The Syrian al-Jazeera province: An ethnic, social, political study

The Syrian Al-Jazeera Province: An Ethnic, Social and Political Study — Kurdish YPJ/YPG female fighter, Aljazeera Canton, Syrian Kurdistan, Rojava, 2015. Photo: Creative Commons/kurdishstruggle/flickr

Nemat Sharif | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Author: Lieutenant Muhammad Talab Hilal
Head of the Political Division in Hasaka
Review and commentary: Nemat Sharif

Some may wonder why review an old book that was written decades ago. This book was the cornerstone of the Baath Party’s ideology vis-a-vie the Kurds and their liberation movement in both Iraq and Syria. The Kurds continue to suffer even today from its sway on Arab mentality. The Assad regime denied any right for the Kurds in Syria whatsoever to the minute it toppled.

The Baath Party, in power or out, continues to dream of ruling the Kurds and other minorities with an iron fist. To this day, there is no published edition of this book available to the readers to learn the Baath Party’s policy regarding Kurds and other minorities.

What is available are scattered copies of the limited Baathist edition for Baath Party members only. Limited references are made to this book are made by a few Kurdish writers. Limited German translation was made available several years ago. This quick review, includes a 12 point program erase Kurdish national identity in Syria.

Muhammad Talab Hilal admits in his introduction to the book that “the few sources he obtained, despite their scarcity, are reports rather than studies” and that his book is [the study] “more of personal impression than an objective and focused study.

However, the motive that prompted rushing it is the special circumstances that Al-Jazeera Province is going through today and the serious impact of the events taking place in the north of our beloved Iraq, and their impact on this Province.” In this paragraph Hilal admits, that his study “Lacks the characteristics of an objective scientific study”, one can rely on.

He acknowledged his bias, as he is a Baathist who poured out his wrath on the Kurdish people to satisfy his racist tendency, and to flatter his masters with the aim of promotion (1), as his book has despicable political goals. It maliciously spread division, discord and hatred between the Kurds and Arabs first, urges his fascist Bath masters to exterminate the peaceful Kurds in Syria and elsewhere.

Second, the book is a complete program to exterminate the Kurdish people in Syria. Third, this review includes the 12 point program verbatim from the book, to show the reader the chauvinism of Hilal and the party he represented. It is important to mention that this program was unprovoked, and the Kurdish population lived peacefully on their own land.

The writer’s view of the Kurds and Kurdistan:

On the origin of the Kurds and their homeland, he ignored history facts, their culture, and contributions to human civilizations, especially to the Islamic (2). On pages 4 and 5 he stated”…that there is no people in the sense of a Kurdish people, nor a whole nation in the sense of a Kurdish nation…because they lack all characteristics of a nation. Thus, there is no national homeland for the Kurds either.

There are mountain dwellers whom nature has given special characteristic like any inhabitants of any region that impresses its inhabitants…the Kurds are no more than this. They have no history, no civilization, no language, and no race, except for traits of strength, brutality, and harshness. These are the traits of mountain dwellers. If we follow this logic, then we must apply it to other nations. As narrow as this view is, there will be many more nations.…”

In this brief presentation, we will not attempt to respond to his nonsense because the facts are too obvious to obscure with his demagoguery. His thoughts throughout the book suggest that Kurdistan is Arab land. He begins on the first page by saying “This piece of our dear homeland – meaning Kurdistan is Arab land- …” and concludes by again saying that Kurdistan is part of the Arab homeland and that the Kurds are “homeless people” whom no one knows of their origin. He did not attribute them to any neighboring ethnic group, as Turks do, because that would lead him to acknowledge that the parts of Kurdistan in Iraq and Syria are Turkish or Iranian if he attributes them to either one.

Therefore, he suggests that the Kurds are “mountain Arabs” (4), and mountains have distorted their Arab character (page 5). He reasons that “successive conquests of their region” (p.3) have made them lose their language. Because of his arrogance and racism he withholds the name “mountain Arabs”; first to satisfy his national vanity and then to justify his call to exterminate the Kurds. He defines the Kurds as “mountain dwellers” who have nothing “but the traits of strength, brutality and harshness.”

The writer’s racism and limited knowledge are clear in the vagueness with which he spoke about the origin of the Kurds and their history. On page 38, the writer acknowledges that “the Kurds as a race are completely different from the Arabs. There is no psychological, physiological, or anthropological similarity.” This was not spontaneous or a finding of his study.

His acknowledgment came to justify accusing the Kurdish liberation movement of ‘populism’ (4), as he says on page 38, “Where religion (meaning Islam) cannot be called a religion in the correct sense among the Kurds, mostly Sufi orders that are widespread…we know that populism itself is the one that created those orders that are foreign to Islam or used them as cover to attack Arab nationalism.”

Not only the Kurds, but even some Arab figures did not escape the charge of populism. For example, the same writer accused the then Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser (P. 22) of “populism, opportunism and egoism” for no reason other than his support for the Kurds’ right to life. He said the same thing about the then Iraqi president Abdul Karim Qasim for allowing Barzani to return to Iraq in 1959.

The writer must have suffered from fear and inferiority complex (P.39). He feels that every word spoken by the Kurds is a stab in the back, even if the word is a call for friendship and brotherhood. He cites Article 5 of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) charter, which stated: “Strive to strengthen the relations of brotherhood and friendship among all ethnicities that make up the Iraqi people, e.g. Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Armenians, and all other minorities in Iraq…” He explained: “It is very clear from the text of that article the populist and communist tendencies of the KDP.

This party, in addition to working for Kurdish nationalism, is also working to destroy Arab nationalism by reviving a new nationalism, based on the same communist logic.” The question here is: What does the writer want the KDP to say? Does he want the KDP to be chauvinistic and deny the right to life for others, like the writer himself? And why does he see the revival of other nationalities as destruction of Arab nationalism? This is the fear of the racist in its most obvious form. He also confuses populism with communism.

He considers the communist parties in the region then to be populist movements directed against Arab nationalism. Despite Baath party’s confession of socialism, his fear of communism is two-fold: 1) the call for self-determination for all stabs his racist pride in the core. He fails to see that nationalist movements are not communists. 2) Solidarity of the working class is another stab for he knows for certain that the solidarity of the worker regardless of ethnicity is a threat to his racist Baath pan-Arabism.

Hilal takes his Baathist position entirely because he is keenly aware of the justifications for his existence. He continues to justify his fear of and hostility towards the Kurdish liberation movement where he says on page (40): “…they – the Kurds – are trying with all their energy and possessions to establish their imaginary homeland. This view results in them being enemies and there is no difference between them and Israel despite the religious bond. Judaism and Kurdistan are two sides of a coin.

Add to that all the colonial considerations and the intense work against Arab nationalism… If, God forbid, their dream comes true [the Kurds’ dream of establishing their state] they will immediately reveal their true face and become a communist state affiliated with the Soviet Union in the future.” The writer reaches his “prophecy!” again on page 88 after an extensive study of KDP’s program and charter.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)

One of the ironies of this “study” is that the author accuses the Kurds of agents of the west once and of communism another time (p.14) for no reason other than their resistance to genocidal campaigns against them. On page (9) he cites non-sequential paragraphs from “Brief History of the Kurds and Kurdistan” (pp 274 – 276), exploiting the honesty and truthfulness of the late scholar Muhammad Amin Zaki in his description of what the Kurds suffer as a result of their deprivation of the two ‘treasures’, “knowledge and money.”

The author ignores that their deprivation of both is a direct result of Baathist colonialism. Following a policy of ignorance is a primary means that facilitates the usurpers’ theft of the wealth of Kurdistan, thus, the second deprivation of money is achieved.

The writer’s proposals regarding the Kurds

The following are Hilal’s the proposals to end the Kurdish problem, included in his alleged “study” (pp 46-48), His proposal are translated verbatim as a living example of racism against the Kurds in Syria and elsewhere:

“In light of all that was mentioned, we must, in the midst of the turmoil, deal with the issues with a cool mind and the flame of faith, not to become the echo of or reaction to daily events, get side-tracked or trapped in plans drawn up by others. We must first avoid the slippery slopes in order to establish the foundations of plans on science and a comprehensive study at this this historical juncture.

It is clear and obvious to us today that we are waging a war of dogmas and weapons in the north of our Arab Iraqi state. We must immediately begin to match plans with the operations carried out in northern Iraq at this phase in particular. What is the benefit of ending [the Kurd] there and remaining here pampered or close to that in the name of citizenship?

Everything is clear and all card are exposed here and there [Syria and Iraq] and in Turkey and Iran as well regarding the Kurds. Therefore, we suggest that a comprehensive and radical plan be implemented in al-Jazeera Province. So that the problem does not occur again after a period of time.

The entire region, as we learned in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and even Iran, is connected along the borders. We must exploit Turkey’s policy now because it may change in the future according to the whims of colonial policy. They are now moving the dangerous elements to the interior parts of their country. Therefore, we suggest that the state should:

(1) Adopt internal relocation operations with geographical distribution inside the country considering the dangerous elements first. There is no problem if the plan extends over two or three years, starting with the dangerous elements moved first to the less dangerous elements and so on.

(2) Adopt a policy of keeping them in ignorance; that is not establishing schools or science institutes in the region because education has proven the opposite of what is needed in a blatant and bold way.

(3) The overwhelming majority of Kurds residing in al-Jazeera province enjoy Turkish citizenship. Civil records must be corrected, and this is happening now. We request that this results in clearing all whose citizenship has not been proven, and transferring them to their original countries. Furthermore, all those whose nationality has been proven must be reviewed reasonably and how they acquired them.

Citizenship is acquired by a presidential decree only. Any certificate that is not issued by a decree must be discussed. Those remaining, i.e. the least dangerous, are stripped of their citizenship and then returned to their countries. Then there is citizenship conflict, as you find some holding citizenship from two or three countries at the same time. In this case, such a person must be returned to his original country. In any case, what is important is to begin to reach the desired outcome of this census and review, Evacuation operations should begin immediately.

(4) Close employment opportunities: As a contribution to the success of the plan, no employment opportunities should be made available to the Kurds so that we put them in an unstable situation, ready to leave at any moment. The agrarian reform in al-Jazeera must consider this first, so that Kurds can’t rent or own. Arab elements are abundantly available, thank God.

(5) Launch a propaganda campaign among the Arab elements to prepare them for a cause and focusing on the Kurds to destabilize them so that they are anxious and unstable.

(6) Strip their clerics of their religious role and replace them with pure Arab sheikhs based on a plan. Or transfer them early on instead of others. Their gatherings are not religious at all, indeed, they Kurdish gatherings. In their statements, when they call on us, not against Barzani, rather they call against shedding Muslim blood. What a ridiculous statement!

(7) Instigate the Kurds against each other. This is easy, and likely by inciting those who claim Arab descent against the dangerous elements. This also will reveal the truth of those who claim to be Arabs.
(8) Settle Arab and nationalist elements in the Kurdish areas on the borders.

They are the future fort, and watchdogs until all Kurds are removed. We suggest that Arab elements of Shammar tribe. First they are the poorest tribe on earth and second they are guaranteed nationally one hundred percent.

(9) Make the northern strip of al-Jazeerah a military zone just as a war front. Military units are stationed in the zone. Their mission is to settle Arabs and evacuate the Kurds according to the State plan.

(10) Establish Arab communal farms for those resettled by the state in the northern strip, provided that they are trained and armed, just like the Jewish colonies on the borders.

(11) Don’t allow non-Arabic speakers to vote or run for office in the aforementioned areas.

(12) Absolutely ban granting Syrian citizenship to anyone who wants to reside in that area, regardless of his original citizenship (except Arab, etc.).

These proposals are not enough, as they are meant to alert officials, based on our experience, so that they would be the start of a comprehensive radical plan to be taken, a lesson never to be forgotten.”

Most of these proposals were implemented, while the Baath Party was in power in Syria, and continued to uphold this racist policy against the Kurdish rights until the Baath party was removed from power.

There are many examples of this, including, but not limited to: the abhorrent Arab belt project for the Syrian Al-Jazeera Province, and the revocation of Syrian citizenship of more than a hundred thousand Kurds, in addition to restricting the Kurdish language, literature and heritage.

It is our duty to expose this book continuously, and it was best said by the late Ismat Sharif Wanli in the introduction he added to this book “in order to combat its poisons and correct this distortion of Arab and Kurdish nationalism and humanity.”

Notes:
(1) Ismat Sharif Wanli stated in his added brief introduction to this book “The Baath regime did not dare to publish and distribute it to libraries and bookstores, contenting itself with trying to implement it…to erase the Kurds of Syria from existence. The author of this book was rewarded for his ‘creativity’ by promoting him to be the governor of Hama, and then a minister.”

(2) The limited scope of this article does not allow more details.

(3) To this extent, the readers can easily see the writer’s viewpoint matches that of Turkish racists against the Kurds. Turkey called the Kurds there “Mountain Turks” and the words Kurds and Kurdistan were banned in Turkey until the 1990’s.

(4) Populism: A political and literary movement with roots extending to the early days of Islam. Like our modern day political opposition, those subject to Arab rule of non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim origins, aimed to oppose the Arab rule and the benchmarks of authority, and its rulers because of the injustice and oppression they were suffering,

Nemat Sharif, a political analyst, a contributing writer and columnist for iKurd.net.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.