I would dare say that the party was even more. Political parties formed before it were corrupt, segregating and were organized just to bring their leaders to governmental positions or secure jobs in some big companies in Lebanon or even abroad. One would go and soon another would fill his shoes. This would continue until the party would become an employment agency. All these helped the SSNP to forge its way ahead of all the rest.
The Lebanese constitute a mosaic of different people with different feelings and slogans. The Lebanese Nation-if there is really such a thing-is forges from different “nations” of diverse beliefs and different goals. Each Lebanese is a writer, a poet and a politician as such. After all, is not Lebanon the country of light and knowledge?
Take ten Lebanese and talk to them. You will see ten flags rising before you. You will find ten different languages and ten different nationalities. Each ascertains its superiority, while neither would indulge the others.
And what remains is this small piece of land called Lebanon. Its inhabitants are confused as to its origins. Who are they? What are they? To what nationality do they belong?
Pronouncing the Truth
There has never been a consensus regarding the citizenship and the social reality of this country. The political moves were sectarian and tribal in nature. The reality had to be admitted to give peace to a populace divided among sectarian and tribal lines. Unity and nationality are two things that this people are thirsty for. It was for this reason that educated and intellectual people came to this party, which Antoine Saadeh formed in 1932. He called for a new nationality-- The Syrian nationality-- that people had forgotten.
Saadeh asked himself this question. “Who are we?” It was the springboard of his national and social thinking. Moreover, it was the cornerstone upon which the party was built. There was a nationality chaos in the minds of the people.
The answer came; we are all Syrians and from the same nation.
This was one of the logical realities that Saadeh stressed. The people were divided; One Part admitting its Arab roots, while another stressed its Phoenician ancestry.
Saadeh came to say that if being Phoenician was the thesis and being Arab was the antithesis-that is the two were diametrically opposed-- then admitting to their historical union, i.e. the Mediterranean and Syrian (Semite), would be a solution to the impasse.
Moreover, Saadeh theorized, his theory would altogether abandon the continuing discussion, and bring a solution based on the latest social theories of the time.
However, Saadeh did not include the Jews in his new nationality. He stressed that the Jews were not equal to others that belonged to this nationality. Such a vagrant announcement would go as an anathema to the theory itself, since neglecting a group who possesses all the necessary elements to be within this nationality defaults the theory itself.
According to Saadeh, there were lots of homogeneous migrations into Syria where people had melted within one national pot to be able to become one people and one land. The only massive migration that would not be considered homogeneous to this mix is that of the Jews. This migration is not tolerated because the Jews had melted within the pots of many peoples and nations before arriving in the area. Therefore, it is at odds with the other people of Syria. Its thinking is different, and its goals are contrary to the goals of the Syrian nation. Therefore the “new” Syrians must fight against this Jewish immigration by all means.
This is what Saadeh meant in his explanation of the forth principle of the party, which states that the Syrian state is a unity of the Syrian people that was born through a long history, which predates our historical era. He, moreover, states, that the Syrian nation is one of the nations of the all-encompassing Arab State. Hence, being one of the nations of this all-encompassing Arab State does not undermine the absolute sovereignty of the Syrian state.
I already mentioned that the learned and intellectual circles had special interest in the SSNP. This is not a complement. The party was based on scientific notions within the American University of Beirut, where Saadeh used to teach. Thus he was able to attract faculty members as well as students. The party grew gradually and in secrecy.
I had also mentioned that the chaotic political and social realities as well as the sectarian strife helped the growth of the party. With his new party Saadeh came to put an end to the ever existing sectarian strife.
Of course Saadeh's ideology would produce its opponents. Opposition political currents would fight it relentlessly and on several fronts. The first front would be the foreign colonizing power, whose rule would not be possible without igniting sectarian strife, which would put the people of the one nation against each other. This is the age long weapon of choice for any foreigner who wants to control a colonized people.
