The Restless Party Member
The current engulfed me and many of my friends as well. I had a neighbor, Munir Idu, who was my age. He saw Arabs, Arabism, and the idea of an Arabian empire differently from my and my other friends' perspective. I asked him who he thought he was. He answered that he was a member of SSNP and that he does not believe in Lebanese or Arabic nationality.
I thought of him as a narrow minded, miserable fellow. He was a restless party member. As soon as one mentioned the SSNP his demeanor would change and the pupils of his eyes would swell out so as to enforce on you the idea that whatever the SSNP said was right. He would talk with his eyebrows, hands and feet. The nerves on his neck would swell to the extent that I at times feared that he would explode.
This was the first time I knew that there was a party called SSNP. The party was an underground and secretive organization during its fledgling period. This was a necessity because of the existence of the “loving mother,” France, and its mandate over Lebanon. I had a lot of arguments with this restless neighbor and I hated the SSNP because of him. Every time I started reading the book “The Emergence of Nations,” which was written by the leader of the SSNP, and would point to him that the author relied heavily on Western sources and the scientific method-which I adhered too anyways-his animosity toward me would grow.
As soon as the party's existence was uncovered in 1935 and Mr. Antoine Saadeh, lecturer in German language at the American University of Beirut, was apprehended on charges of forming an unlawful, secret party that would compromise the security of the state as well as rule and order in it, it became known that he was the leader of the SSNP. He was taken to court and was judged in front of a French magistrate who could not even prove one of the several accusations that were brought against him or his party, let alone accusing them of Fascism and Nazism. The leader and his cohorts spent several months in jail. This period, which, by default, became a springboard for the party to jump ahead? The educated, school and university teachers, intellectuals, literary figures, politicians from all walks joined the party and started to imbibe from its principles, goals, and philosophy, as well as its present and future projects. This phenomenon soon reached Syria, Palestine, and even Jordan and Iraq.
The French fought it desperately. However, this “war” was an honest one. The leaders of the party were brought to the courts who had already compiled several accusations against them. One they were accused to be Fascists, while at another time as Nazists, pro-British, pro-American, even pro-Japanese, since Japan was an ally to Germany at the time. The judges would delve into these accusations and would not find even one that would prove to be germane to the party or its leader
I saw the party leader, Antoine Saadeh for the first time in my life during one of those court hearings in a military court, where he was talking to the judges in Arabic.
Saadeh was courageous and honest. His voice was very rational. The judges had to respect him, even though they, at times, had to render pre-ordered judgments against him or the party.
All this time, my dry attitude toward the party did not change. A heavy wall separated us. This was not because I felt that there was a vast valley separating me and the party. It was because I still felt that Saadeh's book was based solely ob Western sources that, for my opinion, was an anathema to his teachings in Arab nationalism. My stance toward the book was further solidified because it was printed in a very small font and had numerous western words scattered on its pages. All my trials to really study the book failed because of these circumstantial issues.
The so called Syrian nationalism that the party advocated was not real to me. It was the essence of legends and archaic stories. It was not strange that lots of rumors would surface regarding the leader and the party. It was not strange that the educated and intellectual class would rally around it. Furthermore, it was not strange that all those who were sick of sectarian strife and political complacency would try to find a solution through it. Lastly, it was not strange that members of philanthropic and scouting organizations who were sick of the malignant character of their organizations to try to find their remedy by joining the party.
