Syrian Social Nationalist Party: What it is, what it is not?

1 – Social Nationalism is not National Socialism:

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party has a philosophy definitely called Social Nationalism. Its very name implies that it is NEITHER political nationalism, NOR racial nationalism, NOR religious nationalism.

• Social nationalism emphasizes the concept of society.
• Political nationalism dogmatizes the concept of the state (FASCISM).
• Racial nationalism asserts the concept of the race (NAZISM).
• Religious nationalism advocates the concept of the religious group (ZIONISM), or the concept of the sect (SECTARIANISM).

Furthermore, Social Nationalism is    NEITHER national socialism (NAZISM)

NOR  international socialism (MARXISM).

To conclude, we say that Social Nationalism is a philosophy that is NOT interested in one group of society in isolation from another. On the contrary, the whole society, with all its constituents, is its point of reference.

2- Internal, Domestic NOT Pan-territorial Nationalism:

Syrian Social Nationalism is an internal, domestic cause:

Our nation suffers of many kinds of internal divisions, based on religion, race and social calss. The only social solution to the INTERNAL ANTAGONISTIC divisionism is by creating a sense of communitiy, more exaclty a consciousness that the Syrians, who were one nation under the Ottomans rule and before, should not lose their community relatedness as one civic society. This goal cannot be acheived except by education, to demolish the old dividing traditions, and create new unifying ones. The Social Nationalist philosophy offered the theoretical base for this project, whose implementation in the SSNP resulted in unifying indivduals and from all religions, sects, races, and classes of the Syrian nation, in one cause.

The Syrian people might be governed by many local states as it is actually now, or it might have one commonwealth or federation; this is NOT what mainly concerns the Party. What constitutes a real worry is the Syrian people fighting each other in religious, racial, and territorial INTERNAL wars, which in our view, is equivalent to committing suicide. So our main concern is to create a new national education, that will build a new conciousness leading to strengthening and brushing up our internal social unity. Political systems and forms will for sure be updated accordingly.

Syrian Social Nationalism is therefore an internal, domestic cause, aiming at constructing societal peace. Consequently, it is different from Fascism and Nazism, which are EXTERNAL aggressive pan-territorial concepts, based on expansionism and international wars.

3- Fundamentally Societal and Democratic, NOT Mere Political:

The philosophy of the party, has been an effective moral tool in eliminating all sorts of discrimination. For instance, one of the fundamental principles of the party state that the well-being of the community (nation) is prior to the personal, sectarian, local and racial interests. When a contradiction arises between any of the discriminatory interests and the interest of all the community, party members will adhere to the latter.

Within the membership of the party, one can see and feel the spirit of communality, sociability and friendliness, bringing together into one community:

• Christian Maronites, Christian Orthodoxes, Moslem Sunnites, Muslim Shiites, Druzes, etc. from different antagonistic fanatic sects.
• Lebanese, Syrians (Arab Syrian Republic), Jordanians, Palestinians, Iraqis, etc. from different localities.
• Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians, etc. from different races and ethnic groups.

This is why, the party is not political in the ordinary and academic senses of the term “political”. Politics is to be thought and performed for the people (community), and not the people for politics. This emphasis that Social Nationalism makes on civil society (the community, the public, the nation) is the essence of the party’s democratic direction.