How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs
The Syrian Arab Congress of 1920 and the Destruction of Its Liberal-Islamic Alliance
New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.
Format: Book
Description: pages cm
"When Europe's Great War engulfed the Ottoman Empire, Arab nationalists rose in revolt against their Turkish rulers and allied with the British on the promise of an independent Arab state. In October 1918, the Arabs' military leader, Prince Faisal, victoriously entered Damascus and proclaimed a constitutional government in an independent Greater Syria. Faisal won American support for self-determination at the Paris Peace Conference, but other Entente powers plotted to protect their colonial interests. Under threat of European occupation, the Syrian-Arab Congress declared independence on March 8, 1920 and crowned Faisal king of a "civil representative monarchy." Sheikh Rashid Rida, the most prominent Islamic thinker of the day, became Congress president and supervised the drafting of a constitution that established the world's first Arab democracy and guaranteed equal rights for all citizens, including non-Muslims. But France and Britain refused to recognize the Damascus government and instead imposed a system of mandates on the pretext that Arabs were not yet ready for self-government. In July 1920, the French invaded and crushed the Syrian state. The fragile coalition of secular modernizers and Islamic reformers that had established democracy was destroyed, with profound consequences that reverberate still. Using previously untapped primary sources, including contemporary newspaper accounts, reports of the Syrian-Arab Congress, and letters and diaries from participants, How the West Stole Democracy fromthe Arabs is a groundbreaking account of an extraordinary, brief moment of unity and hope-and of its destruction"-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects:
Muʼtamar al-Sr al-ʻmm (1919-1920)
Arab nationalism -- Syria -- History.
Syria -- History -- French occupation, 1918-1946.
Muʼtamar al-Sr al-ʻmm (1919-1920)
Arab nationalism -- Syria -- History.
Syria -- History -- French occupation, 1918-1946.
ISBN:
0802148204
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
HISTORY Asia Middle-East Tho | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references and index.