I took issue a week or so ago with the contention that the Nur Ad-Din Al-Atasi (president of Syria before Hafidh Al-Asad) was some democrat, or some liberty crusader. All regimes of the Ba`th (in Syria and Iraq) have been brutal and savage regime. The Ba`th did not rule for one day without blood and fire. Yes, the Salah Jadid regime was not as corrupt as the subsequent Asad regime, and the leaders of that regime may have been more sincere in their attachment to that lousy ideology, but still: it was an oppressive regime that also was humiliatingly defeated in 1967 (and Hafidh Al-Asad was also responsible as he held senior positions in that regime). The fight between the Asad faction and the Jadid faction was a fight for power, and not for principle, although the Jadid faction may have been more supportive of Palestinian armed struggle (provided it was outside of Syria--just like the current lousy regime). But I came across this statement by Nur Ad-Din Al-Atasi from 1964 when he was Minister of Interior in the wake of student demonstrations in Banyas. He said:
"إننا نعلن مجدّداً بأن الأحكام العرفيّة مُعلنة في القطر العربي السوري حماية لأمن الوطن والمواطنين وأن التجمعات والمظاهرات ممنوعة ولقد آلينا على أنفسنا نحن الثورة, ثورة آذار, ثورة الوحدة والحريّة والإشتراكيّة, آلينا على أنفسنا أن نسحق كل تآمر وأن نضع حدّاً لكل محاولة للفوضى حتى نفسح لشعبنا مجالا في رحاب الأمن والإستقرار يلفت فيه لشؤون يومه ولمستقبل وطنه...إننا ننبه ونحذّر كل دسّاس وكل عميل بأن حسابنا سيكون عسيرا وأن ضربات شعبنا ستكون قاسية بلا شفقة ولا رحمة لمن يحاول ان يقيم العثرات في طريق ثروتنا المتوثّبة وقد أعذر من أنذر".
(دمشق, 17 شباط, 1964, نشرة الأنباء الداخليّ’, سوريا, مُدرجة في "الوثائق العربيّة, عام 1964, ص. 77-78)
(We announce anew that marshal laws are in effect in the Syrian Arab qutr (country) for the protection of the security of the homeland and the citizens, and that gatherings and demonstrations are banned. We have taken it upon ourselves we in the revolution, the March revolution, the revolution of unity and freedom and socialism, we have taken it upon ourselves to smash every conspirator and to put an end to an attempt at chaos to allow our people the chance in the atmosphere of security and stability to turn to his daily affairs and to the future of his homeland....We warn and put on alert every rumor monger and every agent that our score will be tough and that the strikes of our people will be harsh without mercy or pity toward whomever tries to put obstacles on the path of our galloping revolution, and he who has warned is excused.)
PS This is the lousy Ba`th Party--then and now and forever.
"إننا نعلن مجدّداً بأن الأحكام العرفيّة مُعلنة في القطر العربي السوري حماية لأمن الوطن والمواطنين وأن التجمعات والمظاهرات ممنوعة ولقد آلينا على أنفسنا نحن الثورة, ثورة آذار, ثورة الوحدة والحريّة والإشتراكيّة, آلينا على أنفسنا أن نسحق كل تآمر وأن نضع حدّاً لكل محاولة للفوضى حتى نفسح لشعبنا مجالا في رحاب الأمن والإستقرار يلفت فيه لشؤون يومه ولمستقبل وطنه...إننا ننبه ونحذّر كل دسّاس وكل عميل بأن حسابنا سيكون عسيرا وأن ضربات شعبنا ستكون قاسية بلا شفقة ولا رحمة لمن يحاول ان يقيم العثرات في طريق ثروتنا المتوثّبة وقد أعذر من أنذر".
(دمشق, 17 شباط, 1964, نشرة الأنباء الداخليّ’, سوريا, مُدرجة في "الوثائق العربيّة, عام 1964, ص. 77-78)
(We announce anew that marshal laws are in effect in the Syrian Arab qutr (country) for the protection of the security of the homeland and the citizens, and that gatherings and demonstrations are banned. We have taken it upon ourselves we in the revolution, the March revolution, the revolution of unity and freedom and socialism, we have taken it upon ourselves to smash every conspirator and to put an end to an attempt at chaos to allow our people the chance in the atmosphere of security and stability to turn to his daily affairs and to the future of his homeland....We warn and put on alert every rumor monger and every agent that our score will be tough and that the strikes of our people will be harsh without mercy or pity toward whomever tries to put obstacles on the path of our galloping revolution, and he who has warned is excused.)
PS This is the lousy Ba`th Party--then and now and forever.
