Misunderstanding the history of Syria Rod Macdonald

Distance Safed in Northern Israel to Damascus Syria borders five countries; Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq Distance Yerevan to Syrian border 326 miles Distance Safed in Northern Israel to Damascus 72 miles

How Societies Organize Kinship: Age, blood relations, clan, tribe, similar to Monarchy Theocracy: Specific theologies, closeness to G-d Democracy: Franchised members, equality, committees, voting Oligarchy: Rule by powerful and rich elites with patronage and favor Model from “Systems Leadership” Dr. I Macdonald http://www.maconsultancy.com

Syrian History 539 BCE Persians occupy land now known as Syria 333 BCE Syria incorporated into the Seleucid Empire (Alexander the Great) 64 BCE Pompey captures Antioch turning Syria into a Roman province 135 CE Hadrian changes name of Judea to Syria Palaestina after last Jewish revolt 395 CE Syria part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire 634 CE Syria becomes part of the Islamic Empire. Umayyad dynasty divides Syria into four districts, Damascus, Homs, Palestine & Jordan 750 CE Caliphate collapses. Abbasid dynasty makes Arabic official language replacing Greek and Aramaic. Years of fighting follow including Crusader partial invasion and occupation 1175 CE Syria conquered by Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt 1260 CE Mongols sweep through Syria followed by Mamluks of Egypt who eliminate last of the Crusader footholds 1400 CE Tamerlane defeat Mamluk army at Aleppo 1516 CE Ottomans conquer most of Syria. Territory of greater Syria included modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine Authority, Gaza Strip and parts of Turkey and Iraq

The Middle East - 1914

Sykes-Picot Agreement (Following Sykes-Picot-Sazonov Treaty 1916)

Balfour Declaration November 2, 1917 Maps Israel Ministry of Foreign Affaires

Two State Solution: 1923 Under pressure from Arabs (the British needed Arab oil) Britain imposes quotas for immigration at 75,000 per year and reduced the original mandate by 75% allocating only 25% to Jewish National Homeland, called Palestine. The remainder was designated as Transjordan Jewish settlement was barred in Transjordan As the Arabs would not compromise or recognize any form of Jewish state the British handed the problem over to the the UN to find a solution in 1947 Maps Israel Ministry of Foreign Affaires

Syrian History 1920 CE Syria becomes a League of Nations mandate under French control. Kurds fled Turkey and settled in NE Syria and granted Syrian citizenship by the French authorities. French created regions for Alawis on the coast and Druze in the south 1936 CE France grants Syrian independence but not ratified in France 1941 CE British & Free French defeated Vichy French and promised independence 1944 CE Syrian independent republic but French did not leave until 1946 1946-56 Syria has 20 different cabinets and four separate constitutions 1963 – Ba’athist Republic of Syria 1970 – Black September – Syria tries to intervene to support PLO against Jordan. Syrian forces defeated leading to Hafez al-Hassad takeover. Sunni insurgency against secular Ba’athist Allawite state 1973 – Assad introduces a secular constitution not requiring the president of Syria to be Muslim. Fundamentalist Sunni’s (Muslim Brotherhood) lead armed insurgency crushed in the city of Hama (Massacre) 1990 – Syria supports US in First Gulf War and opens negotiations with Israel 2000 – Bashar al-Assad takes power at age of 34

Armistice Line 1973 The peace process started between Israel and Egypt through two agreements. The Suez canal was opened to shipping and Egypt removed its blockade on the Red Sea 1978 Israel returns Sinai Peninsular, with oil, to Egypt in exchange for a peace agreement Maps Israel Ministry of Foreign Affaires

Syrian History Lebanon involvement: At request of Sarkis to protect Maronite Christians in 1973 and continuing for 30 years till 2005, including an imposed peace in 1990. Syrian workers preferred over Palestinians, thousands granted Lebanese citizenship and used as base to undermine Israel through Hezbollah resulting in multiple clashes with Israel and Kurds 2011 – start of current Syrian civil war pro-democracy, Sunni conservative and Kurdish uprisings against the (secular) Assad government inspired by wave of similar events in other ME countries. Concessions to conservative Muslims; closes only casino & reverses law prohibiting female teachers wearing the niqāb. Protest continue. Western countries oppose attempts to use force to suppress dissent and impose sanctions 2013 – civil war becomes a proxy war with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar funding rebels including al-Qaeda Nusara Front and Iran and Hezbollah supporting Assad. Kurds are opposed by Turkey. Rise of ISIL/IS/ISIS/Daesh has complicated matters further 2014 – Daesh declares caliphate US led coalition launches air strikes against Daesh, Russia launches attacks overtly supporting Assad including against Western backed rebels including National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces rejected by other opponents of Assad 2016 Security Council-endorsed road map for peace, ceasefire and transitional period ending in elections, a highly unlikely scenario

Who controls what?

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