trust between one another and operate from principles that engender unity and accept one another’s differences. Force, be it in the mental arguments or armed confrontations, will not create a healthful situation. Diplomacy entails keeping one’s emotions directed in a positive way and avoiding the negative emotions that move in a direction that is analogous to a train that runs into a river, drowning the passengers.

Membership

Who is a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party? It is a person who belongs to the fertile crescent as a qualification. He can be an Arab, Kurd, Assyrian (Ashuri), Syriac (Suryoyo), Maaloula Aramean, Circassian, Shia, Druze, Antiochian Orthodox, Sunni, Turkoman, Greek (of the Syrian region).

It covers all those people who live in the states of Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon, Iraq, and Cyprus is connected to the Syrian region in historical identity.

It entails subscribing to the ideas as mentioned in the page. It involves delving in practicalities of unity on the Syrian regional level, as it originates from historical precedent. It does not pit Iraqi Arabs against Kurd. We remember when Saladin Al Ayubi had an ethnically diverse army composed of Arabs and Kurds to fight colonialism in our region. If I may borrow the Indonesian slogan "unity in diversity." That is what is implied. The spirit of the person is the foci of our work. We believe in the Eastern spirit of our peoples and elevating us once again and the success of us on a local level largely related to collective success.