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{{Short description|April 1981 massacre in Hama, Syria}}
{{Distinguish|1982 Hama massacre}}{{Infobox civilian attack
|title=1981 Hama massacre
|image=
|partof=[[Islamist uprising in Syria]]
|caption=
|location= {{flagicon|Syria|1980}} [[Hama]], [[Syria]]
|target= [[Muslim Brotherhood]]
|date=April 1981
|time=
|timezone=
|type=[[Execution]]
|fatalities=350 - 400
|injuries=600
|perps= [[Hafez al-Assad]], [[Rifaat al-Assad]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Islamist uprising in Syria}}

The '''1981 Hama massacre''' was an incident in which over 300 residents of [[Hama]], [[Syria]], were killed by government security forces.

==Background==
{{further|History of Syria#Syria under Hafez al-Assad (1970–2000)|Islamist uprising in Syria}}
From 1976 to 1982, [[Islamist]]s, including the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], fought the [[Ba'ath Party]]-controlled government of Syria in what has been called a "long campaign of terror".<ref name="seale">Seale, Patrick. 1989. ''[https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Asad.html?id=6D9EiJKRTHcC&redir_esc=y Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East]''. University of California Press,p.335.</ref> In July 1980, the ratification of Law No. 49 made membership in the Muslim Brotherhood a [[capital offense]].<ref name="hrw1996">[[#Reference-hrw-1996|Human Rights Watch 1996]]</ref> [[Middle East Watch]] (part of [[Human Rights Watch]]) called the period between 1976 and 1982 "The Great Repression."<ref name="SyriaUnmaskedp8">Middle East Watch. ''Syria Unmasked: The Suppression of Human Rights by the Assad Regime''. New Haven: Yale UP, 1991, p.8.</ref> According to Middle East Watch, {{"|Opposition exploded in the late 1970s, touched off by [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon|Assad's military intervention in Lebanon in 1976]]. Public discontent fed on many grievances, rampant [[inflation]], a housing crisis deepened by refugees from Lebanon, official corruption, security forces from which no one felt safe, and the domination of the 'Alawis. Over four years unrest spread to every sector of Syrian society, and by the beginning of 1980 it seemed possible the regime would be overthrown.<ref name="SyriaUnmaskedp8"/>}}

==The massacre==
The 1981 Hama massacre occurred after a failed attack around 21–22 April 1981 by armed Islamist guerrillas (reports identify a security checkpoint or a spring festival) near an [[Alawite]] village near [[Hama]].<ref name="Assad Regime 1991, pp. 17-18">Middle East Watch. ''Syria Unmasked: The Suppression of Human Rights by the Assad Regime''. New Haven: Yale UP, 1991, pp. 17-18.</ref><ref name="Troops Massacre"/><ref name="Paul">James A. Paul ''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=N-xjxWYWnlwC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=1981+Hama+massacre&source=bl&ots=j1v2MnXpQd&sig=-KY2Spxn7sl0YAONI9KVcKCmuHA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBppb7p4rcAhUKO8AKHZpjA4A4ChDoAQg_MAY#v=onepage&q=hama&f=false Human Rights in Syria]'' Human Rights Watch, 1990, p.20-21</ref> As a revenge action, government units deployed into Hama and launched house-to-house searches, sealing off neighborhoods as street fighting erupted.<ref name="Assad Regime 1991, pp. 17-18"/> A curfew was imposed and Syrian Army troops entered the city. Between Thursday 23 April 1981 and Sunday 26 April 1981, security forces killed scores to hundreds of residents - between 150 and "several hundred", according to ''The Washington Post'',<ref name="Troops Massacre"/> or at least 350, plus 600 injured, according to authors [[Olivier Carré]] and [[Gérard Michaud]]<ref name="Assad Regime 1991, pp. 17-18"/> chosen randomly among the male population over the age of 14.<ref name=carre148>Carré, Olivier and Gérard Michaud. ''Les Frères musulmans: Egypte et Syrie (1928–1982)''. Paris: [[Gallimard]], 1983: p. 148-151.</ref> The killings were carried out by the government's "Protection Brigades" (a palace guard commanded by the president's brother [[Rifaat al-Assad]], and [[Syrian Special Forces]] commanded by General [[Ali Haydar (Syrian army officer)|Ali Haidar]], an Alawite and Assad aide, according to the ''Post'',<ref name="Troops Massacre"/> while [[Human Rights Watch]] identified Syrian Special Forces and the [[Syrian Arab Army]]'s 47th Brigade.<ref name="Paul"/>

''[[The Washington Post]]'' described the incident as "believed to have been the bloodiest retribution so far in President Hafez Assad's two-year crackdown on opponents to his rule".<ref name="Troops Massacre">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/06/25/syrian-troops-massacre-scores-of-assads-foes/1b60763a-e7d9-4cc0-b354-dbaea5edca77/ Syrian Troops Massacre Scores Of Assad's Foes], ''Washington Post'' June 25, 1981</ref>

==Aftermath==
{{main|1982 Hama massacre}}

==See also==
* [[2004 al-Qamishli riots]]
* [[Black September in Jordan]]
* [[List of massacres in Syria]]
* [[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]]

==Further reading==
*Conduit, Dara. "[https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mei/mei/2016/00000070/00000002/art00003 The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the Spectacle of Hama]." ''The Middle East Journal'' 70.2 (2016): 211–226.
*Conduit, Dara. "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13530194.2016.1182421 The Patterns of Syrian Uprising: Comparing Hama in 1980–1982 and Homs in 2011]." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 44.1 (2017): 73–87.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{coord missing|Syria}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hama massacre}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Conflicts in 1981, Massacres in 1981, 1981 in Syria, History of Hama, Massacres in Syria, Massacres of men, Political repression in Syria, Islamist uprising in Syria, Violence against men in Asia, Massacres committed by Syria
|description=
}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1981]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1981]]
[[Category:1981 in Syria]]
[[Category:History of Hama]]
[[Category:Massacres in Syria]]
[[Category:Massacres of men]]
[[Category:Political repression in Syria]]
[[Category:Islamist uprising in Syria]]
[[Category:Violence against men in Asia]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by Syria]]

{{Syria-hist-stub}}
{{massacre-stub}}

1981 Hama massacre - Revision history

MetaBOT at 15:05, 8 July 2023