- Antun Saadeh
Antun Sa'adah ( _ar. انطون سعادة) (March 1, 1904-July 8, 1949) was a
Syrian nationalist thinker fromLebanon and founder of theSyrian Social Nationalist Party . He rejectedArab Nationalism and indeed the idea that the speakers of theArabic language formed a single nation, and argued instead for the creation of the state ofUnited Syrian Nation or Natural Syria . Initially he thought of this as equivalent to historic Syria. In a later revision of his premises, he extended it to include Iraq, making up a Syrian homeland that "extends from theTaurus range in the northwest and theZagros mountains in the northeast to theSuez Canal and theRed Sea in the south and includes theSinai peninsula and thegulf of Aqaba , and from the Syrian sea in the west, including the island ofCyprus , to the arch of the Arabian desert and the Persian gulf in the east." (Kader, H. A.).Sa'adah rejected both language and religion as defining characteristics of a nation, and instead argued that nations develop through the common development of a people inhabiting a specific geographical region. He was thus a strong opponent of both Arab nationalism and
Pan-Islamism . He argued that Syria was historically, culturally, and geographically distinct from the rest of the Arab world, which he divided into four parts. He traced Syrian history as a distinct entity back to thePhoenicians ,Canaanites , Assyrians,Babylonians etc. [ [http://www.ssnp.org/new/library/saadeh/misc/en/maronites.htm Saadeh ] ] and argued that Syrianism transcended religious distinctions.Fact|date=January 2008A Lebanese
Christian (Orthodox) from Dhour Choueir, after completing his education he emigrated to Brazil, joining his father Khalil Sa'adah who was a prominent Arabic-language journalist there. In 1932 he returned toBeirut and began to teach at theAmerican University of Beirut . That year he foundedSyrian Social Nationalist Party to oppose the French division of the region and push for unity. From 1935 on, he was repeatedly harassed and imprisoned by the French mandatory authorities, and as a result decided in 1938 to emigrate once again, returning to Brazil. After a short period there, he left for Argentina, where he continued his political journalism.Sa'adah returned to Lebanon on March 2, 1947, after the country's independence from the French. On July 4, 1949, the party declared a revolution in Lebanon in retaliation to a series of violent intimidations staged by the government of Lebanon against party members. The revolt failed and as he went to Damascus to meet
Husni el-Zaim (Republic of Syria ruler at the time), who was supposed to support him as previously agreed, he was handed by el-Zaim to Lebanese authorities. Saadeh and many of his followers were judged by a military court, and were executed. The capture, trial and execution happened in less than 48 hours. Saadeh's execution was at dawn of July 8, 1949.He published many books, treatises and articles during his life time on a wide range of topics.
He emphasizes the role of
philosophy andsocial science in the development of his social ideology. He viewssocial nationalism , which is his version of nationalism, as a tool to transform traditional society into a dynamic and progressive one.Secularization plays an important role in his ideology. Secularization is taken by him beyond the socio-political aspects of the question into its philosophical dimensions.References
Bibliography
*NUSHUU AL UMAM¨ : GENESIS OF NATIONS . Ed.:Damascus:1951. Trad. to Spanish: GENESIS DE LAS NACIONES.- por:Jalil Chaij. Bs.As.1981.
*"al-Islam fi Risalatayh" Islam in its two Messages: Mohammedanism and Christianity, by A. Saadeh
* [http://www.garnetpublishing.co.uk/html/antun_sa_adeh.html "Antun Sa'adeh: The Man, His Thought" edited by Adel Beshara]
* [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3577/adel_daher.html "Some Distinguishing Aspects of Saadeh's Thought" By Dr. Adel Daher]
* [http://www.ssnp.org/new/ssnp/en/ssnp.htm SSNP IDEOLOGY, as prepared by Dr. Haytham A. Kader]External links
* [http://www.syrianaccount.com Antoun Saadeh's full works and resources]
* [http://www.alqawmi.com Official website of Hizb alsouri alqawmi el Ijtima3i]
* [http://www.esaadah.com school of Antoun Saadah]
* [http://www.ssnp.org/new/library/saadeh/misc/en/motivated.htm "What Motivated me to Establish the Syrian Social Nationalist Party", by Antoun Saadeh]
* [http://www.ssnp.org/new/Saadeh/saadeh_en.htm Official SSNP Online Biography of Sa'adah]
* [http://www.antunsaadeh.com/ Antun Saadeh]
* [http://www.ssnp.com/new/multimedia/video/return.wmv SSNP video in Arabic about Antun Saadeh]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.