Nasim Al Safarjalani
Encyclopedia
Nasim Al Safarjalani (in Arabic نسيم السفرجلاني) comes from a prominent Arab Syria
n family (Al Safarjalani) from Damascus
, Syria.
and preachers in the district's Umayyad Mosque
. Al Safarjalani thus grew up in a conservative family atmosphere, and attended an early education at the Tajhiz al-Ula where Salah ad-Din al-Bitar was his teacher with Michel Aflaq
, both founders of the Arab Ba'ath Party in the early 1940s. He was also exposed to the political vicissitudes of the time, as his father Asaf Al Safarjalani (in Arabic آصف السفرجلاني) had a leading role in the Great Syrian Revolution of 1925 against the French
, who were then the mandatory power in Syria.
at young age, Al Safarjalani was on a path to a prominent public life and a rising figure in the Syrian political arena. Quickly he was recognized and admired among his peers and was named for several government posts, among them, General Secretary of the Presidential Council and Governor of Latakia
Province.
Nasim Al Safarjalani became the youngest ever Syrian Governor
in the modern history of Syria
. He held his post as Governor of Latakia
at age 28. His performance was spectacular. To this date, the people of Latakia Province regard Al Safarjalani as the most distinguished Governor of Latakia Province since independence.
led by right wing extremists, a radical Ba'athist faction headed by Chief of Staff Salah Jadid
, overthrew the Syrian Government. A late warning telegram of the coup d'état
was sent from President Gamal Abdel Nasser
to Nasim Al Safarjalani (The General Secretary of Presidential Council), on the early morning of the coup d'état. The coup sprung out of factional rivalry between Jadid's "regionalist" (qutri) camp of the Ba'ath Party, which promoted ambitions for a Greater Syria
and the more traditionally pan-Arab, in power faction, called the "nationalist" (qawmi) faction. Jadid's supporters were also seen as more radically left-wing.
Al Safarjalani was sentenced to death in absentia
by a special military court headed by later Syrian Defence Minister, Mustafa Tlass
, and Interim Syrian President and Vice President of Syria Abdul Halim Khaddam
, as prosecutor. Al Safarjalani managed to make his escape and flee to Beirut. In 1969 another court condemned Al Safarjalani to death in absentia. He was never pardoned even when President Hafez al-Assad
came to power. A return to Damascus was never reconciled and an agreement was never reached with al-Assad. He was also rumored to be in contact with Syrian opposition figures in Baghdad
.
At the age of 31, Nasim Al Safarjalani was forced into exile. Several of Al Safarjalani's colleagues were assassinated (Salah ad-Din al-Bitar, Mohammad Omran), hence Al Safarjalani fled from one country to another. Members of the party's other fractions fled; Michel Aflaq
was captured and detained, along with other members of the party's historic leadership. When the new rulers launched a purge in August that year, Al Safarjalani and Malek Bashour, Aflaq's close trusted friends and colleagues, managed to help Aflaq make his escape, and hence Aflaq was able to flee to Beirut
.
A few months later, Al Safarjalani escaped through Al Zabadani mountain area in Syria to Lebanon
. A journey described as a three day on foot struggle. Al Safarjalani was never able to return to his country. In 1994 Al Safarjalani died in exile.
As an Arab politician he set an example to the people of Syria and to the Arab world to the nature of political life in Modern Syria and several other Arab states.
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n family (Al Safarjalani) from Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Syria.
Origins and youth
Historian Salah ad-Din Al Safarjalani records that Nasim Al Safarjalani was born in Damascus in 1935, the son of a reasonably well-off Sunni Muslim Arab Army Officer. His family was religious and many of his recent ancestors had been ulamaUlama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
and preachers in the district's Umayyad Mosque
Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus or formerly the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist , is located in the old city of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world...
. Al Safarjalani thus grew up in a conservative family atmosphere, and attended an early education at the Tajhiz al-Ula where Salah ad-Din al-Bitar was his teacher with Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, who is credited with being the ideological founder of ba'athism, a hybrid of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism.-Early life:...
, both founders of the Arab Ba'ath Party in the early 1940s. He was also exposed to the political vicissitudes of the time, as his father Asaf Al Safarjalani (in Arabic آصف السفرجلاني) had a leading role in the Great Syrian Revolution of 1925 against the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, who were then the mandatory power in Syria.
Early political activity
A distinguished attorneyLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
at young age, Al Safarjalani was on a path to a prominent public life and a rising figure in the Syrian political arena. Quickly he was recognized and admired among his peers and was named for several government posts, among them, General Secretary of the Presidential Council and Governor of Latakia
Latakia
Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
Province.
Nasim Al Safarjalani became the youngest ever Syrian Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
in the modern history of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. He held his post as Governor of Latakia
Latakia
Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
at age 28. His performance was spectacular. To this date, the people of Latakia Province regard Al Safarjalani as the most distinguished Governor of Latakia Province since independence.
Downfall, exile and death
On 23 February1966 a bloody coup d'étatCoup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
led by right wing extremists, a radical Ba'athist faction headed by Chief of Staff Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid was a Syrian general and political figure in the Baath Party, and the country's de facto leader from 1966 until 1970.- Rise to power :...
, overthrew the Syrian Government. A late warning telegram of the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
was sent from President Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
to Nasim Al Safarjalani (The General Secretary of Presidential Council), on the early morning of the coup d'état. The coup sprung out of factional rivalry between Jadid's "regionalist" (qutri) camp of the Ba'ath Party, which promoted ambitions for a Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
and the more traditionally pan-Arab, in power faction, called the "nationalist" (qawmi) faction. Jadid's supporters were also seen as more radically left-wing.
Al Safarjalani was sentenced to death in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
by a special military court headed by later Syrian Defence Minister, Mustafa Tlass
Mustafa Tlass
Lt. Gen. Mustafa Tlass is a Syrian politician and a long time minister of defense, now retired.-Rise to power:Tlass was born in the Syrian town of al-Rastan near the city of Homs to a prominent Sunni Muslim family. He joined the Ba'ath Party at the age of 15, and met Hafez al-Assad when studying...
, and Interim Syrian President and Vice President of Syria Abdul Halim Khaddam
Abdul Halim Khaddam
Abdul Halim Khaddam is a Syrian politician who was Vice President of Syria from 1984 to 2005.-Early life and career:Abdul Halim Khaddam was born on 15 September 1932 in Baniyas, Syria. Abdul Halim was one of the few Sunni Muslims to make it to the top of the Alawite-dominated Syrian leadership...
, as prosecutor. Al Safarjalani managed to make his escape and flee to Beirut. In 1969 another court condemned Al Safarjalani to death in absentia. He was never pardoned even when President Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad
Hafez ibn 'Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad or more commonly Hafez al-Assad was the President of Syria for three decades. Assad's rule consolidated the power of the central government after decades of coups and counter-coups, such as Operation Wappen in 1957 conducted by the Eisenhower administration and...
came to power. A return to Damascus was never reconciled and an agreement was never reached with al-Assad. He was also rumored to be in contact with Syrian opposition figures in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
.
At the age of 31, Nasim Al Safarjalani was forced into exile. Several of Al Safarjalani's colleagues were assassinated (Salah ad-Din al-Bitar, Mohammad Omran), hence Al Safarjalani fled from one country to another. Members of the party's other fractions fled; Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, who is credited with being the ideological founder of ba'athism, a hybrid of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism.-Early life:...
was captured and detained, along with other members of the party's historic leadership. When the new rulers launched a purge in August that year, Al Safarjalani and Malek Bashour, Aflaq's close trusted friends and colleagues, managed to help Aflaq make his escape, and hence Aflaq was able to flee to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
A few months later, Al Safarjalani escaped through Al Zabadani mountain area in Syria to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. A journey described as a three day on foot struggle. Al Safarjalani was never able to return to his country. In 1994 Al Safarjalani died in exile.
As an Arab politician he set an example to the people of Syria and to the Arab world to the nature of political life in Modern Syria and several other Arab states.
Sources
- Asad: the struggle for the Middle East, Patrick Seale, University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
, Berkeley, 1990. ISBN 0-520-06976-5 - The Old Social Classes and New Revolutionary Movements of Iraq, Hanna Batatu, al-Saqi BooksSaqi BooksSaqi Books is an independent UK publisher co-founded in 1984 by author and feminist Mai Ghoussoub to "print quality academic and general interest books on the Middle East". It now claims to be "the UK's largest publisher of Middle Eastern and Arabic titles"...
, London, 2000. ISBN 0-86356-520-4