Jamal al-Atassi

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Jamal Al-Atassi (1922 - 2000) (Arabic: جمال الأتاسي) was a Syrian nationalist, politician and author. He was one of the earliest ideologues of the nascent Syrian Baath Party, which he joined soon after it was founded. He helped to lay out its constitution and was the man who came up with the party's motto, "One united Arab Nation with an eternal Message." He also served as chief editor of the party's daily newspaper, Al Baath.

Dr. Atassi belonged to a prominent political family, and was educated at Damascus University where he earned a PhD in clinical psychology in 1947. He practiced in this field from 1950-1958, in his home town and Atassi political base of Homs, until lured into the public arena by the Arab nationalist movement lead by the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Atassi strongly supported the union with Egypt that formed the United Arab Republic in 1958. Once again eschewing his medical training, Atassi returned to journalism and became chief editor of the pro-Nasser daily, Al Jamaheer (The Masses) until the union became defunct in 1961. During this time he worked, lectured and campaigned in favor of Nasser. When a coup in Syria dissolved the union, he became a vocal member of the opposition dedicated to restoring the UAR.

This position put him at odds with the country's new military ruler, Nazim al-Kudsi, and he was a political outcast during those years from 1961 to 1963, when a new coup in March of that year brought to power a more nationalist and unionist wing of the Baath. Jamal's own cousin, the future president Nureddin al-Atassi became Minister of the Interior, and Jamal became Minister of Information in the cabinet of Prime Minister Salah al-Din al-Bitar, one of the founders of the Baath party. He was also voted into the party's Revolutionary Command Council. A mere four months later Atassi resigned after coming to the realization that restoration of the UAR was not a party priority. He then formed his own party, the Arab Socialist Union, an umbrella group of dedicated unionists who wanted to restore the UAR and reappoint Nasser as president of Syria.

In 1970 Jamal al-Atassi supported the rise of Hafez al-Assad to power in a coup that ousted his own cousin Nour al-Deen as president. He hoped Assad would take a harder line on reunification with Egypt. In march of 1972, Assad formed the National Progressive Front, a Baath-led coalition of socialist parties. He invited Atassi, who by this time was one of the most venerated nationalists in the country, to join a 13-member committee delegated with administering the NPF's political affairs. Once again, realizing that restoring the UAR was not a goal of Assad or the NPF, he left within a year and formed a new organization, the Arab Socialist Democratic Union. Assad promptly outlawed it and Atassi was therefore never allowed to enter parliament.

From that time until his death, he continued to extoll pan-Arabism and worked for this ideal, albeit within the rigid confines of the Assad dictatorship. Such was his stature at the time of his death, that Assad ordered him a semi-official state funeral, honoring him as a patriot of conviction and principle. In a family of political giants, Jamal al-Atassi managed to carve for himself a distinct place in the Syrian political landscape, and commanded wide respect among his countrymen despite his continued opposition to the Assad regime. He was known as a great political mind with his own views on Arabism and socialism. He death was followed closely by the death of Assad himself in 2000.

During the Damascus Spring (June 2000 through the autumn of 2001), a reformist pro-democracy political discussion forum was named in his honor, until it was disbanded in a crackdown by the Syrian Government.