The Syrian Social Nationalist Party
- The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), is a nationalist political party in Syria and Lebanon, it was founded in Beirut in 1932, by Antoun Saade.
It stands for the formation of 'Great Syria', including present Syria, Lebanon, the Hatay Province of Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian territories, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait.
The party has played a significant role in Lebanese politics at various points. In Syria, the SSNP became a major political force in the early 1950s, but was thoroughly repressed in 1955. It remained organised, and in 2005 was legalised and joined the Baath Party-led National Progressive Front. It is thought to be the largest legal party in Syria apart from the Baath.
In November 1932 Saade established the first nucleus of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. The party operated underground for the first three years of its existence. After it began overt activity, it was the object of harsh repression by the French mandatory authorities. Saadeh himself was arrested several times, and in 1938 was forced to remain in South America after a visit he made there before the outbreak of World War II.
The SSNP was organised with a hierarchical structure and a powerful leader. Its ideology was an entirely secular form of nationalism; indeed, it posited the complete separation of religion and politics as one of the two fundamental conditions for real national unity. The other condition was determined economic and social reform. Saadeh's concept of the nation was that it was shaped by geography, not by ethnic origins, language or religion, and this led him to conclude that the Arabs could not form one nation but many nations could be called Arab.
From 1945 on, the party adopted a more nuanced stance regarding Arab nationalism, seeing Syrian unity as a potential first step towards an Arab union led by Syria.
Saadeh returned to Lebanon in 1947. Upon his arrival, Saadeh made a famous speech declaring his opposition to the government. After Saadeh declared a rebelion against the government and started organizing the party's members. He received a message from the Syrian military dictator Husni al-Za'im offering him weapons to support his rebelion and asked to meet him in his palace. Saadeh accepted the invitation and traveled to Syria to meet the president. When he arrived to the palace, he was instantly apprehended and handed over to the Lebanese authorities who trialled and executed him within 8 hours.
During the Lebanese civil war of 1958 party members participated on the Government side, fighting against the Arab nationalist rebels in northern Lebanon and in Mount Lebanon. The party was subsequently legalized.
In 1961 the party launched an abortive coup attempt in Lebanon, resulting in renewed proscription and the imprisonment of many of its leaders.
During the Lebanese Civil War of 1975, the SSNP militias fought alongside the nationalist and leftist forces, against the Phalangists and their right-wing allies.
After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and subsequent rout of the leftist forces, a number of the leftist organizations regrouped to engage in resistance to the Israeli occupation. Along with the Lebanese Communist Party, the Communist Action Organization, and some smaller leftist groups, the SSNP played a prominent role in this.
After the Lebanese civil war, the SSNP took a pro-Syrian position in debate about Syria's role in Lebanon.
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