->Kzeeez100s2 at 08:34, 9 January 2022

2022-01-09T08:34:18Z

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{{Distinguish|Syrian Civil War}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Islamist uprising in Syria
| date = 1976 – 28 February 1982<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/empire/2013/01/201313092236800691.html | title=Timeline: The Syrian revolt | work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1976|year2=1982}})
| partof = the [[Arab Cold War]]
| image = After Hama Massacre.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = A section of Hama, after the [[1982 Hama Islamic uprising]]
| place = [[Damascus]], [[Hama]], [[Aleppo]], [[Palmyra]] and [[Jisr ash-Shugur]]
| result = Syrian government victory
*Uprising suppressed
*Muslim Brotherhood outlawed
| territory =
| combatant1 = [[File:Flag of the Muslim Brotherhood.gif|23px|border|link=Muslim Brotherhood]] [[Muslim Brotherhood of Syria|Muslim Brotherhood]]
*Kata'ib Muhammad
*Fighting Vanguard
{{flagicon image|Flag of Iraq (1963–1991).svg|size=23px|link=Ba'athist Iraq}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg|link=Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)}} [[Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)#Syria|Pro-Iraqi Ba'athists]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=85DAMASCUS1314&q=ba-th |title=The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood |publisher=[[Cablegate]] |date=26 February 1985 |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508030144/http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=85DAMASCUS1314&q=ba-th |archive-date=8 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Supported by:''' {{flagcountry|Ba'athist Iraq|1968}} (1980–1982) ''(alleged)''
| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Syria}} [[Syrian Arab Republic|Syrian government]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg|link=Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction)}} [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'ath Party]]
| combatant2d =
| commander1 = {{Plainlist|
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Muslim Brotherhood.gif}} [[Issam Attar]]<ref name="History Repeats">{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/21/history_repeats_itself_as_tragedy?page=0,0 |title=History Repeats Itself as Tragedy |agency=Foreign Policy |date=21 September 2012 |access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref>{{Clear}}(Supreme Guide, until 1980)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Muslim Brotherhood.gif}} [[Adnan Said al Din]]<ref name="History Repeats"/>{{Clear}}(Supreme Guide, until 1981)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Muslim Brotherhood.gif}} [[Sa`id Hawwa]]<ref name="History Repeats"/>{{Clear}}(Comptroller General)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Muslim Brotherhood.gif}} [[Ali Sadreddine Al-Bayanouni]]<ref name="History Repeats"/>{{Clear}}(Deputy Comptroller General)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Muslim Brotherhood.gif}} [[`Adnan `Uqla]]<ref name="History Repeats"/>{{Clear}}(Commander of the Fighting Vanguard)
}}
| commander2 = {{Plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Hafez al-Assad]]{{Clear}}(President of Syria, Commander-in-Chief)
* {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Rifaat al-Assad]]{{Clear}}(Commander of the [[Defense Companies (Syria)|Defense Companies]])
* {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Shafiq Fayadh]]{{Clear}}(Commander of the [[3rd Armoured Division (Syria)|3rd Armoured Division]])
* {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Hikmat al-Shihabi]]{{Clear}}(Chief of staff of the [[Syrian Army|SAA]])
* {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Ali Haydar (Syrian army officer)|Ali Haydar]]{{Clear}}(Special Forces Commander)
* {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Ali Duba]]{{Clear}}(Director of [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|Military Intelligence]])
}}
| strength1 = Several hundred "hard-core" Islamists
Thousands loosely armed supporters and sympathizers
| strength2 = 80,000
| casualties1 = 10,000+
| casualties2 = 1,000 Soldiers
| casualties3 = Total death toll unknown estimates vary from 5,000 – 40,000 killed<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/hamah.htm|title=Hamah (Hama), Syria, 1982 |publisher= Global Security }}</ref>
}}

{{Campaignbox Islamist uprising in Syria}}
The '''Islamist uprising in Syria''' comprised a series of revolts and armed insurgencies by Sunni [[Islamist]]s, mainly members of the [[Muslim Brotherhood of Syria|Muslim Brotherhood]] from 1976 until 1982. The uprising was aimed against the authority of the secular [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'ath Party]]-controlled government of Syria, in what has been called a "long campaign of terror".<ref>Seale, Patrick, ''Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East'', University of California Press, 1989, p.336-7</ref> During the violent events Islamists attacked both civilians and off-duty military personnel, and civilians were also killed in retaliatory strike by security forces. The uprising reached its climax in the [[1982 Hama uprising]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ou.edu/mideast/Additional%20pages%20-%20non-catagory/Sufism%20in%20Syriawebpage.htm|title=Sufism and Sufi Brotherhoods in Syria and Palestine|work=ou.edu}}</ref>

==Background==
{{main|History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria|1964 Hama riot}}
{{Politics of Syria}}

The first clash between the secular Ba'ath party and the Islamist Brotherhood in Syria occurred shortly after the [[1963 Syrian coup d'état|1963 Ba'athist coup]], in which the Ba'ath party gained power in [[Syria]]. From the start, Islamist political groups, of which the Brotherhood was the most prominent, represented the strongest opposition to the new government. The outlawing of the Brotherhood in 1964 resulted in its radicalization. In 1964 and 1965, strikes and mass [[Demonstration (people)|demonstrations]] spread throughout Syria's major cities, especially in [[Hama]], and were [[1964 Hama riot|crushed]] by the military. The town of Hama in particular was a "stronghold of landed conservatism and of the Muslim Brothers," and "had long been a redoubtable opponent of the Ba'athist state."<ref name=seale_p93>[[#Reference-Seale-1989|Seale 1989: 93]]</ref>

On 31 January 1973, Assad implemented the new Constitution which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the president of Syria must be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in [[Hama]], [[Homs]] and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ''ulama''. They labeled Assad as the "enemy of Allah" and called for a ''jihad'' against his rule.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium|last=Alianak|first=Sonia|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8204-6924-9|page=55}}</ref> [[Robert D. Kaplan]] has compared Assad's coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries."<ref name="Kaplan">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan|title=Syria: Identity Crisis|last=Kaplan|first=Robert|date=February 1993|work=The Atlantic}}</ref>

==History==
===Sporadic insurgency 1976–1979===
Following the [[Syrian occupation of Lebanon]] in 1976, a number of prominent Syrian officers and government servants, as well as "professional men, doctors, teachers," were assassinated. Most of the victims were [[Alawites|Alawis]], "which suggested that the assassins had targeted the community" but "no one could be sure who was behind" the killings.<ref>Seale, p.316-7</ref> The [[Muslim Brotherhood]] which had disdain for the Alawites and considered them non-Muslims was most likely responsible for the terror.

It was speculated that the government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq provided logistical and military support to the Brotherhood.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisk |first=Robert |date=16 September 2010 |title=Robert Fisk: Freedom, democracy and human rights in Syria |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-freedom-democracy-and-human-rights-in-syria-2080463.html |newspaper=The Independent }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/saddam-was-no-enemy-of-terrorists/article/2003228|title=Saddam Was No Enemy of Terrorists|date=2016-07-10|work=Weekly Standard|access-date=2018-03-26}}</ref>

===Local revolts: November 1979 – January 1982===
In November 1979, a Brotherhood leaflet stated:
<blockquote>
We reject all forms of despotism, out of respect for the very principles of Islam, and we don't demand the fall of Pharaoh so that another one can take his place. Religion is not imposed by force....<ref name=carre139>Carré, Olivier and Gérard Michaud. ''Les Frères musulmans : Egypte et Syrie (1928–1982)''. Paris: Gallimard, 1983: p. 139..</ref>
</blockquote>

Widescale assassinations led up to 16 June 1979 [[Aleppo Artillery School massacre|slaughter]] of cadets at the [[Aleppo]] Artillery School. On that day a member of school staff, Captain Ibrahim Yusuf, assembled the cadets in the dining hall and then let in the gunmen who opened fire on the cadets. According to the official report, 32 young men were killed. Unofficial sources say the "death toll was as high as 83."<ref>Seale, p.316</ref> This attack was the work of ''Tali'a muqatila'', or Fighting Vanguard, a Sunni Islamist guerrilla group and spinoff of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]. [[`Adnan `Uqla]], who later became the group's leader, helped plan the massacre.<ref>Seale, p.325</ref>

The cadet massacre "marked the start of full-scale urban warfare" against Alawis, a cadre of the ruling [[Ba'ath party]], party offices, "police posts, military vehicles, barracks, factories and any other target the guerrillas could attack." In the city of [[Aleppo]] between 1979 and 1981 terrorists killed over 300 people, mainly Ba'thists and Alawis, but also a dozen Islamic clergy who had denounced the murders. Of these the most prominent was [[Shaykh Muhammad al-Shami]], who was slain in his mosque, the Sulaymaniya, on 2 February 1980.

In the days leading up to 8 March 1980 (the seventeenth anniversary of the Ba'thist coup), nearly all Syrian cities were paralysed by strikes and protests, which developed into pitched battles with security forces. Many organizations, both religious and secular, were involved, including the most notable [[Muslim Brotherhood]]. The events escalated into a [[Siege of Aleppo (1980)|widescale crackdown]] in [[Aleppo]], where the government responded with overwhelming military force, sending in tens of thousands of troops, supported by tanks and helicopters. In and around Aleppo, hundreds of demonstrators were killed, and eight thousand were arrested. By April, the [[Siege of Aleppo (1980)|uprising]] in the area had been crushed.<ref name=carre141>Carré, Olivier and Gérard Michaud. ''Les Frères musulmans : Egypte et Syrie (1928–1982)''. Paris: Gallimard, 1983: p. 141–46.</ref>

On 26 June 1980 the Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad, [[June 1980 assassination attempt on Hafez al-Assad|"narrowly escaped death"]], when attackers threw two grenades and fired machine gun bursts at him as he waited at a diplomatic function in Damascus.<ref>Seale, p.328–29</ref> The attack prompted retaliations by the government troops.

On 27 June 1980 an estimated 1,152 Islamist inmates at the prison in [[Palmyra]] were [[Tadmor Prison massacre|massacred]] by the alawi-ruled government [[Defense companies]] troops. Less than a month later, membership in the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] became punishable by death with a month grace period given for members to turn themselves in.

In August 1980, after an attack on soldiers stationed in Aleppo, the army [[Siege of Aleppo (1980)#Al-Masharqah massacre|executed]] nearly 80 residents of a block of flats that happened to be located nearby.

In April 1981, after a failed terrorist attack on an Alawite village near [[Hama]], the army [[April 1981 Hama massacre|executed]] about 400 of Hama's inhabitants, 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. 148–51.</ref>

Later in 1981, during a 50-day moratorium on the application of 7 July law, over a thousand Muslim Brothers turned themselves in, hoping to escape the death penalty; information published about them in the official press may give some insight into the composition of the Brotherhood's membership at that time. Most of those, who gave themselves in, were students under 25 years of age, from [[Damascus]] and other large cities; others were schoolteachers, professors or engineers.<ref name=carre148/>

In August, September and November 1981, the Brotherhood carried out three car-bomb attacks against government and military targets in Damascus, killing hundreds of people, according to the official press.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/4209122/The_other_face_of_the_Islamists|title=The other face of the Islamists|author=Yeghig Tashjian|work=academia.edu}}</ref> Among the victims were Soviet officials, experts, and their families serving with the United Nations as part of the [[United Nations Disengagement Observer Force]].<ref>James H. Allan, ''Peacekeeping: Outspoken Observations by a Field Officer'' (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1996), 59, <nowiki>http://www.questiaschool.com/read/28601254/peacekeeping-outspoken-observations-by-a-field-officer</nowiki>.</ref>

===Hama Islamic uprising – February 1982===
{{main|1982 Hama Islamic uprising}}
The insurgency is generally considered to have been crushed by the bloody [[Hama massacre]] of 1982, in which thousands of insurgents, soldiers and residents were killed, according to anti Syrian Government claims "the vast majority innocent civilians".<ref name=wright>Wright, Robin, ''Dreams and Shadows : the Future of the Middle East,'' Penguin Press, 2008, p.243-8</ref><ref>Seale, p.334</ref> On 2 February 1982, the Brotherhood led a [[Hama massacre|major insurrection in Hama]], rapidly taking control of the city; the military responded by bombing Hama (whose population was about 250,000) throughout the rest of the month, killing between 2,000 and 25,000 people. The Hama events marked the defeat of the Brotherhood, and the militant Islamic movement in general, as a political force in Syria.<ref name=carre159>Carré, Olivier and Gérard Michaud. ''Les Frères musulmans : Egypte et Syrie (1928–1982)''. Paris: Gallimard, 1983: p. 159.</ref><ref>ICG, 4.</ref>

==Aftermath==
Having suppressed all opposition, Hafez al-Assad released some imprisoned members of the Brotherhood in the mid-1990s. After his death in 2000, Assad was succeeded by his son, [[Bashar al-Assad]], who initially signalled greater openness to political debate. In May 2001, encouraged by this new political climate, the Muslim Brotherhood published a statement in London rejecting political violence, and calling for a modern, democratic state. Many [[political prisoner]]s, including Muslim Brothers, were pardoned and released. However, this "Damascus spring" was short-lived; in the same year, the few political freedoms that had been granted were abruptly revoked.<ref>ICG, 4, 7–8.</ref>

Although its leadership is in exile, the Brotherhood continues to enjoy considerable sympathy among Syrians. [[Riyad al-Turk]], a secular opposition leader, considers it "the most credible" Syrian opposition group. The Brotherhood has continued to advocate a democratic political system; it has abandoned its calls for violent resistance and for the application of ''[[Sharia|shari'a]]'' law, as well as for Sunni uprisings against Alawites. Al-Turk and others in the secular opposition are inclined to take this evolution seriously, as a sign of the Brotherhood's greater political maturity, and believe that the Brotherhood would now be willing to participate in a democratic system of government.<ref>ICG, 15, 17</ref>

In a January 2006 interview, the Brotherhood's leader, [[Ali Sadreddine Bayanouni]], "said the Muslim Brotherhood wants a peaceful change of government in Damascus and the establishment of a 'civil, democratic state', not an Islamic republic."<ref>McCarthy 2006.</ref> According to Bayanouni, the Syrian government admits having detained 30,000 people, giving a fair representation of the Brotherhood's strength.<ref name=wright/>

==List of assassinations during the uprising==
===Individuals assassinated between 1976–1979<ref>Seale, p.317</ref>===
*the commander of the [[Hama]] garrison, Colonel Ali Haydar, killed in October 1976
*the rector of [[Damascus University]], Dr. Muhammad al-Fadl, killed in February 1977
*the commander of the missile corps, Brigadier 'Abd al Hamid Ruzzug, killed in June 1977
*the doyen of Syrian dentists, Dr [[Ibrahim Na'ama]], killed in March 1978
*the director of police affairs at the Ministry of the Interior, Colonel Ahmad Khalil, killed in August 1978
*Public Prosecutor 'Adil Mini of the Supreme State Security Court, killed in April 1979.
*President [[Hafez Asad]]'s own doctor, the neurologist Dr. Muhammad Shahada Khalil, who was killed in August 1979.

===Individuals assassinated between 1980–1982<ref>Seale, p.329</ref>===
*[[Salim al-Lawzi]], publisher of ''[[al-Hawadith]]'', in Lebanon killed by Syrian assassins in March 1980.
*[[Riad Taha]], head of the journalists' union in Beirut killed in July 1980.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}
*Banan al-Tantawi, wife of the former general director of Muslim Brothers [[Issam al-Attar]], killed in [[Aachen]] in July 1980.
*[[Salah al-Din Bitar]], co-founder of the Ba'ath] Party killed in Paris on 21 July 1980.
While the involvement of the Syrian government "was not proved" in these killings, it "was widely suspected."

==See also==
*[[Human rights in Syria]]
*[[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]]
*[[Syrian Civil War]]
*[[Terrorism in Syria]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Islamic uprising in Syria}}

{{Middle East conflicts}}{{Syrian Civil War}}
[[Category:Islamist uprising in Syria| ]]
[[Category:1979 protests]]
[[Category:1980 protests]]
[[Category:1981 protests]]
[[Category:1982 protests]]
[[Category:Islamism in Syria]]
[[Category:Muslim Brotherhood]]
[[Category:Political repression in Syria]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1976]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1977]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1978]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1979]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1980]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1981]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1982]]
[[Category:20th century in Syria]]
[[Category:1976 in Syria]]
[[Category:1977 in Syria]]
[[Category:1978 in Syria]]
[[Category:1979 in Syria]]
[[Category:1980 in Syria]]
[[Category:1981 in Syria]]
[[Category:1982 in Syria]]
[[Category:Islam in Syria]]
[[Category:Politics of Syria]]
[[Category:Persecution of Alawites]]
[[Category:Shia–Sunni sectarian violence]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in the 20th century]]

Islamist uprising in Syria - Revision history

->Kzeeez100s2 at 08:34, 9 January 2022