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The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (Arabic: al-Hizb al-Suri al-Qawmi al-Ijtima'i, often referred to in French as Parti Populaire Syrien) is a nationalist political party that advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian national state. The party's vision of Greater Syria includes present Syria, Lebanon, Cilicia, Palestine, Cyprus, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq. SSNP was founded in 1932 by Antun Saadeh, who was executed in 1949 after a failed coup in Lebanon. The party is currently most active in Lebanon and Syria.
Saadeh believed that Syria's greatness had been tarnished through a series of invasions, especially the invasion of Arab Muslims shortly after the founding of Islam. Saada in his writings often dismissed the Arab influence on Syria as being "of the East". To him, Syria was a "Western" nation, and its people Syrians, never Arabs.
The Party was a product of the widespread uncertainty of the 1930s. Men and women who joined the Party were from all social classes and sects, but especially from the poorer working classes. The party draws its support mainly from Orthodox Christians, Druze and Shia Muslims. Although Saada never explicitly decried Arabs or Muslims as being a problem in Syria, his projection of history largely alienated the vast majority of Syria's inhabitants, who were mostly Sunni Muslim and Arab. Neither were many Maronites drawn to its message. The Party's message sounded to many like a revival of a kind of secular Byzantine Empire. Without support of either Maronites or Sunni Muslims, the position of the party as a serious contender for central government power was short-lived. Many of the followers of the party gravitated towards Arab nationalism, particularly that of the Ba'ath Party and the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.
During the Lebanese Civil War SSNP militias fought alongside the nationalist and leftist forces, against the Phalangists and Israeli invaders. It took a pro-Syrian position in debate about Syria's role in Lebanon. In Syria SSNP was initially suppressed by the Ba'ath government, but during the presidency of Hafez al-Assad was increasingly tolerated. It is supportive of the current Syrian goverment. In spring 2005 the party was legalised in Syria. It is considered to be one of the largest political parties in the country, apart from the ruling Ba'th Party.
SSNP also has overseas branches in a variety of countries, including Australia, USA, Brazil, Argentina and several Western European countries.
References
- Irwin, Robert "An Arab Surrealist". The Nation, January 3, 2005, 23–24, 37–38. There is an online version, but only the first two paragraphs are shown to non-subscribers.