Syrians bolstered by 'good American' Pelosi - Second Most Popular Politican in Syria

the Washington Times ^ | May 2, 2007 | By Betsy Pisik

[Fred]

DAMASCUS, Syria -- The second most popular politician in Syria these days may be an American: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat warmed Syrian hearts with her trip last month to Damascus, an event that people still share with visiting Americans as conversational currency. "Nancy Pelosi is good, yes?" asked a Damascus laborer who found himself sitting next to an American at a greasy gyro stand this week. "Nancy Pelosi, good American." Pictures of Mrs. Pelosi and Syrian President Bashar Assad -- officially Syria's most popular citizen -- still turn up on the local news channels, especially during coverage of the dispute between President Bush and Congress over the Iraq war spending bill.

[pandoraou812]

I think we ought to send her tonight! By Friday they will have had enough of her & be shipping her to Iran.

[clamper1797]

Unintelligent = UnAmerican

[Traianus]

From WIKIPEDIA

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (or SSNP) (Arabic: الحزب السوري القومي الاجتماعي al-Hizb as-Sūrī al-Qawmī al-Ijtimā`ī), often referred to in French as Parti Populaire Syrien, is a nationalist political party in Syria and Lebanon. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian national state, including present Syria, Lebanon, the Hatay Province of Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian territories, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait. ^[1]

Founded in Beirut in 1932, the party has played a significant role in Lebanese politics at various points, notably being involved in attempted coups in 1949 and 1961. It was active in resistance against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon from 1982 on. It is now part of the pro-Syrian bloc, along with Amal and Hezbollah, and has popular support in Lebanon. In Syria, the SSNP became a major political force in the early 1950s, but was thoroughly repressed in 1955. It remained organised, and in 2005 was legalised and joined the Baath Party-led National Progressive Front. It is thought to be the largest legal party in Syria apart from the Baath, with perhaps 90,000 members.

Contents

[]

• 1 Foundation and early years
• 2 The SSNP in Lebanon, 1947-1975
• 3 Civil war and Resistance
• 4 The SSNP in Syria
• 5 Outside Lebanon and Syria
• 6 Footnotes
• 7 References
• 8 External links

[edit] Foundation and early years

The SSNP was founded by Antun Saadeh, a journalist/philosopher from a Greek Orthodox family in the Mount Lebanon region. Saadeh had emigrated to South America in 1919 (via the USA where he stayed for about a year before continuing on to Brazil), at the age of fifteen, and in the years he lived there engaged in both Arabic-language journalism and Syrian nationalist political activity. On his return to Lebanon some ten years later he continued working as a journalist and also taught German in the American University of Beirut. In November 1932 he established the first nucleus of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. The party operated underground for the first three years of its existence. After it began overt activity, it was the object of harsh repression by the French mandatory authorities. Saadeh himself was arrested several times, and in 1938 was forced to remain in South America after a visit he made there before the outbreak of World War II.^[2]

The party he founded was organised with a hierarchical structure and a powerful leader. Its ideology was an entirely secular form of nationalism; indeed, it posited the complete separation of religion and politics as one of the two fundamental conditions for real national unity. The other condition was determined economic and social reform.^[3]

Saadeh's concept of the nation was that it was shaped by geography, not by ethnic origins, language or religion, and this led him to conclude that the Arabs could not form one nation but many nations could be called Arab. Arab nationalist thinker Sati' al-Husri considered that Saadeh "misrepresented" Arab nationalism, incorrectly associating it with a Bedouin image of the Arab and with Muslim sectarianism. Palestinian historian Maher Charif sees Saadeh's theory as a response to the religious diversity of Syria, and points to his later extension of his vision of the Syrian nation to include Iraq, a country also noted for its religious diversity, as further evidence for this.^[4] The party also accepted that due to "religious and political considerations", the separate existence of Lebanon was necessary for the time being.^[5]

Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi gives a somewhat contrasting interpretation, pointing to the position of the Greek Orthodox community as a large minority in both Syria and Lebanon for whom "the concept of pan-Syrianism was more meaningful than the concept of Arabism" while at the same time they resented Maronite dominance in Lebanon. Saadeh, according to Salibi,

found a ready following among his co-religionists. His idea of secular pan-Syrianism also proved attractive to many Druzes and Shiites; to Christians other than the Greek Orthodox, including some Maronites who were disaffected by both Lebanism and Arabism; and also to many Sunnite Muslims who set a high value on secularism, and who felt that they had far more in common with their fellow Syrians of whatever religion or denomination than with fellow Sunnite or Muslim Arabs elsewhere. Here again, an idea of nationalism had emerged which had sufficient credit to make it valid. In the Lebanese context, however, it became ready cover for something more archaic, which was essentially Greek Orthodox particularism.^[6]

From 1945 on, the party adopted a more nuanced stance regarding Arab nationalism, seeing Syrian unity as a potential first step towards an Arab union led by Syria.^[7]

[Enchante]

They love you there, Nancy....... we’ll buy your one-way ticket....... don’t let the door hit your backside......

[Baladas]

The MSM likes both of them, because they all have identical political beliefs. They wanted this Democrat Congress, and now they will do everything in their dwindling power to “help” Pelosi and Reid.

I agree that Pelosi’s the bigger traitor of the two, but they’re both just al-queda propoganda fodder.

[Traianus]

"SSNP Rally"

Syrian Social Nationalist Party

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[rmlew]

Is it any suprise that the Syrians are now massing troops on the Israelis border?

[Fred]

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

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[AFreeBird]

How prophetic of you to have chosen “Fred” for your S/N. You psychic? :-)

[TheZMan]

ROFL

[familyop]

I’m surprised that Rice wasn’t mentioned.

[familyop]

Your comment #26 is an excellent post. Everyone should see it along with the following and much more often! Please post that again and again to the threads on Lebanon or Syria.

CIA World Factbook on Lebanon:

"Religions:
Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3% "

It's certainly a brew for fascism.

[VRWCtaz]

Pelosi + Syria = Pelosyria

[justiceseeker93]

Of course, Pelosi is loved in Syria.

The state controlled media presents her as a heroine, and the state-controlled media are the only sources of world "news" that Syrians are allowed to get. That and Al-Jazeera, maybe.

The Syrians on the street instinctively know what to say to foreigners in order stay alive: praise people and governments which their government praises, and disparage people and governments which their government disparges. There aren't many thought options in a repressive dictatorship.

[gonzo]

We have a winner! ............. FRegards

[IrishMike]

Democrats - The enemy of my country is my friend.