Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism refers to a common
nationalist ideology in the wider
Arab world. Arab nationalism is a form of cultural nationalism. It is a claim to common heritage — that all
Arabic speakers are united by a shared history, culture, and language.
Pan-Arabism is a related concept, which calls for the creation of a single Arab state, but not all Arab nationalists are also Pan-Arabists.
Arab independence refers to the concept of the removal or minimization of direct Western influence in the Middle East, and the dissolution of regimes in the Arab world which are considered to be dependent upon favorability with the West to the detriment of their local populations.
The first stirrings of a specifically Arab nationalism were in
Greater Syria, where in the aftermath of the sectarian disturbances in
Mount Lebanon in
1860 Boutros al-Boustani launched his newspaper
Nafir Suria. He called for a non-sectarian patriotism and the separation of state and religion, declaring that "love of the fatherland is faith". Other thinkers, mainly Syrians, followed in his footsteps, and the formation of patriotic secret societies, notably the Beirut Secret Society formed in 1875 which rapidly gained branches in
Damascus,
Tripoli and
Sidon is evidence of an increasingly active proto-nationalist movement. The emigration of numerous Syrian Christian intellectuals to
Egypt, where under
Muhammad Ali Pasha and his successors they enjoyed greater freedom of expression than at home, was another factor in the spread of nationalist discourse.
The political orientation of Arab nationalists in the years prior to the
First World War was generally moderate. Their demands were of a reformist nature, limited in general to autonomy within the
Ottoman Empire, greater use of
Arabic in education, and local service in peacetime for Arab conscripts to the imperial army. Some radicalisation followed the
1908 revolution in the empire and the
Turkicisation programme imposed by the new
Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, often known as the
Young Turks) government. However, Arab nationalism was not yet a mass movement, even in Syria where it was strongest. Many Arabs gave their primary loyalty to their religion or sect, their tribe, or their own particular governments. The ideologies of
Ottomanism and
Pan-Islamism were strong competitors of Arab nationalism.
In
1913, Arab intellectuals and some politicians met in
Paris at the first
Arab Congress. They produced a set of demands for greater autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. They also requested that Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army not be required to serve in other regions except in time of war.
During World War I, the British designed and produced a flag representing Arab nationalism. Mark Sykes created the black, white, green, and red banner, variations of which can still be seen in the flags of a number of Arab states. It was originally created for King Hussein's Hejaz forces.[{{cite book]| last = Fromkin | first = David | authorlink = David Fromkin | coauthors = | year = 1989 | title = A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East | publisher = Henry Holt and Company, LLC | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-8050-6884-8 | pages = pp. 315 | | | | | | | | | | |
Nationalist sentiments became more prominent during the collapse of Ottoman authority. The brutal repression of the secret societies in Damascus and Beirut by
Jamal Pasha, who executed patriotic intellectuals in
1915 and
1916, strengthened anti-Turkish feeling, while the
British, for their part, incited the Sharif of Mecca to launch the
Arab Revolt during the
First World War. The Ottomans were defeated and the rebel forces, loyal to the Sharif's son
Faisal ibn Abd Allah entered Damascus in 1918. Arab unity then saw its first failed attempt with the establishment of the short-lived Kingdom of Syria under Faisal.
During the war the
British had been a major sponsor of Arab nationalist thought and ideology, as a weapon to use against the power of the Ottoman Empire. However, the secret
Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France provided for the division of the eastern Arab lands between the two imperial powers. During the interwar years and the
British Mandate period, when Arab lands were under French and British colonial control, Arab nationalism became an important anti-colonial opposition movement against British rule.
Important Arab nationalist thinkers in the inter-war period included
Amin al-Rihani,
Constantin Zureiq,
Zaki al-Arsuzi,
Michel Aflaq and
Sati' al-Husri. Competing ideologies included
Islamism and local nationalism, notably the Lebanese nationalism promoted by various, predominantly Christian, thinkers and politicians in that country, and the Greater Syrian nationalism developed most notably by
Antoun Saade, which gained a certain adherence in Syria and Lebanon.
Communism also became a significant ideological force, first and most notably in Iraq, but later also in Syria and to a certain extent in Egypt. However, while generally hostile for pragmatic reasons to specific
pan-Arab political projects, Arab communism was not altogether incompatible with the general demands of nationalism.
Prominent Arab nationalist rulers have included Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser,
Moammar Al Qadhafi, President of
Libya, President
Hafiz al-Assad in Syria and former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein.
In 1958 the states of
Egypt and
Syria temporarily joined to create a new nation, the
United Arab Republic. Attempts were also made to include
North Yemen in the union, but the UAR collapsed in 1961 after a
coup in Syria, leaving only Egypt, which had been its political centre, with
Cairo as the capital and
Gamal Abdal Nasser as the president. The name
United Arab Republic continued to be used by Egypt until 1971, after the death of Nasser.
Arab nationalists generally rejected religion as a main element in political identity, and promoted the unity of Arabs regardless of sectarian identity. However, the fact that most Arabs were
Muslims was used by some as an important building block in creating a new Arab national identity.
An example of this was
Michel Aflaq, founder along with
Salah al-Din al-Bitar and
Zaki al-Arsuzi of the
Ba'th Party. Aflaq, though himself a Christian, viewed Islam as a testament to the "Arab genius", and once said "Muhammed was the epitome of all the Arabs. So let all the Arabs today be Muhammed." Since the Arabs had reached their greatest glories through the expansion of Islam, Islam was seen as a universal message as well as an expresion of secular genius on the part of the Arab peoples. Islam had given the Arabs a "glorious past", which was very different from the "shameful present". In effect the troubles of the Arab present were because the Arabs had diverged from their "eternal and perfect symbol", Islam. The Arabs needed to have a "renaissance": the meaning of the word
ba'th.
Throughout the Middle East, regional nationalisms and allegiances to the post-WWI states such as
Syria,
Lebanon, and
Iraq partly compete and partly coexist with broader Arab nationalism. In
Lebanon, for instance, the identity of "Arab" is rejected by some Lebanese nationalist groups (especially
Maronite), while being enthusiastically embraced by others.
Definitions of "Arab" sometimes vary; see
Arab.
*
Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi*
Amin al-Rihani*
Sati' al-Husri*
Shakib Arslan*
George Antonius*
Michel Aflaq*
Constantin Zureiq*
Zaki al-Arsuzi*
Gamal Abdel Nasser*
Islamic critique of Arab Nationalism*
Arab Nationalism: Mistaken Identity by
Martin Kramer*
Pan-Arabism*
Nasserism*
Nationalism*
Arab Socialism
