Syria

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Syria

Constitution Constitution Human rights Executive President Bashar al-Assad Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa Najah al-Attar Prime Minister Adel Safar Cabinet Legislature Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash Judiciary Court system High Judicial Council Supreme Constitutional Court Divisions Governorates Districts Elections General elections 2007 pres. 2012 parl. Political parties National Progressive Front Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Foreign policy Foreign relations Arab–Israeli conflict

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Politics in the Syrian Arab Republic takes place in the framework of what is officially a parliamentary republic, but what is considered an authoritarian government^[1] where the power is in the hands of the President of Syria and his family, all members of the ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party which is a cell of the Syrian-led Ba'ath Party (established in 1966 when the original Ba'ath Party was dissolved and split into two).^[1] Since coming to power, a disproportionate number of leading positions have been awarded to members of the Alawi sent in a move akin to Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party governance in neighbouring Iraq between 1968 and 2003 when persons from Saddam's home town of Tikrit were appointed in prominent roles.

The two presidents who have been in power since 1970 — the late Hafiz al-Asad followed by his son Bashar al-Asad — were approved in plebiscites where there were no other candidates. The President and his senior aides, particularly those in the military and security services, ultimately make most basic decisions in political and economic life, with a limited degree of public accountability. The president issues laws, amends the constitution by decree; appoints ministers, civil servants and military personnel subject to the law; declares war and states of emergency. Decrees issued by the president must be approved by the People's Council to become law, except during a state of emergency which was in force until 21 April 2011 when it was lifted during the 2011 Syrian uprising, (the end of it being one of the key demands of the protesters).^[2] The Ba'ath Party is Syria's ruling party and the constitution states that "the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party leads society and the state."^[1] At least 167 seats of the 250-member parliament are guaranteed for the National Progressive Front, which is a coalition of the Ba'ath Party and several other much smaller allied parties.^[3] The Syrian army and security services maintained a considerable presence in the neighbouring Lebanese Republic from 1975 until April 24, 2005; for more detail on this, see Syrian presence in Lebanon.^[4]

Background[link]

Hafiz al-Asad took power in 1970, and after his death in 2000 was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Asad. Totaling the years makes it the second longest ruling regime in the Arab world after Muammar al-Gaddafi's. The regime's survival is due partly to a strong desire for stability and its success in giving groups such as religious minorities and peasant farmers a stake in society. The expansion of the government bureaucracy has also created a large class loyal to the regime. The President's continuing strength is due also to the army's continued loyalty and the effectiveness of Syria's large internal security apparatus, the top leaderships of which are largely made up of members of Asad's own Alawi sect. The several main branches of the security services operate independently of each other and outside the legal system. Each continues to be responsible for human rights violations.

There was a surge of interest in political reform after Bashar al-Asad assumed power in 2000. Human rights activists and other civil society advocates, as well as some Parliamentarians, became more outspoken during a period referred to as "Damascus Spring" (July 2000-February 2001). Asad also made a series of appointments of reform-minded advisors to formal and less formal positions, and included a number of similarly oriented individuals in his Cabinet. The arrest and long-term detention of two reformist Parliamentarians, Ma’mun al-Humsy and Riad Seif, in August and September 2001, respectively, and the apparent marginalizing of some of the reformist advisors in the past four years, indicate that the pace of any political reform in Syria is likely to be much slower than the short-lived Damascus Spring promised.

Ba'athism[link]

All three branches of government are guided by the views of the Ba'ath Party, whose primacy in state institutions is assured by the constitution. The party holds a two-thirds majority in the Syrian parliament. In recent years, there has been a gradual decline in the party's preeminence, often in favor of the leadership of the broader National Progressive Front. The party also is now dominated by the military, which consumes a large share of Syria's economic resources. The Ba'ath platform is proclaimed succinctly in the party's slogan: "Unity, freedom, and socialism." The party is both socialist, advocating state ownership of the means of industrial production and the redistribution of agricultural land (in practice, Syria's nominally socialist economy is effectively a mixed economy, composed of large state enterprises and private small businesses), and revolutionary, dedicated to carrying a pan-Arab revolution to every part of the Arab world. Founded by Michel Aflaq, a Syrian Christian, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, a Syrian Sunni, and Zaki al-Arsuzi, a alawite, the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which was dissolved in 1966 following the 1966 Syrian coup d'état which led to the establishment of one Iraqi-led ba'ath movement and one Syrian-led ba'ath movement. The party embraces secularism and has attracted supporters of all faiths in many Arab countries, especially Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Since August 1990, however, the party has tended to de-emphasize socialism and to stress pan-Arab unity.

Six smaller political parties are permitted to exist and, along with the Ba'ath Party, make up the National Progressive Front (NPF), a grouping of parties that represents the sole framework of legal political party participation for citizens. While created ostensibly to give the appearance of a multi-party system, the NPF is dominated by the Ba'ath Party and does not change the essentially one-party character of the political system. Non-Ba'ath Party members of the NPF exist as political parties largely in name only and conform strictly to Ba'ath Party and government policies. There were reports in 2000 that the government was considering legislation to expand the NPF to include new parties and several parties previously banned; these changes have not taken place. However, one such party- the Syrian Social Nationalist Party- was legalised in 2005.

Traditionally, the parties of the NPF accepted the socialist and Arab nationalist ideology of the regime. However, the SSNP was the first party that is neither socialist nor Arab nationalist in orientation to be legalised and admitted to the NPF. This has given rise to suggestions that broader ideological perspectives may be afforded some degree of toleration in the future, but ethnically-based (Kurdish and Assyrian) parties continue to be repressed and a strict ban on religious parties is still enforced.

The Ba'ath Party dominates the Legislature, which is known as the People's Council. Elected every 4 years, the Council has no independent authority. Although legislators may criticize policies and modify draft laws, they cannot initiate laws, and the executive branch retains ultimate control over the legislative process. During 2002, two independent members of Legislature who had advocated political reforms were stripped of their parliamentary immunity and tried and convicted of charges of "attempting to illegally change the constitution." The government has allowed independent non-NPF candidates to run for a limited allotment of seats in the 250-member People's Council. The current allotment of non-NPF deputies is 83, ensuring a permanent absolute majority for the Ba'ath Party-dominated NPF. Elections for the 250 seats in the People's Council last took place in 2007.

Syria's Emergency Law was in force from 1963, when the Ba'ath Party came to power, until 21 April 2011 when it was rescinded by Bashar al-Assad (decree 161). The law, justified on the grounds of the continuing war with Israel and the threats posed by terrorists, suspended most constitutional protections.^[5][4]

Government administration[link]

The Syrian constitution vests the Ba'ath Party (formally the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party) with leadership functions in the state and society and provides broad powers to the president. The president, approved by referendum for a 7-year term, is also Secretary General of the Ba'ath Party and leader of the National Progressive Front. The president has the right to appoint ministers (Cabinet of Syria), to declare war and states of emergency, to issue laws (which, except in the case of emergency, require ratification by the People's Council), to declare amnesty, to amend the constitution, and to appoint civil servants and military personnel. The late President Hafiz al-Asad was confirmed by unopposed plebiscites five times. His son and current President Bashar al-Asad, was confirmed by an unopposed referendum in July 2000. He was confirmed again in 2007 with 97% of the vote approving.^[6]

Along with the National Progressive Front, the president decides issues of war and peace and approves the state's 5-year economic plans. The National Progressive Front also acts as a forum in which economic policies are debated and the country's political orientation is determined. However, because of Ba'ath Party dominance, the National Progressive Front has traditionally exercised little independent power.

The Syrian constitution of 1973 requires that the president be Muslim but does not make Islam the state religion. Islamic jurisprudence, however, is required to be the main source of legislation. The judicial system in Syria is an amalgam of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws, with three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. In addition, religious courts handle questions of personal and family law.

The Ba'ath Party emphasizes socialism and secular Arabism. Despite the Ba'ath Party's doctrine on building national rather than ethnic identity, the issues of ethnic, religious, and regional allegiances still remain important in Syria.

Legislative branch[link]

The People's Council (Majlis al-Sha'ab) has 250 members elected for a four year term in 15 multi-seat constituencies. Unlike parliaments in many other countries, the People's Council does not draft laws but modifies and critiques drafts put forward by the president of Syria^[7] and has no opposition members. Syria is a single-party state and only one political party, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party is legally allowed to hold effective power. Of the 250 seats in the council, 167 are guaranteed for the National Progressive Front (founded in 1972) and 134 of these (as of 2007) are members of the Ba'ath Party. The minor parties in the Progressive Front, are legally required to accept the leadership of the Ba'ath Party. The other parties in the Progressive Front, for example, are not allowed to canvass for supporters in the army or the student body which are "reserved exclusively for the Ba'ath."^[8]

Political parties and elections[link]

International organization participation[link]

Syria is a member of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab League, Arab Monetary Fund, Council of Arab Economic Unity, Customs Cooperation Council, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Food and Agricultural Organization, Group of 24, Group of 77, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Chamber of Commerce, International Development Association, Islamic Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Finance Corporation, International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, International Olympic Committee, International Organization for Standardization, International Telecommunication Union, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, United Nations, UN Commission on Human Rights, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Universal Postal Union, World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, and World Tourism Organization.

Syria's diplomats last sat on the UN Security Council, (as a non permanent member) in December 2003.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Syria list at CIA Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members, 16 February 2011
• Syria Government at the Open Directory Project
• Syria 2010 Public Opinion Survey, Pepperdine University's in-person survey of 1046 Syrian adults about corruption, democracy and human rights, politics and economics, and their personal and family situations
• Syria at the United States Institute of Peace
• Syria Policy categorizes new stories published over the past 24 hours by major news agencies.

Further reading[link]

• Raymond Hinnebusch: The Political Economy of Economic Liberalization in Syria, in: International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 27 - Nr. 3, August 1995, S. 305-320.
• Raymond Hinnebusch: State, Civil Society, and Political Change in Syria, in: A.R. Norton: Civil Society in the Middle East, Leiden, 1995.
• Ismail Küpeli: Ibn Khaldun und das politische System Syriens - Eine Gegenüberstellung, München, 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-75458-3 (critical approach with reference to the political theory of Ibn Khaldun)
• Moshe Ma’oz / Avner Yaniv (Ed.): Syria under Assad, London, 1986.
• Nikolaos van Dam: The Struggle for Power in Syria, London, 1981.

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Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk at a book festival in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2008.
Born	(1946-07-12) 12 July 1946 (age 65) Maidstone, Kent, England
Education	Lancaster University (B.A., 1968) Trinity College, Dublin (Ph.D., 1985)
Occupation	Middle East correspondent for The Independent
Notable credit(s)	Jacob's Award, Amnesty International UK Press Awards, British Press Awards, International Journalist of the Year, "Reporter of the Year", David Watt prize, Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize
Website
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/

Robert Fisk (born 12 July 1946) is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years.^[1] He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and its 2003 invasion of Iraq. Fisk holds more British and International Journalism awards than any other foreign correspondent.^[2]

Career[link]

The New York Times once described Robert Fisk as "probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain."^[3] He reported the Northern Ireland troubles in the 1970s, the Portuguese Revolution in 1974, the Lebanese Civil War, the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. A vernacular Arabic speaker,^[4] he is one of few Western journalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden, and did so three times between 1994 and 1997.^[5][6] His awards include being voted International Journalist of the Year seven times.

Fisk has said that journalism must "challenge authority, all authority, especially so when governments and politicians take us to war." He has quoted with approval the Israeli journalist Amira Hass: "There is a misconception that journalists can be objective ... What journalism is really about is to monitor power and the centres of power."^[7] Speaking on "Lies, Misreporting, and Catastrophe in the Middle East," at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 22 September 2010, Fisk stated, "I think it is the duty of a foreign correspondent to be neutral and unbiased on the side of those who suffer, whoever they may be." ^[8]

He has written at length on how much of contemporary conflict has its origin, in his view, in lines drawn on maps: "After the allied victory of 1918, at the end of my father's war, the victors divided up the lands of their former enemies. In the space of just seventeen months, they created the borders of Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia and most of the Middle East. And I have spent my entire career—in Belfast and Sarajevo, in Beirut and Baghdad—watching the people within those borders burn."^[9]

Fisk is a pacifist and has never voted.^[10]

The blogosphere term fisking originates from various American conservative blogs, which have taken particular issue with Mr. Fisk, who holds a "very skeptical view of U.S. foreign policy", and his articles and reports. Many of these bloggers have responded by reprinting his dispatches on their blogs, adding their own paragraph-by-paragraph commentary, purportedly dissecting and debunking Fisk's facts and opinions.^[11] Irrespective of the success of their endeavour, the term "fisking" has come to denote the practice of "savaging an argument and scattering the tattered remnants to the four corners of the internet".^[12]

In a 2002 appearance at the Cambridge Union Society, actor John Malkovich when asked whom he would most like to "fight to the death", replied that he would "rather just shoot" journalist Robert Fisk and British MP George Galloway.^[13] Both Fisk and Galloway reacted with outrage.^[14][15]

Early career[link]

Fisk was educated at Yardley Court preparatory school,^[16] Sutton Valence School and at Lancaster University ^[17] and has a PhD in Political Science, from Trinity College, Dublin in 1983.^[18] The title of his doctoral thesis was "A condition of limited warfare: Éire’s neutrality and the relationship between Dublin, Belfast and London, 1939–1945".^[18] He worked on the Sunday Express diary column before a disagreement with the editor, John Junor, prompted a move to The Times.^[19] From 1972–75, the height of The Troubles, Fisk served as Belfast correspondent for The Times, before becoming its correspondent in Portugal covering the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution. He then was appointed Middle East correspondent (1976–1988). When a story of his was spiked (Iran Air Flight 655) after Rupert Murdoch's takeover, he moved to The Independent, with his first report published there on 28 April 1989.

Lebanon, and other conflicts[link]

Fisk has been living in Beirut since 1976,^[20] and was present in Beirut throughout the Lebanese civil war. He was one of the first journalists to visit the scene of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon, as well as the Syrian Hama Massacre. His book on the Lebanese conflict, Pity the Nation, was first published in 1990. Fisk also reported on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Kosovo war, the Algerian civil war, and the Iran-Iraq War. Fisk suffered partial but permanent hearing loss as a result of being close to Iraqi heavy artillery in the Shatt-al-Arab when covering the early stages of the Iran-Iraq conflict.^{[citation needed]}

Osama bin Laden[link]

Fisk is one of the few Western journalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden—three times (all published by The Independent: 6 December 1993, 10 July 1996, and 22 March 1997). During one of Fisk's interviews with Bin Laden, Fisk noted an attempt by Bin Laden to convert him. Bin Laden said; "Mr Robert, one of our brothers had a dream. He dreamed ... that you were a spiritual person ... this means you are a true Muslim." Fisk replied; "Sheikh Osama, I am not a Muslim ... I am a journalist ... A journalist's task is to tell the truth." Bin Laden replied: "If you tell the truth, that means you are a good Muslim."^[21][22]

During the 1996 interview, Bin Laden accused the Saudi royal family of corruption. During the 1997 (and final) interview, Bin Laden said he sought God's help "to turn America into a shadow of itself".^[23]

11 September attacks[link]

Fisk condemned the 11 September 2001 attacks, describing them as a "hideous crime against humanity." He also denounced the Bush administration's response to the attacks, arguing that "a score of nations" were being identified and positioned as "haters of democracy" or "kernels of evil," and urged a more honest debate on U.S. policy in the Middle East. He argued that such a debate had hitherto been avoided "because, of course, to look too closely at the Middle East would raise disturbing questions about the region, about our Western policies in those tragic lands, and about America's relationship with Israel."^[24]

In August 2007 Fisk expressed personal doubts about the official historical record of the 11 September attacks. In an article for The Independent, he claimed that, while the Bush administration was incapable of successfully carrying out such attacks due to its organisational incompetence: "I am increasingly troubled at the inconsistencies in the official narrative of 9/11." He proceeded to raise his concerns about a lack of aircraft debris, the melting point of steel, the collapse of World Trade Center 7, misidentified suicide-hijackers, the authenticity of correspondence attributed by the CIA to Mohamed Atta, and other familiar questions that have circulated within the 9/11 Truth Movement. He added that he does not condone the "crazed 'research' of David Icke [...] I am talking about scientific issues".^[25] Fisk had earlier addressed similar concerns in a speech at Sydney University in 2006.^[26] During the speech, Fisk said: "Partly I think because of the culture of secrecy of the White House, never have we had a White House so secret as this one. Partly because of this culture, I think suspicions are growing in the United States, not just among Berkeley guys with flowers in their hair [...] But there are a lot of things we don’t know, a lot of things we’re not going to be told [...] perhaps the plane was hit by a missile, we still don’t know."^[27]

War in Afghanistan[link]

After the United States launched its attack on Afghanistan, Fisk was for a time transferred to Pakistan to provide coverage of that conflict. While reporting from there, he was attacked and beaten by a group of Afghan refugees fleeing heavy bombing by the United States Air Force. He was saved from this attack by another Afghan refugee. In his graphic account of his own beating, Fisk pardoned the attackers of responsibility and pointed out that their "brutality was entirely the product of others, of us—of we who had armed their struggle against the Russians and ignored their pain and laughed at their civil war and then armed and paid them again for the 'War for Civilisation' just a few miles away and then bombed their homes and ripped up their families and called them 'collateral damage.'"^[28]

Iraq[link]

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Fisk was stationed in Baghdad and filed many eyewitness reports. He has criticized other journalists based in Iraq for what he calls their "hotel journalism", literally reporting from one's hotel room without interviews or first hand experience of events.^[29] His opposition to the war brought criticism from both Irish Sunday Independent columnist and senator, Eoghan Harris,^[30] and The Guardian columnist, Simon Hoggart.^[31]

Fisk has criticised the American handling of the sectarian violence in post-invasion Iraq, and argued that the official narrative of sectarian conflict is not possible: "The real question I ask myself is: who are these people who are trying to provoke the civil war? Now the Americans will say it's Al Qaeda, it's the Sunni insurgents. It is the death squads. Many of the death squads work for the Ministry of Interior. Who runs the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad? Who pays the Ministry of the Interior? Who pays the militia men who make up the death squads? We do, the occupation authorities [...] We need to look at this story in a different light."^[32]

Books and other works[link]

Books[link]

Fisk has published a number of books. His 2005 work, The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East, with its criticism of Western and Israeli approaches to the Middle East, was well-received by critics and students of international affairs, and is perhaps his best-known work.

• The Point of No Return: The Strike which Broke the British in Ulster (1975). London: Times Books/Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-96682-X
• In Time of War: Ireland, Ulster and the Price of Neutrality, 1939–1945 (2001). London: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 0-7171-2411-8 (1st ed. was 1983).
• Pity the Nation : Lebanon at War (3rd ed. 2001). London: Oxford University Press; xxi, 727 pages. ISBN 0-19-280130-9 (1st ed. was 1990).
• The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East (October 2005) London. Fourth Estate; xxvi, 1366 pages. ISBN 1-84115-007-X
• The Age of the Warrior: Selected Writings (2008) London, Fourth Estate ISBN 978-0-00-727073-6

Video documentary[link]

Fisk produced a three-part series titled From Beirut To Bosnia in 1993 which Fisk says was an attempt "to find out why an increasing number of Muslims had come to hate the West."^[33] Fisk says that the Discovery Channel did not show a repeat of the films, after initially showing them in full, due to a letter campaign launched by pro-Israel groups such as CAMERA.^[33][34]

Forgery misattributed to Robert Fisk[link]

• Saddam Hussein—From Birth to Martyrdom (2007). Egypt: Ibda; 272 pages.^[35]

Awards[link]

In 1991, Fisk won a Jacob's Award for his RTÉ Radio coverage of the first Gulf War.^[36] He received Amnesty International UK Press Awards in 1998 for his reports from Algeria and again in 2000 for his articles on the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999. In 1999, Fisk won the Orwell Prize for journalism.^[37]

He has received the British Press Awards' International Journalist of the Year seven times, and twice won its "Reporter of the Year" award.^[38] In 2001, he was awarded the David Watt Prize for "outstanding contributions towards the clarification of political issues and the promotion of their greater understanding" for his investigation into the Armenian Genocide by the Turks in 1915.^[39] In 2002 he was the fourth recipient of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. More recently, Fisk was awarded the 2006 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize along with $350,000.^[40]

He was made an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of St Andrews on 24 June 2004. The Political and Social Sciences department of Ghent University (Belgium) awarded Fisk an honorary doctorate on 24 March 2006. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the American University of Beirut in June 2006. Trinity College Dublin awarded him a second, honorary, Doctorate in July 2008.^[41]

Fisk gave the 2005 Edward Said Memorial lecture at Adelaide University.^[42]

In 2011, Fisk was awarded the International Prize at the Amalfi Coast Media Awards in Italy.^[43]

Fisk is also a recipient of the College Historical Society's "Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse".^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Robert Fisk on Shakespeare and war
• Man of War by Rachel Cooke of The Observer, 13 April 2008
• Journalism and 'the words of power': Robert Fisk address to the fifth Al Jazeera annual forum on 23 May

External links[link]

	England portal
	Biography portal

• Column archive at The Independent
• Robert Fisk at ZSpace
• Article archive at Journalisted
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Robert Fisk on Charlie Rose
• Robert Fisk at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Robert Fisk in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Robert Fisk on the Gap Between U.S. Rhetoric and Action in the Egyptian Uprising—video interview by Democracy Now!, 2011
• Interview with Robert Fisk in Lebanon - 16 May 2011 (The Student Journals)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robert Fisk

Syrian people
الشعب السوري
Sūriyyīn

Julia Domna Philip the Arab Posidonius Simeon Stylites John of Damascus Elagabalus Zenobia Francis Marrash Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi Qestaki al-Homsi Hashim al-Atassi Faris al-Khoury Jamil al-Ulshi Yusuf al-Azma Sultan Pasha al-Atrash Sami al-Hinnawi Zaki al-Arsuzi Akram El-Hourani Asmahan Riad Ismat Abdallah Dardari George Mourad Asalah Nasri George Wassouf Ghassan Massoud
Total population
Syria: 22,530,746 (July 2012 est.)[1] Diaspora: 17,000,000[2]
Languages
Contemporary Arabic Ancient languages Eblaite, Amorite, Ugaritic, Aramaic
Religion
Islam, mostly Sunni, and a minority of Alawites and Druze Christianity, mostly Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Other Semitic peoples: (due to Arameans and Canaanite Ancestors): Arabs · Assyrians · Lebanese · Palestinians Jordanians · Iraqis · Bahranis · Maltese · Mizrahi Jews Various Iranian peoples: Kurds · Persians · Ossetians Various Aryan peoples: Albanians · Armenians Bosniaks · Greeks Various Caucasians: Georgians · Adyghe Abkhazians · Chechens Various Turkic peoples: Azeris · Turks Various Afro-Asiatic peoples: Egyptians · Berbers

The Syrian people (Arabic: الشعب السوري‎ / ALA-LC: al-sha‘ab al-Sūrī) are the inhabitants and citizens of Syria and are, overall an indigenous Eastern Mediterranean people. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history, they are, in fact, largely a blend of the various Aramaic speaking groups indigenous to the region who were Arabized when Muslim Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula arrived and settled following the Arab expansion. Syrians are tied together by geography, linguistic heritage, religion, and similar Eastern Mediterranean ethnicities. Most Syrians reside primarily in Syria; however 17 million Syrians^[2] live outside of Syria and they stay connected to their cultural roots by watching Syrian satellite television, listening to Syrian music and preparing Syrian cuisine.

Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the most continuously inhabited cities^[3][4] in the world (for 8000 years straight, Syrians inhabited Damascus), and a large percentage of Damascenes are the descendents of the early inhabitants of Damascus.

Language[link]

Arabic is the mother tongue of some 90%^[1] of Syrians as well as the official state language. The Syrian dialect, which belongs to the same Eastern Mediterranean-Levantine family tree of dialects, varies little from Modern Standard Arabic; however it is uniquely different from the other Arabic vernaculars in that it is saturated with Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, Persian, and Phoenician words. However, the standardized form of Arabic, used in formal settings throughout the Arab world, contains the same vocabulary and grammar for all Arab countries. Kurdish, Turkish, and Circassian are also spoken in Syria by their respective minority communities. A direct decendent of the Aramaic of Jesus Christ, is still spoken in ancient Christian village of Ma'loula as well as widely understood within many other Syrian-Christian communities -- all of whom use Syriac as a liturgical language. English, and to a lesser extent French, is widely understood and used in interactions with tourists and other foreigners.

Religion[link]

Religious differences in Syria have historically been tolerated, and religious minorities tend to retain distinct cultural, and religious identities. Sunni Islam is the religion of 74% of Syrians. The Alawites, an ancient off-shoot of Shia Islam that is distinct from Sunni Islam, make up 12% of the population and mostly live in and around Latakia. Christians make up 10% of the country. Most Syrian Christians adhere to the Byzantine liturgical rites, the two largest are the Greek Orthodox and the Greek Catholic churches^[5][6]. The Druze, are a mountainous people who reside in Jebel Druze. The Druze, who helped spark the Great Syrian Revolt, are known as fierce soldiers. The Ismailis are an even smaller sect, that originated in Asia. A small number of Armenian Christians fled Turkey during the Armenian Genocide and settled in Syria. The Kurds, although Sunni Muslim, are very secular and have a distinct language. The Circassians, are of North Caucasus origin and are mostly Sunni Muslim, following the Hanafi school of thought. The Circassians number about 100 000 and mostly live in northern Syria. The nomadic Beduoin lead a lifestyle that keeps them largely separated from the rest of society, herding sheep and moving through the desert, although some have settled in towns and villages. One group that remains on the outside of society both politically and socially, is the roughly 100,000 Palestinian refugees, who were expelled from their homeland in 1948 after the creation of Israel.

Beliefs[link]

As a Mediterranean people, the Syrian people are a mosaic of West and East. Conservative and liberally minded people will live right next each other, and hold debates with each other. Like the other countries in the region, religion permeates life; the government registers every Syrian's religious affiliation.

Cuisine[link]

Syrian cuisine is dominated by Mediterranean ingredients. Olive oil, garlic, olives, peppermint, and sesame oil are some of the ingredients that are used in many traditional meals. Traditional Syrian dishes enjoyed by Syrians include, tabouleh, labaneh, shanklish, wara enab, makdous, kebab, sfiha, moutabal, hummus, maneesh, bameh, and fatoush. Before the main courses, Syrians eat maza, which is basically an appetizer. Syrian Muslim men are more likely to drink tea with their maza; whereas Syrian Christian men prefer to drink Arak with their maza.

Ancient Syrians[link]

100 Syrian pound note with Philip the Arab.

Ancient Syria has stood as a testament to the many cultural and artistic achievements in ancient human civilization. Modern archaeological discoveries have produced extensive writings, which illustrate a brilliant culture rivaling those of Egypt and Mesopotamia in and around the ancient city of Ebla, Syria. Later Syrian artists and scholars contributed to Hellenistic and Roman thought and culture. Shortly after becoming a province of the Byzantine Empire, an indigenous Syrian^[7], Philip the Arab became emperor in 244 AD and quickly signed a peace deal with the Persian Empire. According to the historian Eusebius, Philip the Arab is the first Christian emperor of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Even though he was from the equestrian order, Philip the Arab rose through the Roman rank and file by merit. After Decius's victory over the Goth invasions, Decius's army declared him Emperor and he went on to defeat Philip the Arab's forces in the battle of Verona^[8].

Zenobia or Zainab in Arabic, was a "warrior queen" who ruled Syria from 267 AD to 272 AD and built the Palmyrene Empire that included the conquest of Egypt. After realizing Zenobia's threat to the Roman Empire, the Roman emperor Aurelian decided to turn his attention away from fighting the Gauls to stopping Zenobia's quest for more Roman territory. In the ancient capital of Syria, Antioch, Aurelian's army defeated Zenobia's forces and put an end to Zenobia's conquests.^[9]

Zeno of Sidon helped found the Epicurean school of philosophy; Cicero was a student of Antiochus of Ascalon at Athens. Posidonius's chronicles of Apamea influenced Livy and Plutarch. Syrians have made many contributions to Arabic literature and music and have an impressive tradition of written poetry and Oral literature.

Famous people from Syrian ancestry[link]

• Rosemary Barkett (born 1939), was the first woman to serve on the Florida Supreme Court, and the first woman Chief Justice of that court. She currently serves as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
• Hala Gorani (born March 1, 1970), is a news anchor and correspondent for CNN International.^[10]
• Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011), was the co-founder and former CEO of Apple, the largest Disney shareholder,^[11] and a member of Disney's Board of Directors. Jobs was considered a leading figure in both the computer and entertainment industries.^[12]
• Teri Hatcher, is an actress most famous for her role in Desperate Housewives. Her mother is part Syrian.

See also[link]

Ottoman Syria

References[link]

v t e Syrian people and diaspora By country Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Israel Mexico Pakistan Turkey United States

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