Publish date22 Jan 2025 - 12:46
Story Code : 665105

Syria: the path to constitution and social justice

By: Dr Haroon Aziz
Syria is home to numerous faith communities with deep civilizational values. Value systems generate conflicting emotions and impulses, in which religions and politics become embedded and the situation becomes potentially volatile.
Syria: the path to constitution and social justice
Historical background
‘Constitution’ is an idea. It is implanted in the constitutional culture and history of Syria since 1920 to the present day. In this period there have been many impermanent constitutions, which have been paralleled by coups. Such constitutions were the product of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, which parceled out Syria as French colony and legitimized itself as international law, in terms of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. It was consequent to the military defeat of the Ottoman Empire (1516-1918), the former rulers of the greater Palestine/Syria region.

In the period 1920-2012 there were twelve actual and draft constitutions. The first draft by the Syrian National Congress had to be abandoned because of France’s military invasion of Syria. All the constitutions were the outcomes of faulty procedural models. They were variously introduced by France, President Nasser, Decrees, Supreme Military Council, National Revolutionary Command Council, and Regional Command of the Ba’ath Party. All of them lacked multi-organizational and citizen participation. The most ‘credible’ constitution was the 1950 constitution because it was adopted by the Syrian Constituent Assembly.

The drawing of a brand-new grassroots constitution is expected to take a negotiable 1-4-year process, followed by legitimate elections. There is an urgent need to shorten the period lest it gets abandoned.

Content of the constitution

Given its 105 years (1920-2025) of constitutional culture and history Syria has gone through a long painful gestation and maturation period to give birth to a new constitution, rooted amongst the masses and owned by them.

Some of the content with which Syrians have grappled are:
 • secular state;
• religious state;
• secular/religious state;
• freedom of conscience;
• general stabilization of the populace whose immediate priority is to overcome poverty, hunger, joblessness, homelessness, and insecurity;
• creating conditions for the right drafting process;
• creating the fearless atmosphere for societal debate, dialogue, and popular participation;
• establishing equality of citizenship and personhood to transcend the concept of ‘minorities’;
• patriotism to country;
• patriotism to ummah;
• patriotism to country/ummah;
• Pan-Arabism versus nationalism

Constitution ideas

The innovative structural core of the constitution is the non-negotiable sovereignty of the people. The constitutional paradigm of Syrians will be unique and original to Syria, given its long gestation and maturation process – with its own creative vision, free of western mimicry. It will predictably be a complete work of art with its own functionalism and materiality. In spite of the necessary structural restraints there will be the freedom for creativity within the changing nature of the internal and external environment. It will be fully in cooperation with UN to obtain international recognition. The competition for ideas is fierce as part of the process of winning the votes of people. Syrians are caught in the double bind between progressive and reactionary ideas. Ultimately, it must reflect the popular temperament and will of Syrians.

Syria, coming from a time lag of 105 years ((1920-2025) has the unusual potential to contribute to the building of a new type of modern national and international relations.

The civilizational values of all Syrians

Syria is home to numerous faith communities with deep civilizational values. Value systems generate conflicting emotions and impulses, in which religions and politics become embedded and the situation becomes potentially volatile. When arms are used to articulate beliefs, religions, and politics they become hyperventilated. They result in political and religious crimes of passion.

The dangers of regionalism and enclavism are increased in conflicts over distribution of assets. The cause of this is the multiple ongoing systemic crises, worsened by ongoing inter-generational traumas. There is a need to strengthen the flexible durability of citizens through the delivery of material socio-economic benefits of change in uncertain times. This entails the transition to justice, paralleled by transition to democracy.

When the final draft of the constitution is ratified by the Syrian people in harmony with their aspirations and ambitions, they will transform themselves from being present-day objects into citizens with human dignity.

Procedural model
Simultaneous to the content creation of the constitution there has to be the development of a procedural model through inclusive representative organizations and public participation. Given the natural fears, anxieties, mutual distrust, insecurity, instability, expectations, and hopes the flexible model has to be durable with down-to-earth engagement. It should also function as therapy for stabilizing the returning refugees, internally displaced persons, traumatized ex-prisoners, jobless soldiers, women, and youth. Citizenship becomes a principle of equality with all citizens being given legal identities on an emergency basis, a process that has already begun with soldiers who have laid down their arms.

The politico-military atmosphere
There is a prevailing politico-military atmosphere of nervousness about the present, fear of extremism, frustration over instability, anger over balkanization of Syria by foreign powers, war fatigue, uncertainty of livelihood, concerns about the tyranny of ‘democratic’ majoritarianism, military exhaustion, minoritarian divisiveness, apprehension and understanding, Israel’s invasion and widened occupation of national territory, theft of 40% of Syria’s water resources, USA army’s increase of its occupation forces from 900 to 2000, destruction of Syria’s military capabilities, forced removal of settled residents, storming of towns, annexation of ‘buffer zone’, occupation of the town of Qatana that is 25km from Damascus, military searches of homes, unilaterally reneging on the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and restricting the movement of the 1117 Peacekeeping troops.

Remembering Oded Yinon Plan (1982)
The World Zionist Organization published ‘The Zionist Plan for the Middle East’ by Obed Yinon, now called the Obed Yinon Plan (OYP), dated 17 June 1982. It is titled ‘A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties’. It is based on the detailed plan of ‘the (then) present Zionist regime’, i.e., ‘the division of the whole area into small states, and the dissolution of all the existing Arab states’– including Syria. There is ‘the military aspect of this plan’. Its ‘real aim’ is ‘to make an Imperial Israel into a world power.’ ‘The plan follows faithfully the geopolitical ideas current in Germany of 1890-1933, which were swallowed whole by Hitler and the Nazi movement’. It is within the context of ‘Western civilization’. It is well aware of ‘minorities and ethnic groups which are hostile to one another’. It makes the regaining of the Sinai Peninsula ‘a political priority…as a strategic, economic, and energy reserve’. It further states, ‘The dissolution of Syria and Iraq later on into ethnically or religiously unique areas…is Israel’s primary target’.
It confidently asserts – ‘Syria will fall apart’.

‘The Military Background of The Plan’
In its section on ‘The Military Background of The Plan’ it speaks of implicit increase in military sufficiency ‘for the actual work of occupation of such wide territories’. It further speaks of the ‘mass humiliation as in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip’ and the ‘bombardment and obliteration of cities as in Lebanon now’. The military plan depends on ‘the Arabs to be even more divided than they are now’.

It states, ‘The Arab World has shown itself so far quite incapable of detailed and rational analysis of Israeli-Jewish society…the Arabs will pay no attention to their serious discussions of the future’.

The Syrian masses do not trust Israel, the mere appendage to USA imperialism like Scotland is to England.

Conclusion
The constitution will provide a law-based democratic means to social justice with an interim transitional justice. Syrians will own and defend the constitution with a newfound patriotism and unity. They will enjoy the benefits of material socio-economic rights and continue to struggle for ultimate social justice.

 
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