Michel ‘Aflaq

Michel ‘Aflaq (1910 - June 23, 1989) was the ideological founder of Ba’athism, a form of Arab nationalism. Image File history File links Micheljpag. ... Image File history File links Micheljpag. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 191 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Baath Party flag The Ba‘ath Parties (also spelled Baath or Ba‘th; Arabic: اﻟﺒﻌﺚ) comprise political parties representing the political face of the Ba‘ath movement. ... Arab nationalism refers to a common nationalist ideology in wider Arab world. ...

He was born in Damascus to a middle class Greek Orthodox Christian family. He was first educated in the westernized schools of French mandate Syria, where he was a brilliant student and then went to university at the Sorbonne in Paris where he first developed his ideals. He tried to combine socialism with the vision of a Pan-Arab nation. He became committed to Arab unity and the freeing of the Middle East from Western colonialism. Damascus by night, pictured from Jabal Qasioun; the green spots are minarets Damascus (Arabic officially دمشق Dimashq, colloquially ash-Sham الشام) is the capital city of Syria. ... Greek Orthodox Church can refer to any of several hierarchical churches within the larger group of mutually recognizing Eastern Orthodox churches: the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is also the first among equals of the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The Sorbonne is frequently used in ordinary parlance as synonymous with the faculty of theology of Paris or the University of Paris in its entirety. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... Pan-Arabism is a movement for unification among the Arab peoples and nations of the Middle East. ...

Upon returning to the Middle East he became a school teacher and was active in political circles. In September 1940, after France's defeat in World War II, Michel ‘Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar set up the nucleus of what was later to become the Ba’ath Party. The first conference of the Ba’ath Party (in full, Arab Socialist Resurrection Party), was to be in 1947. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... Salah al-Din al-Bitar ( 1911), a Sunni Muslim, co-founder of the Bath Party in Syria. ... Bath Party flag The Arab Socialist Bath Party (also spelled Baath or Baath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a radical, left-wing, secular Arab nationalist political party. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1949 he was Syria's education minister for a short period. In 1952 he left Syria, escaping from the new regime, returning only in 1954. He played an important role in the achievement of the unity between Syria and Egypt in 1958.

While the ideological founder of the movement he had little connection to the governments that took power in Syria under the name of the Ba’ath party in 1963. Eventually the government and he had a falling out and he was forced to flee to Iraq where another Ba’ath Party had taken power. While this party also failed to follow most of ‘Aflaq's teachings, he became a symbol for the regime of Saddam Hussein that Iraq was in fact the true Ba’athist country. In Iraq he was given a token position as head of the party and his objections to the regime were silenced and ignored. 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic: صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي), born April 28, 1937 , was President of Iraq from 1979 until his removal and capture after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

In his writings ‘Aflaq had been stridently in favor of free speech and other human rights and aid for the lower classes. He stated that the Arab nationalist state that would be created should be a democracy. These ideals were never put in place by the regimes that used his ideology. Most scholars see the Assad regime in Syria and Saddam's regime in Iraq to have only employed ‘Aflaq's ideology as a pretense for dictatorship. John Devlin in his "The Baath Party: Rise and Metamorphosis" outlines how the parties became dominated by minority groups who came to dominate their society. Elizabeth Picard takes a somewhat different approach, arguing both Assad and Hussein used Ba’athism as a guise to set up what were in fact military dictatorships. Freedom of speech is the right to freely say what one pleases, as well as the related right to hear what others have stated. ... Augusto Pinochet (sitting) was an army general who led a military coup in Chile in 1973. ...

Upon his death in 1989 he was given a great funeral. The government of Iraq claimed that on his death he converted to Islam, but many who know him do not believe this claim as he always was a staunchly secular modernist thinker albeit influenced by the Christian mystique of Dostoyevski to which he was exposed while studying European literature at the Sorbonne Islām is described as a dīn, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

. A tomb was built for him in Baghdad designed by Chadagee that is widely regarded as a work of great artistic merit, unlike most of the Hussein regime’s creations. Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ...

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq the United States forces were preparing to destroy the tomb as part of their efforts at de-Ba’athification. An outcry arose in the Arab world, and among Iraqi exiles who had supported the invasion, but who shared the wide respect with which ‘Aflaq is still held in throughout much of the Arab world. The American plan has become a common example of the misunderstanding of Iraq and its history by the Americans. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq began on March 20 comprising United States and United Kingdom forces (98%), and several other nations. ...

External links

• The five volumes of Michel ‘Aflaq's "On The Way Of Resurrection" (Fi Sabil al Baath)in Arabic

• The (Iraqi) Baath party web site. It also include a section about the defence committe of Saddam Hulays in Arabic

• Online magazine (Sympathetic to the Goal of the Baath with sections about Saddam and the Baath) in Arabic, English and French