Sophie 1087 words
As recently as the mid-1900s, the
French was the controlling power in Syria. Surrounding World War I and II, and
the fall of the Ottoman Empire, France was among the Allies who made a grab for
land and power in the Middle East. Like most of these occupations, it was
short-lived. The state of Greater
Lebanon was established in 1920, and Syria was reconstructed and divided in
ways that separated minorities. It is
around this time that Arab nationalism was rising, and protests began against
French occupation. The French wanted to stifle the movement, which was mainly
spearheaded by Sunni Muslim community. In an effort to slow the spread, new
lines were drawn up and land set apart for the separation of the Druze,
Alawite, other minority, and Sunni populations of Syria. This division is what
led to the total lack of unity within Syria, and is easily traceable as being
the root issue the Syrian war revolves around. Further, this effort to stifle
Arab nationalism in Syria failed. In 1928, elections were held for a constituent assembly, which drafted a
constitution for Syria. The French High Commissioner rejected the proposals,
sparking nationalist protests. These protests
continued, and after British involvement, and murmurings of violence, nearly
twenty years later the last French troops left Syria in 1946.
By April 17th 1946, the
French had left behind a new independent state. “The French policy of divide
and rule had eroded the ties among Syria’s religious and ethnic groups, forging
factions within each group and against the others” (Fildis). The results of
this divide are seen today in the utter chaos and conflicting interests in
Syria. From 1946 through the 60’s, Syria had at least twenty different cabinets
and had drafted four separate constitutions. Many competing parties were formed
at this point, including the Arab Socialist Ba’ath party, which Bashar al-Assad
is a member of. It was also at this time that Syria’s relationship with Russia
was formed, as the Soviet Union was an early ally in sending arms and other
resources. Power became increasingly concentrated in the military, which proved
itself most capable of gaining and maintaining power in the region.
The next traceable step in the
history of the Syrian conflict was Hafez al-Assad’s rise to power in 1970.
Often cited as being impressively bloodless, it still seems prudent to mention
Hafez al-Assad imprisoned all previous officials not a part of the Ba’ath
party. In March 1971, Assad was elected for a seven year term as president of
Syria. By 1973 the first riots broke out in reaction to an amendment to the
Syrian constitution that stated the president must be a Muslim. It is
speculated that Assad used secularism as a guise to replace Sunnis in
government with members of his own ethnic group, the Alawites.
A significant amount of the
political dissatisfaction with Assad can be credited to the conflict with
Israel during his early years as president. Previous leaders in the turmoil
after Syria’s independence had taken a strong anti-Israel stance, as had most
Arabs in the area. Under Assad, Syria took part in the Yom Kippur war, which
among other things, pushed Israelis further into Syrian regions. Famously, the
Golan Heights were lost at this time, which was a blow to Assad’s pride and perception
of power. Initially promising to indulge in diplomatic talks to get back the
Golan Heights, Assad proved himself very resistant to any diplomatic
conversations with Westerners or Israel, and to this day, the Golan Heights are
a part of Israel.
While Assad was playing foreign
policy in Israel, Iran, and in particular Lebanon, trouble was afoot back in
Syria. It is stated by many that Assad brought stability to Syria, though
certainly through a rigid intolerance of dissent and the implementing of a
police state. Still, though open dissent was repressed, there were many critics
of the government. A serious challenge arose in the late 1970’s from
fundamentalist Sunni Muslims. Their objections were to the secularization of
Syria, and the rule of Shia Alwaites. The first violence was in June 1979, when
the Muslim Brotherhood killed fifty Alawite cadets in a military academy. The
first assassination attempt was made on Assad a year later. Governmental
retaliation was carried out through a military unit who gunned down at least
two-hundred-fifty religious dissidents in their cells in a prison near Palmyra.
Most famously, dissidents rose violently in Hama, killing Ba’ath officials, and
broadcasting appeals for united insurrection. Assad’s response was to level
half the city. For three weeks the city was bombarded by tanks and planes,
while police went from house to house carrying out specified executions. This
massacre killed at least ten thousand residents, and brought large amounts of
condemnation from the West. After that,
Assad’s power was absolute. He proved his shrewdness and utter lack of mercy.
Protests ceased.
In 1994, Assad's son Bassel al-Assad, who was likely to succeed
his father, was killed in a car accident. Assad's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, was "relieved of his
post" as vice-president in 1998, after attempting to take power after
Hafez suffered a non-fatal heart attack. Rifaat al-Assad was exiled for a time,
and a civil war was avoided. Thus, when Assad died in 2000, his second son, Bashar al-Assad was chosen as his successor. He was elected leader of the Ba’ath party
and the army, and then ran unopposed in an election, which he won at age 34,
with what the government said was massive popular support.
Upon first taking office, Bashar al-Assad seemed he was
going to rule more gently than his father. He promised to reform Human-rights
protocol in Syria, and to bolster the economy, which had been poor since the
fall of the Soviet Union. When Syria was swept up into the protests of
the Arab Spring in March 2011, it was debated how Assad would react. Dissidents
were calling for political reform, the re-instatement of civil rights, an
economy-bolster, and an end to the state of emergency that has been in place
since 1963. In May 2011, there were violent crackdowns in Homs and Damascus. In
June, new parliamentary elections were promised, but no change came, and the
protests grew. As many countries called for Assad’s resignation, and Syria was
suspended from the Arab League, Assad has made no effort to reform or reconcile
with his divided nation. In the end, Bashar al-Assad seems to be more a product of his
environment than a transformational figure that could change that environment.
MacFARQUHAR, NEIL.
"Hafez Al-Assad." Hafez Al-Assad, Who Turned Syria Into a Power in
the Middle East, Dies at 69. New York Times International, 10 June 2000.
Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
Arnold, David.
"Syria’s 1982 Hama Massacre Recalled: Lesson for Assad Today?" Middle
East Voices. Middle East Voices, Feb.-Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2012/02/syrias-1982-hama-massacre-recalled-lesson-for-assad-today/>.
Guardian
FAQ. "1982: Syria's President Hafez Al-Assad Crushes Rebellion in
Hama."Thegaurdian. Archive Blog, 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/aug/01/hama-syria-massacre-1982-archive>.
News
Middle East. "Syria Profile." BBC News. BBC, 19 Sept. 2013.
Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14703995>.
Fildis,
Ayse Tekdal. "Middle East Policy Council." Middle East Policy
Council. Middle East Council, 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/roots-alawite-sunni-rivalry-syria?print>
"Bashar
al-Assad." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Sep 30 2013, 09:12http://www.biography.com/people/bashar-al-assad-20878575.
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