EVOLUTION OF ARAB REVOLUTIONAR THOUGHTS
Chapter VIII
Unity in the Struggle and the Struggle for Unity
By Elias Farah
Arab revolutionary thought and the combat experience undertaken by the Arab Nation continued to crystallize in depth and amplitude, on the basis of the principles established and the real improvements made to the nationalist concept in 1950. Events which followed during that year confirmed the revolutionary content of nationalism, its civilizing impact and its proletarian, progressive and secular bent, all converging, in fidelity to the concepts of "freedom and socialism", towards the resurgence of the Nation and the class-struggle. The series of amendments to theory made during the fifties gave precise and vigorous confirmation of the reality, which enables us to define the full extent and value of the new nationalist concept.
In 1952, following on the fusion of two organizational structures —the Arab Ba’ath and the Arab Socialist Party— a tacit dialogue began between two divergent theories adopting different positions with regard to unity. Under the title, "The Revolutionary Nature of Arab Unity", published in February 1953, Michel 'Aflaq gave echo to these discussions.
In its attempt to clarify and define the concept of unity arising out of Arab revolutionary ideology on all fronts —theoretic, strategic or tactical— this article represents an important step. It was the first precise criticism of the regionalist concept of unity in opposition to the new Unitarian theory, based on a dialectical logic linking together effectively the struggle for unity and unity in the fight.
1. "Arab unity is neither the consequence nor the result of something else. It is a new idea which is to guide and accompany strife."
2. "Unity does not take place of its own accord, mechanically, as the natural consequence of certain conditions and evolutions. Existing conditions cannot encourage it and evolution could well take place in an opposite direction and bring about an artificial crystallization of fragmentation. In this particular sense, it is an effective, creative force, capable of stemming the current and the flow of time. As an idea, it takes the direction of inqilab (upheaval) and militant activity."
3. "The logic of fragmentation does not only prevent assimilated movements in Arab countries from uniting together and co-operating; it also impels them to contradict and oppose each other."
4. "Partisans of false unity believe that unity is a mechanical process to be attained through political unification, as and when conditions and opportunity permit. For them, it only requires preparation on a political level and could be brought about by negotiations and manoeuvre. They look on unity as an insignificant matter in comparison with regional preoccupations, which are given extreme attention. In the eyes of the Arab Ba’ath, however, unity is an ideal of capital importance, with its own intrinsic theory, like freedom and socialism. It demands permanent, organized, daily struggle in the name of its principles. It also encounters practical phases which only reinforce the struggle and open the way to final victory."
5. "The Arab Ba’ath is the first socialist party of the Arab world. But, in spite of this, it did not adopt the name of Socialist Party. Its understanding of freedom as an idea and of its cardinal role, has been reached, as far as depth, maturity and clarity are concerned, by no other party. Neither did it adopt the name 'Democratic Party', because it accorded to unity a progressive, moral value and because it was convinced, from the very beginning, that any theory or solution concerning vital Arab problems, whether of an individual or general nature, which did not emanate from the self-evidence of the "Unity of the Arab Nation', would be false and pernicious".
6."It is impossible for the Arab people to achieve unity in struggle unless they launch the struggle for unity".
These are the main ideas which are revealed in Professor Michel 'Aflaq's article on "The Revolutionary Nature of Arab Unity".
We perceive through this that, for the new nationalist way of thought, fragmentation is no longer a self-evident fact. It has for the first time, renounced without a trace of ambiguity the mental acceptation of fragmentation, in the middle-class, anti-socialist and lower middle-class sense of the word —a progressive reforming attitude which maintains socialist and democratic concepts in the framework of division. Nationalist thought, moreover, clearly defined the proletarian and revolutionary concept of unity.
All stands adopted by the Arab revolutionary movement during this period consequently expressed in practice the criteria of sound unity; it sought to consolidate them in its fight and criticized all false attitudes, which diverged from these criteria.
In an article in the magazine "The New Arab",
Which came into print in Iraq in October 1953, this principle was emphasized. Under the title "The Unity of the Arab Struggle"49, this magazine took up once more the ideas expressed in the article "The Revolutionary Nature of Arab Unity", in the light of which it analysed the causes of failure of progress towards freedom achieved in the past and denounced its regionalist character. It explained, moreover, the way in which abnormal conditions of fragmentation had already created an insurmountable obstacle, which barred the way to realization of unity between organizations and parties in the struggle. It stated that the first necessity, if this obstacle was to be avoided, was the relinquishment of the regionalist outlook.
In 1954 the Arab revolutionary movement became famous for its role in Syria on the level of direct political action. It triumphed over the military dictatorship (Shishakli) and manifested the movement's transition to a new era, one that was to give it an opportunity to exert its influence decisively on the course of every-day political life, on both a popular and an official level.
During the same year a new national organization came into being; it reflected its organization's nature on a national scale and encouraged the formation of the first national command. All this concurred in a concrete expression of the Nation's aspirations i.e. a formula of government guaranteeing the centralization of decisions as a result of the expansion of the Ba’ath movement's activity, the extent of its action and its growing influence on the Arab Nation.
Although the leadership of the Party had, from the very beginning, been nationalistic in thought and the nature of its action, it was not until 1954 that the form of national organization took on an official character, corresponding to a need for the crystallization of relations between the Party's leadership and action on objective bases on the part of organizations in the various Regions.
At the beginning of this period, the Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party had great ambition, which revealed itself as a feeling of historic responsibility and an aspiration on the highest level of combat on a theoretical and practical scale. It was accompanied by a realization of the expanding role of the Arab revolutionary movement and a feeling of doubt and mistrust with regard to the effects of traditional political methods and approaches.
Professor Michel 'Aflaq expressed this state of mind in a speech made during the Party festivities on April 9th, 195450:
"We must have a clear and simple view of the role to be played by the Party at this grave moment of the Nation's life. It is my deep fear that political preoccupations may assume inordinate importance, that bat-les and struggles may follow one upon another and that the Party may allow itself to joy in the delights of victory. The Party's chosen task would then lose something of its clarity, its simplicity and its importance. It is our bounden duty never to lose sight of our task, but to keep it ever-fresh in our minds."
What exactly is this task? What is the criterion to which the Party must adhere, if it is to carry out its duty? During his speech, Professor Michel 'Aflaq gives the answers to these questions:
"Our Party cannot be a Party in the real sense of the word at the present time, unless it rises to the level of other contemporary movements in the world. Ours is the Party of inqilab (radical change). It will not be satisfied with simply exploiting the situation as it stands. It has taken the decision to provoke a historic and an intellectual upheaval in the life of the Nation."
Professor Michel 'Aflaq did not stop at defining the task incumbent on the Arab revolutionary movement at this particular moment in history, nor at indicating the criterion the movement was obliged to observe. He also delineated the necessary conditions for attaining the level in question. The movement, according to him, had to be capable of audacious criticism; it should not be afraid of self-criticism nor of challenging the chosen path; it had to be prepared to rectify mistakes in policy and avoid all deviations:
"This is our destiny. We shall never be certain for one single day that we have reached our aim, that we have known truth or have followed the just path. We ourselves must be ever ready to revise our way, our thoughts and our progress, in order that our ideology can mature, gain in authenticity and avoid deteriorating into superficiality and imitation. Only so can we avoid the pitfalls of vanity into which so many others have fallen."
We can, in the light of these new criteria, draw the lessons of the phase through which Arab revolutionary ideology passed during the following period, which was crowned by the crystallization of the idea of unity around a concrete slogan allying theory, political strategy and daily tactics. During this period, the Party's view of itself and of the Arab revolutionary movement was marked by its feeling of historic responsibility, and its ideas, particularly as far as nationalist thought was concerned, developed into a concrete proof of Unitarian policy which, in 1958, achieved its first contemporary experience of unity.
In 1955 improvements of theory confirmed the accession of both the nationalist conception and its representative movement to a hitherto unknown revolutionary level. The following title-headings bear this out5 1:
"The Experience of the Aged and the Impulsion of Youth."
"Our Living Conception of the Party."
"Our Form of Nationalism is Free of Religious Sectarianism and Racism."
"Unity in Strife and a Common Destiny."
"The Struggle between Superficial Existence and True Life."52
The following original reflection made in a speech given on the anniversary of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Syrian territory on April 17th, 1955, is the most important progress recorded by revolutionary ideology with regard to the nationalist concept:
"It is high time the Arabs put an end to pretexts which enable them to escape their responsibilities. They must no longer accuse colonialism of being the root of all evils. They must examine problems deeply and from within. They must, from first to last, consider themselves as being alone responsible for their fate."
What then had we to do?
"We wish to see an end to counter-reactions and resignation. We must encourage the participation of the greatest possible number of our people's sons in the Nation's cause, that they may take in hand their own destiny. It is only by setting in motion this extraordinary force represented by the people —whose weight on the battle-field has so far been neglected— that we can hope to transform our vision of ourselves, alter our attitude to colonialism and cease to look on it as a presence imposed by destiny. These are the cardinal points which separate us from other governments within the Arab Homeland, and at the same time, those which are the breaking-point between a present stamped by incompetence and a future full of promise, wide open to manifold realizations."
In the same speech, Professor Michel 'Aflaq spoke for the first time of the main characteristic of the phase of history and of the contemporary national revolution on both the Arab and the international plane.
"The masses of the world are beginning to play their true role —the popular masses of Asia and Africa who were, from within and from without, among the greatest victims of enslavement and suffered the greatest injustice at the hands of their own and foreign peoples. The revolution of Eastern peoples, unlike that of the West, is above all directed towards freedom and bears a humanitarian character, because it is fighting against colonialism. Injustice in the West, moreover, only affects certain classes of society, whereas in the East whole nations are its victim. Of these, the Arab Nation is one."
The founder and leader of the Party reached the following conclusion:
"It the Arab Ba’ath is not a nationalist Party, it has no justification for existence. Its nationalism is, in fact, the pledge of its humanism."
Such a conclusion may appear to be a statement of the obvious. If, however, we take into consideration the present state of things, the attitudes of governments and their ambiguous position with regard to colonialist alliances on the one hand and regionalist reformist trends on the other, and all the socialist theories which have infiltrated into the heart of the Arab revolutionary movement (including those which neglect both the sense of the revolutionary experience and its national liberating impact, and those which hide behind internationalism, and transform other forces into a source of power on which to draw, in confronting their own enemies), Professor Michel 'Aflaq's conclusion can only consolidate both the nationalist conception, its revolutionary content for the masses and its liberating impact. It enables us to situate the essential sources of inspiration, which will impel the Arab people to launch out and ensure the success of its revolutionary experience. Professor Michel 'Aflaq ended his speech with the following words:
"At the head of the Arab people there is a fully-conscious vanguard, convinced of its potential. This vanguard will continue its historic struggle for freedom on the road promised to any sincere and genuine enterprise, on the road to re-birth which has surged from its own mainsprings, in order that minds might grow before means were perfected, on the path where flows the life-current of the Nation's soul, born from the deep-rooted longing to see itself free. The day the Nation's soul becomes tempered through strife, the day combat-ardor invades the heart of the masses, and then will another face of reality be revealed."
This discussion arose out of daily militant experience and aimed at destroying attitudes, which deviated from the Arab revolutionary path, and also at consolidating the new nationalist logic. In a speech on April 7th, 1955, Professor Michel 'Aflaq brought this out in a protest against the statement: "Experience is the prerogative of the elderly; youth is the carefree, thoughtless age". He revealed the logic of under-development and defined new criteria of judgment53.
"More than any other, an underdeveloped society, where revolution and inqilab (upheaval) are inevitable, has need of its youth, need of those who possess the maximum potential, the finest human qualities, sure and unencumbered vision, a spirit ready for strife, free from the defects of opportunism, cowardice, defeatism, the burden of phraseology, and are ready to assume the renewal of the Nation. That which appears as a defect in the eyes of the older generation is, in fact, the perfection of youth. All that we see around us today —particularly in official institutions— is none other than a criminal attempt to produce a generation of old men and women, senile before their time— and a nation that submits to under-development."
The succession of interviews and speeches since 1955 reveal an attempt to define the intellectual and moral conditions which would enable the young heroes who make up the rising generation of the Arab revolutionary movement to assume successfully the task they are called upon to accomplish.
During an interview, Professor Michel 'Aflaq defined the vision of the Arab revolutionary movement out of which Arab revolutionary ideology devolved. "Our Living Concept of the Party" 5":
"Youth must come to realize that those who have left their mark on life and on history are those who were inhabited by heroic faith, who preserved the innocence, the energy and spontaneity of little children, and paid no heed to difficulties or to external pressure."
This was the first condition. The second concerned the relinquishment of idealism —any vision imposed by a school of thought, unrelated to reality, which ignored the heart, the life of the masses and its rapid evolution.
"No serious work can have an effective impact on the present situation and transform it into a new reality without entailing as many risks as an immense ocean or a stormy sea. If it is your desire that your Party's action shall be of historic dimension, it must be looked on as an ocean and not as a limpid stream. It would be an easy matter to make our movement into a limpid stream, but this would not quench the thirst of a nation nor would it make history."
The third condition was the avoidance of dogmatic ultra-conservatism.
"Only a living concept of the Party is possible for us. It must be ever moving, ever renewed, and ever creative. It is precisely its evolution, its renewal and its creativity, which avail the means for rectification and purification each time it is attacked. At any moment, a movement runs the risk of losing its spontaneity, its freedom and authenticity, and giving in to traditional slogans. And then it becomes a statue."
Professor 'Aflaq added a fourth condition —the aptitude for permanent strife and for the inner tension favourable to the full realization of the revolutionary movements objectives.
"We must stimulate strife and inner tension. We must maintain our impetus, combat lethargy, resist the temptation to enjoy the lull between storms and resist any attempt to bring struggle to an end, to shorten its duration and conclude this heroic phase before the time is ripe."
Professor Michel 'Aflaq's interview with the students of the Arab Maghreb during 1955 ("Our Nationalism has freed itself from Religious Sectarianism and Racism") 5 b showed a step forward in this urge to highlight the nationalist conception and its new socialist, humanitarian liberating character56.
"Our conception of Arabism is totally different from traditional concepts. We have defined our view of nationalism as a socialist one, working towards freedom. These are real guarantees... Injustice is not the lot of only a minority or certain groups; the greater part of the whole Arab people is, on the contrary, its victim. Our view of Arabism knows nothing of ultra-conservatism, nothing of sclerosis; we take no pride in our affiliation or in our beginnings... It is totally foreign to the Nazi view of nationalism... Arabism is a humanitarian idea and Arab nationalism stands for real humanism. It reveres the nationalist sentiments of others and as a result, venerates these same feelings in all other races... Fanatical nationalism is in our country a product of colonialism and of sectarian propaganda directed at consolidating colonialism."
"These improvements proved an essential factor in contributing to the clarification of the vision of political reality and the solution of the problems it raised in a deep, radical, total, revolutionary manner. The anniversary of the Palestine disaster and that of Alexandretta on November 29th, 1955, gave us an opportunity to disclose the connection between defense-plans in the Middle East and the consolidation of the bastions of Western colonialism and Zionism. It became possible to state with certainty that "the freeing of Palestine from perfidious Zionist occupation and the removal of foreign presence from all Arab Regions can only be accomplished by force, by organizing the power of the Arab people and unifying popular forces throughout every Region. We must encourage those who combat with fury all projects aimed at consolidating the stronghold of Western colonialism and Zionism and call for non-alignment, so as to enable Arabs to improve their weapons and prepare for the final battle"517.
In 1956, a new phenomenon appeared —the fecundity of new political orientations began to delineate a well-defined Arab revolutionary ideology. Apart from the concept of unity and its link with popular strife, improvements of theory concerned the problem of the relation between national strife and the class struggle; and encouraged a re-examination of the religious question and the Arab revolutionary movement's position in relation to it.
Political writings during this phase were characterized by concern with the analysis of events from the point of view of Arab revolutionary ideology. They were careful to subordinate events to the laws of the period, to underline weak points in the Arab revolutionary experience and define the correct line for Arab revolution.
The common denominator is easily found by examining the title-headings of articles and interviews of 1956; the problem of Unitarian strife passed from the explicative stage of the idea of unity to that of practical realization.
We observe the following titles in "Dans la Voie du Ba’ath":
"Our Vision of Unity and Popular Strife " "Unity of Struggle in the Arab Maghreb." "The Fruit of a Period of Struggle " "The Workers' Role in the Realization of Unity and Socialism."
"Our View of Capitalism and the Class-Struggle"
"The Place of the Battle of Algiers in Our Combat"
In "La Bataille du Destin Unique" we find the following articles:
"Arab Unity and Socialism"
"Concerning Unity between Syria and Egypt"
"The Revolutionary Nature of the Arab Cause"
"The Premises of Arab Unity"
"The Fusion of Egypt and Syria is the Fruit of the Arab Fight for Freedom."
"Our Future seen through the Present Crisis"
"No Return; No Change of Direction."
"Our Revolution on the Road to Maturity"
"A New Stage for Our Combat"
"The Battle for a Unique Destiny"
"Revolutionary Policy opens the Way for Arab Cooperation."
"The People in their Wholeness are the Strongest."
"This is our Battle beyond All."
"Arab Freedom and Unity are the guarantee of their Neutrality."
"Nationalism and Humanism"
In Part IV of "La Lutte du Ba’ath" we find an interview with Professor Michel 'Aflaq concerning the situation in Egypt, where he explained the evolution of the relationship between the Arab revolutionary movement and the regime in power from the beginning until 1956.
Faced with a plethora of attempts to crystallize Arab revolutionary thought and the strategy of the Arab revolution, we can on the one hand distinguish the aspect concerning the theory of unity and the nationalist conception and, on the other hand, that which concerns the application of political thought.
On the level of theory, we can situate the following points:
A. Revolutionary ideology adopted a perfectly clear attitude concerning religion. It consecrated the theory which came into evidence in 1943 h a conference called, "In Memory of the Arab Prophet", and again in 1950 in and article entitled "The Arabs between Past and Future", in which the following considerations were accentuated:
1. Religion, as it appears to us throughout the history of humanity, since the beginning of time until the present day, is an essential factor in the lives of men. With this affirmation, we remove all petty contempt for religion, which is a serious matter.
2. We must distinguish between religion in its essence and objectives and materialized religion, or religion as it appears in conceptions, traditions, customs, interests in a given place and situation.
3. An event of the highest importance took place in our national life —the birth of Islam— an event of national, humanitarian and international impact and one of the most extraordinary experiences known to humanity. Right from its advent, it was a revolutionary movement, rising up against existing conditions —beliefs, traditions, and interests. because the truth of revolution is one and indivisible, it can only be understood in its full meaning by revolutionaries. It exacts the same psychological conditions and, to a great extent, the same objective conditions. It is normal that the revolutionary generation, which has risen up against old concepts, empty of meaning, is those who most naturally understand Islam, and show the greatest harmony and affinity with it.
4. Whether religious, sociological or theoretical, all principles and campaigns are to be judged by their actions. If we base ourselves on this criterion, the veil lifts and we find ourselves face to face with imposture, lies, ignorance and dishonesty on the part of those who, while choosing the easy road instead of difficulty and following in the wake of the conqueror of the moment, claim kinship with high principles. These are the people who stand up for exploitation, practiced by one class in the name of religion, and remain silent about social injustice.
5. "Religion is not an advocate of corruption, injustice and exploitation. True religion is that which protects victims of injustice and those who revolt against corruption."
6. It is an easy matter to pass superficial judgment on religion and to consider it degenerate because its official representatives continue to uphold corruption, instead of joining the ranks of the revolution and trying to eliminate this weapon in the hands of the unrighteous. This superficial attitude was that reached by Communism, which shows that in some cases, contrary to its customary procedure, Communism fails to go to the heart of a problem.
7. We recognize the merits of the derogatory campaign against the positions adopted by religion during this century and approve them. But we go further than this. We have fought its weakness and its imposture, in order that religion may retrieve its purity.
8. "In Europe, revolt against religion is itself a religion. It represents faith in the highest humanitarian moral values and comes closest to the true reality of religion. It is a revolution, which bears the germ of great moral values and reforms, but its vision is incomplete for, by exacting the denial of religion it only, in fact, resolves one half of the problem. It is true that, in the present state of things, religion contributes to the increase of poverty: but when the people awake and conquer their rights and dignity, they will correct the errors of the past and find once more a sound, limpid religion in accordance with its original aims58.
9. Ours is a positive doctrine and it always succeeds in bringing about positive conditions. We must not, however, forget that there is a great divide between our present state and the positive conditions, which we shall attain once Arab inqilab (upheaval) is accomplished. We must maintain a great inner tension between the negative condition in which we live (the ailment from which we suffer) and the theoretical objectives we have recently defined. We must, therefore, arm ourselves with courage and hold ourselves in a state of total vigilance so that we can detect the defects, which still subsist and fight them with all our might. We must take the road leading to the summit and when we reach it, it will be forever"59.
We can in this way perceive that Arab revolutionary ideology is marked by an attitude to religion based on the unity of the dialectical links between the social and the spiritual and their indissoluble bond. In the beginning, religion is itself a revolution. It is a weapon upon which the laboring masses in combat are obliged to seize, and one to be torn from the hands of exploiters; this is particularly so in societies which are involved in struggle, are undergoing a revolutionary period and renewing their links with the past and the future. Revolution assembles and co-ordinates the initial impetus of religion and the contemporary revolutionary movement; the latter in turn invigorates society's urge to shake itself free from the fetters which neutralize the historic energies of the masses.
B. Arab revolutionary ideology, while avoiding a metaphysical framework or passing philosophical judgments on religion, stays strictly within the limits of scientific, revolutionary exactitude. It does not approach the matter from an abstract philosophical viewpoint but grew out of an all-encompassing dialectical vision; what today appears self-evident, is in fact inadequate, for it is still too distant from reality. Arab revolutionary ideology does not deal only with a few of the contradictions inherent in the Arab condition but exacts a completely new structure, inspired by the positive all-encompassing model. Positivism is a global vision, which both covers the current phase and goes beyond it, for it is already preparing the future. The structure to be exacted is that which results from the completed cycle of dialectic reality. This is in conformity with Arab revolutionary ideology's approach to religion. The speech entitled "Our View of Arab Unity"60thoroughly consolidated the foundations of the theory of Arab unity, as can be seen from the following:
1. What is lacking today in Arab life is national unity. Political unity is only an adjunct. In a situation of this kind, the essential factor is that Arabs rediscover their deep, positive sense of historic responsibility.
2. Arabs still retain a feeling of common national identity, of having once been a single nation with the same traditions and customs... But positive values have been lost, for unity cannot be maintained on negative similarities alone. Positive unity can only evolve out of a common aptitude for work, production and creativity. It cannot resist a generalized^ state of under-development, stagnation and all the ills -which afflict the Nation.
3. "They believe that Arab unity depends on material strength, military power, or on the imposition of the authority of one small state over others, so neutralizing their disparities. When we examined the problem thoroughly, we took up the opposite stand. Arab unity can never be consolidated and be able to withstand the test of time unless a genuine spiritual rebirth takes place at the heart of Arab society, unless the people are forged anew and their weaknesses converted into strength. It is for this reason that Arab unity must, in our eyes, lead to inqilab (upheaval) and revolution".
4. "For politicians, unity is simply an arithmetical addition, a quantitative sum... But the adding together of inanimate objects cannot produce life... Spiritual rebirth is therefore an absolute necessity, and in this way the plan of unification becomes possible. In a state of under-development and decrepitude, unification is impossible. Unless both parties carry within them the seed (however slight) of an urge and a spiritual passion, binding them together in a common aim of a higher quality than their petty, personal egotism, no real union can take place."
5. "Arab unity is the consequence of the spiritual inqilab (upheaval) of Arab society itself and, at the same time, it is its cause and its motive power."
6. "Any single Region —even a strip of land—, which remains from the outset, unaware of the fact that it is simply an isolated element and, in consequence, incomplete and without efficacy, that it requires a complement, that its life and vision of things have no meaning unless they are seen as part of a whole, as a link in a chain, as one of the limbs of a whole body, would be unable to develop harmoniously and put its affairs in order. We must evoke the all-over idea of unity —not simply in speech, but in combat and in action".
7. "There is a mistaken idea that unity cannot arise out of the depths of Arab life in every Region, but would rather be a meeting-ground towards which Regions would converge... This would mean that each Region would retain its own particular personality, that it would be the origin and the foundation of things... Such a convergence could take place between different peoples, moving about on a continent or on parts of its territory, on whom particular conditions would impose this method of co-operation. It is the desire of colonialism to see the Arab Homeland constituted in this manner because such a superficial form of co-operation would legitimize and accentuate fragmentation. Only colonialism would benefit from such an arrangement, and it is for this reason that it encouraged the creation of the Arab League."
8. "Real unity is this — the new Arab resurgence and inqilab (the upheaval) to which Arabs aspire should be based on the following principle, which cannot be taken lightly: Arabs make up a single Nation. No matter his appurtenances, no matter the particular problems he may have to face, a man's thoughts and actions must be in keeping with this image, in the knowledge that problems can only be solved by riveting his attention on the aim of unity so that, through ceaseless toil and struggle, it may be brought to pass."
9. "Arab unity is not simply one of the many stages of struggle to take place chronologically after the end of colonialism, feudalism or dictatorship in one Region or another. The realization of unity depends on action undertaken right from the start, because colonialism, feudal exploitation and reaction lie in wait for us. We must explain to the people that the partial problems with which they are faced and the basis of all problems —the national question— are closely linked together."
10. "If we were to reply to the question 'What is the practical way to achieve Arab unity?' we should say: 'unified struggle'... Beyond all else, Arab unity means struggle and unity in the fight, because for Arabs struggle means real life. It is through combat that we are laying the foundations of our future life and eliminating decadent factors; struggle is creating a new phase."
11. "Division in the struggle is colonialism's most dangerous weapon."
We have quoted in this outline the main principles of the theory of unity around which Arab revolutionary ideology finally crystallized in 1956. Through what has been said, we perceive that the new nationalist conception, the proletarian conception of freedom, offers us a different picture of qualitative unity than those previously defined. It rejected the superficial unity of Bismarck. It denounced the political concept of unity expressing the bourgeois view of nationalism. It attained a new level where unity is conceived in dialectical form, with popular struggle as its foundation; it does not simply confine itself "to assembling the scattered parts", but creates a totally new union of a quality superior to its unified parts. In the current Arab experience, there is a dialectical relationship between unity and revolution, which makes of them the opposite poles of struggle. This dialectical link denounces the regionalism of the reformist theory of unity, which makes do with a political form of unity, within which the various Regions are re-grouped and develop mutual co-operation and relations. It reveals at the same time the "non-revolutionary" character of this theory and its bourgeois and "petit-bourgeois" origins.
There is equally a link between unity in the struggle and the struggle for unity; it denounced the "non-Unitarian" nature of the theory, which looks on unity as a stage to be attained, once colonialism and reaction have disappeared. It indicated in the same way the "non-militancy" of any Unitarian doctrine viewing unity as a cause and not as a beginning.
There can be no revolution in the Arab Homeland without the struggle for unity and no unity is possible without a struggle creating profound upheaval in Arab life. In both cases, the thread linking together these opposite poles is none other than the proletarian masses. This is the vital substance for the outbreak of revolution, the realization of unity and the Unitarian, proletarian and liberating conception, as embodied in Arab revolutionary ideology.
During 1956 this new conception of unity became more explicit and its various aspects more clearly defined —often on the occasion of various combats. In a discussion with the students of the Arab Maghreb, "Unity in the Struggle in the Arab Maghreb"61, the following ideas constantly recurred:
1. "We believe that the fight of the Arab people in every Region is one and the same. This fight must be unified: in other words, it must have the same all-over vision, common aims and a single practical project."
2. "The Arab East has not succeeded in making its struggle against colonialism into a one-hundred per cent popular combat, and its fight has, therefore, in some ways been defective and wavered between gravity, uncertainty, haggling and spurious negotiations... This reveals the mistake of, and the risks involved in maintaining the bourgeois class at the head of the national struggle, even if their accession to power appears inevitable at a particular given moment."
3. "Colonialism is not the only factor responsible for maintaining the state of fragmentation; neither is it the only obstacle to unity. But colonialism and major interests stand together and perpetuate this situation."
4. "For nations which have lingered for centuries in a state of under-development, decadence and stagnation, as has our Arab Nation, only strife can enable them to unite and to become fully aware of their personality."
5. "The Arab Nation comes into being wherever the fight is engaged and, particularly, where it is fiercely led, in spite of the perpetual lurking danger of death... The man who braves death is a real man... for it is at this very moment that he can pierce the fallacious nature of all external considerations tribalism and self-interest... Death is stronger than all artifacts. Our Nation exists wherever its sons bear weapons."
6. "Arab revolutionary awareness exacts an all-encompassing vision of both the world and the Arab situations. It requires total organization and a ferocious struggle on a very high level, refusing all half-baked solutions, all semi-sacrifices and, above all, lethargy."
This interview completed the Arab revolutionary ideology's concept with regard to the basic links uniting theory, strategy and tactics, national strife and class struggle, and also concerning the logic of the bonds between freedom and unity on the one hand and under-development and fragmentation on the other. In the same way, armed combat, in as far as it represents the supreme criterion of the revolutionary dimension, and the theoretical and practical conditions of revolutionary activity are seen to be one and the same thing. This dialectical connection and the particular stress laid on it was emphasized by Professor Michel 'Aflaq during the workers' festival organized on the occasion of the 1st Congress of the Union of Arab Workers' Syndicates:
"Each forward step the Arab people make towards wresting their freedom and their sovereignty from the hands of foreign oppression, leads them ineluctably to progress on the road to freedom from injustice and from the underdevelopment which hampers their economy. It equally facilitates the realization of the unity of struggle in the various parts of the Arab Homeland and leads to the unification of these separate parts"62.
In this speech, emphasis was laid on the proletarian nature of the fight for unity and on the unity of the national class struggle:
"If there is in our Homeland a class which is above all ready to combat self-interest, to free itself from the consequences of the mentality of division and embody the unity of the Arab cause in thought and reaction, it can only be the Arab working-class, in particular, and the Arab popular proletarian masses, in general. They, in fact, recognize in daily life the flagrant truth that their enemies are the enemies of the Arab Nation."
Professor Michel 'Aflaq reached the conclusion that the proletarian character of strife was the absolute condition of unity:
"Consequently, the fight for Arab unity can only be realistic and fruitful if it merges with that of the Arab masses in the conquest of their natural rights and the raising of their standard of living."
He emphasized in this respect the connection between the nationalist and the social struggle:
"In the fight to lead our single Arab cause to victory, we do not dissociate social and economic factors from the national aspect, because its success can only be assured by the maintenance of unity."
This connection is underlined in Professor Michel 'Aflaq's statements in "Our View of Capitalism and the Class-Struggle"63:
"We have expounded the national problem seen as an indivisible whole, even within the Arab Homeland. We have not upheld one aspect to the detriment of others, as did Marxism in upholding the class aspect and the struggle between the 'haves' and 'have-nots'. Our problem is vaster and deeper—it is the cause of a divided Homeland, wherein a part is still under occupation. This fragmentation is the greatest obstacle to its resurgence. There is also the problem of a Homeland, which is, from every point of view under-developed —intellectually, economically— in every sector. We are obliged to undertake the reconstruction of every aspect from zero."
The junction of the national and class aspects can only take place through struggle and perpetual revolution. It is not a restful matter. As Professor 'Aflaq states:
"We must sustain the tension between two antagonistic forces and be careful to avoid national thought degenerating and compromising with criminal class- interests; privileged groups must be prevented from showing their adhesion, which is in fact fallacious and perfidious, to the national interest."
During 1956, the internationalist and proletarian horizons of Arab revolutionary ideology began to take clear form in the internationalism of the people's struggle against colonialism. In an article entitled "The role of the Battle of Algiers in our Struggle", Professor Michel 'Aflaq stated:
"The people's interests are in no way contradictory. That of the Arab people of Algeria and the Maghreb is the same as that of Frenchmen struggling against injustice. This is a guarantee of the success of the Arab struggle in the Maghreb. If, in fact, the French government persists in its colonialist policy of exploitation, the interests of the French population are submitted to greater injury than those of the Algerian Arabs. The Arab battle is a positive one, in the real sense of the word, with regard to themselves and the rest of the world, because it confers freedom on Arabs and contributes to the liberation of the people of the countries, which colonized us. Moreover, our fight against colonialism will be more genuine, more encompassing and more indicative of our national experience, which is simply that of humanity"64.
We can, by reference to the abundant political literature of this period, define the following principles and important results:
1. In February 1956, Professor 'Aflaq made a speech at the Beirut Cultural Club concerning "Arab Unity and Socialism", from which we quote a short critical analysis of the various defects which can cause the disintegration of the link between theory, strategy and tactics in the fight for unity:
"The unification of the Arab Homeland is not the final aim, but a means for the Arab Nation to accomplish its mission in life. This is the point on which we must insist. We realize that, in fact, its application is not always in perfect accordance with strategy and plans elaborated towards this end... We sometimes give priority to other imperatives. Conditions can at times be the cause of imbalance between two necessities which should, in theory, be indivisible and where neither aspect should be favored at the expense of the other... At one particular moment, conditions may favour the expansion of socialist strife and, at another, the struggle for unity. This may, in the final analysis seem inevitable, for reality differs entirely from theoretical plans. We cannot possibly be in constant control of external conditions and our task is to turn each event to the best possible account... There are, however, errors, which do not belong to this category and arise out of the movement itself and out of the inadequate or superficial grasp of its members. Some people think that socialism is an imperative priority and look on unity as a secondary matter. Others believe the reverse... The question of the highest importance is for us to be always on our guard concerning those who invoke specific aims; these can, in fact, be pretexts for protecting private interest, no matter on what scale. Intellectual speculation is not always what it seems... Many of those who possess economic interest in the Arab Homeland show false enthusiasm for Arab unity; but they are really trying to deal a blow at the socialist movement, to sow terror around it and create an obstacle to the realization of unity and to make it out to be a subversive and disbanding factor"65.
In this speech, Professor 'Aflaq laid down the criteria of a sound relationship between the aims expounded by ideology and their present application by progressive stages:
"All our hopes and desires for the Nation in the decades to come must begin, even on a small scale, to take shape now. If militants do not fully realize the values of inqilab (upheaval), it is difficult to believe that they will change, once in power. Power and authority may, on the contrary, seduce and undermine them, instead of lifting them to a higher level"66.
In this speech, Professor 'Aflaq also mentioned "The Theory of Stages" in the realization of Arab unity:
"We do not hold that Arab unity can be achieved all at once. It is, on the contrary, natural —even reasonable— that it should take place in stages. We believe in the theory of progressive stages and act in consequence. The union of two or three countries is a stage and we should converge all our efforts on this aim in order that it may come to maturity. It will, in turn, facilitate the transit to a higher level, to a realization of unity of a wider and vaster impact"67.
2. On April 17th, 1956, the Arab Socialist Ba’ath brandished the slogan of "Unity of Syria and Egypt" on the anniversary of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Syrian territory. On April 20th, 1956, the Ba’ath newspaper published an article, from which the following is a quotation68:
"April 17th has this year assumed even greater importance than an anniversary or a hope... Today a slogan of the utmost importance was born: The fusion of Syria and Egypt is the nucleus of Arab unity and the means to achieve it. The people have decided to realize this union. They wish it to take place totally and at once... Fusion of Egypt and Syria has cast anchor in the hearts of all men. Authorities in power and those of the National Pact Committee are summoned to take full cognizance of this fact and submit it to the will of the people"69.
The Party had already drawn up a project for the pact in question in which it encouraged the preparation of the realization of union between the two countries, but it encountered opposition from the representatives of reactionary parties.
Revelation of the plans drawn up by the governing class, preparing to bar the road to the union of Syria and Egypt, together with the grouping together of reactionary elements, who were hostile to the project, and the formation of the government, abandoned to one of the poles of reaction on Syrian territory, forced the Party of mass struggle to neutralize this attempt. Professor 'Aflaq wrote an article in this connection in the ninth issue of the Ba’ath newspaper entitled "Reactionary Maneuvers and the People's Awakening"70.
"For over a year, the policy of those in power is totally inconsequential and reveals a contradiction opposing the social and national reality to that of reactionaries, as it is conceived and proclaimed. For a year, governments, in that they represent people, parties and interests, have become reactionary. But, both in external and Arab relations, they practice a progressive policy.
There is not the slightest shadow of a doubt that the pseudo-policy of freedom was simply a feint to put the people to sleep and avoid suspicion, while they were in fact preparing in secret a fatal blow to the popular movement and planning to destroy all that the people had built up at the price of blood and struggle... The government formed by Lotfi Al-Haffar, with the helping hand of the new reactionary formation, prepared the ground for a lethal blow at the popular movement."
Professor 'Aflaq followed this introduction, which resumed the state of the nationalist class struggle at the time, by a definition of the Baath’s position concerning the reactionary project.
"The Arab movement of inqilab (upheaval) today finds itself at a cross-roads: either the unscrupulousness of its partisans, the faint-heartedness of their revolutionary spirit and organizing ability will lead it to make do with the progressive adumbration announced in certain Regions and the movement will then find itself on the same footing as reactionary governments (following in the wake of progress, but bearing in mind their own class-interests) or else it will benefit from the experience, with its relative degree of success, and raise to a higher level its own awareness, that of the people and the struggle which is inseparable from popular strife; it will equally refuse to be treated on an equal footing with these governments, even if for the time being their objectives coincide".
"The movement would thus continue its preoccupation with long-term objectives and their total, uncompromising realization, even if for the time being it accepted to open a dialogue with them; and it would be compelled to inform the people clearly of the distance still separating them from their aims."
The importance of this victory arises from the fact that it marks a turning point in the life of the Arab revolutionary movement and highlights the appearance of two tendencies. The first inclines towards an adaptation to present conditions and the disrating of the Arab movement of inqilab to the level of a traditional political party, which would have little hope of survival, and would inevitably lose sight of its objectives, its nature and aspirations. The second tendency retains its revolutionary character and keeps faith with both revolutionary criteria and the original, scientific socialist theory, which reveals all the contradictions of the present stage and offer the means of resolving them.
Indications of adherence to preceding phases then appeared — phases where excessive lust for power introduced external contradictions into the heart of the Arab revolutionary movement. This state of things was to give rise to a critical analysis by Professor Michel 'Aflaq in "The Starting Point" at the beginning of the severities. In spite of all, the Arab Socialist Ba’ath succeeded, internally, in transforming the exigencies of the fusion of Syria and Egypt from the stage of popular re-vindication to that of an official document, quoted in the government's ministerial statement, in which the Party participated on the basis of a national pact. On July 5th, 1950, moreover, with the approval of the parliamentary majority, the government was mandated to take up discussions with the Syrian Government. The Party's declaration to Parliament of the same date insisted, in the first place, on the fact that this request was "the expression of the will of the Arab Nation everywhere" and not simply an encounter between Syria and Egypt. It also insisted that unity was "a national re-vindication and the most important progressive revolutionary objective".
It underlined, secondly, the fact that unity "can only become a reality by accomplishing its liberating, progressive function, for unity cannot be separated from other national aims".
Thirdly, the declaration stated that it was a flagrant mistake to admit only the utility of such a step instead of emphasizing its absolute indispensability. It was not simply a question of progress but of a unique guarantee to prevent going back on realizations and provoke a crisis; it would, on the contrary, give Arabs the necessary strength to face up to the dangers by which they were threatened.
3. Political articles which followed on this declaration drew our attention to the conditions accompanying the success of this event, to the plots we should be called upon to thwart, to the new phase on which the Arab struggle was about to enter and to the importance of this favourable issue on the international scene. All this was to take place in such a way as to reveal an Arab revolutionary doctrine finding its deep, all-encompassing inspiration in the extent and magnitude of this request and our ability to foresee the future clearly:
a) "It is relatively unimportant whether the fusion of Syria and Egypt, for which we are working, be known as a 'union' or 'unity*. Our ardent wish is that its foundations may be sound and capable of evolving. We must take the road which leads to progress and to perfection, and capable of opening out into the realization of Arab unity in its entirety"7'.
b) "Deviations are threatening the first steps of unity: its path is strewn with obstacles and innumerable difficulties. We must expect from colonialism a new understanding and cooperation with Israel, with a view to opposing any new venture towards unity. It is natural that feudalism and reaction within the Nation should be associated to a considerable extent with such opposition"72.
c) "The latest threat to unity comes from unscrupulous liars, who only approach unity with the intention of undermining its foundations. We can only avoid the dangers of conspiracy and falsification by confiding the creation of unity to the care of the Arab masses and by keeping officialdom completely out of the picture. If the masses are made aware of the real objectives, interests and designs of those who are plotting against unity and if their knowledge gives rise to organized, militant public opinion, they will become the only positive, effective force capable of thwarting conspiracy from within and without."
d) "Arabs are going through a historic phase and are following ineluctably the true path — that of freedom. This explains the fellow-feeling and support accorded by all free peoples and by democrats the world over to the just Arab cause in the Suez crisis and in the heroic and honorable Arab revolution in Algeria... This phase is a serious one. It enables us to examine our capacity to free ourselves from the yoke of colonialism and also to re-evaluate our situation and our moral and spiritual criteria... It is an important matter to win the fight in our battle against colonialism, without making the slightest modification in our national, humanitarian orientation and without allowing colonialism to corrupt us or leave behind any traces in our minds and hearts. We must win the battle against colonialism by our constancy and the steadiness of our course"73.
e) "The gravity of our fight against colonialism compels us to raise our struggle to a higher level. The national dynamic, dominated by resistance to colonialism, is not without default. The social and spiritual revolutions must contribute to its growth towards perfection. While we accord to the current struggle the importance it deserves, we should like to see a profound interaction between the present and the future, and to share in the building of the present with our eyes turned to future horizons and the way which leads us on"74.
f) "In this fertile moment in the history of our Arab Nation, it is normal for our attention to be concentrated on the weak points and defects which continue to threaten our national life rather than on the strength we have acquired and the progress hitherto made. The Arab people everywhere are called upon to choose — not between victory in the battle or failure before colonialism and Israel, but between the conquest of unity and the safeguard of its 'raison d'etre', while continuing to co-operate effectively and to express in strife the full impact of their true Arab nature"75.
g) "Whether this battle takes place in a climate of relative peace or under arms, the fact remains that the Arabs are at a decisive moment in their history. The Arab people as a whole fully realize that this battle is still only beginning"76.
h) "If Arabs had to choose between realizing their aims in the shortest possible time, through adherence to the Eastern bloc, or continuing revolution in their own way, completely independent, responding to their conditions and their own requirements and gathering inspiration from their concept of life and Man (even if the realization of their aims were retarded for an indefinite period), they would choose the longer road, in order to safeguard certain essential values"77.
i) "As we gain ground in freeing the Nation from foreign occupation, we must pay more and more attention to the ills which corrode us from within and find the appropriate remedies. The most important aspect of our internal structure is our economic situation and it must be saved from all its excruciating paradoxes. We must eliminate class-inequality and suppress exploitation. There are, moreover, spiritual and psychological ills to be dealt with — fanaticism, with all its racial, confessional and tribal aspects, ignorance and so on... We must face up to them as best we can and find suitable remedies"78.
These are the conclusions drawn from the evolution of Arab revolutionary ideology in 1956.
NOTES
49. The Baath’s Struggle, Vth Part, p. 2250. The Baath’s Struggle. Vol. II, p. 225..
51. Michel 'Aflaq: Following the Baath, pp. 23, 43, 169, 223.
52. The Battle for a Unique Destiny, pp. 25-32.
53. Following the Ba’ath. 4th Ed. pp. 23-25.
54. Id: Ibid; pp. 43-46.
55. Id: Ibid; 4th Ed. pp. 169-179.
56. Id: Ibid; 4th Ed. pp. 172-175.
57. Michel Aflaq: The Baath’s Struggle, Vol. Ill, p. 159.
58. Extracts in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are drawn from Our View of Religion; pp. 102-208.
59. Following the Ba’ath (The religious question for the Arab Ba’ath); p. 214.
60. Id: Ibid; 4th Ed. pp. 239-250.
61. Michel 'Aflaq: Following the Bath; 4th Ed.; pp. 251-261.
62. Id: Ibid; "The Workers' Role in the Realization of Unity and Socialism", p. 314.
63. Following the Ba’ath; p. 321.
64. Id: Ibid; p. 342. 65. Michel 'Aflaq: The Battle for a Unique Destiny, pp. 39-40.
65. Michel 'Aflaq: The Battle for a Unique Destiny, pp. 39-40.
66. The Battle for a Unique Destiny, p. 41.
67. Id: Ibid; p. 46.
68. Michel 'Aflaq: The Bath's Struggle, Part III, p. 171.
69. Id:Ibid:p.173
70. Id: Ibid; pp. 200-203.
71. Michel Aflaq: The Battle for a Unique Destiny, p. 67.
72. Id: Ibid; p. 69.
73. Id: Ibid; pp. 89-90.
74. Id: Ibid; pp. 100-102.
75. Id: Ibid; pp. 106-109.
76. Id: Ibid; pp. 122-124.
77. Id: Ibid; p. 129.
78. Id: Ibid; p. 135.
The Revolutionary Arab Ideology