Syria
In 1962 the Syrian branch, until then a small group of intellectuals almost all of whom were Palestinian, reacted to the break-up of the United Arab Republic by establishing a mass-movement calling for immediate re-unification with Egypt. Membership quickly surged to several thousand, and the leadership participated in the first Ba'thist-led government established after the coup of 8 March 1963, though on a non-party basis. The Ba'th and its allied officers almost immediately after the March coup began purging Nasserists from power, with dismissals, transfers and arrests during the Spring of 1963; the ANM was viewed as one of the most serious threats, because of its numerical force and ideological appeal to the Ba'thist constituency. The Ba'th-ANM tensions culminated in a Nasserist coup attempt led by Jasim Alwan that was struck down in July, 1963, after which Nasserism and the ANM in particular was a spent force in Syria.
The ANM entered the Arab Socialist Union, but both the Hawatmeh and Habash loyalists later reconstituted themselves as independent parties, and the ASU itself splintered repeatedly during the Syrian 1960s and early 1970s.
Read more about this topic: Arab Nationalist Movement
Famous quotes containing the word syria:
“...that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 2 Kings 5:8.
Elijah to the king of Israel who has received a letter from the king of Syria looking for someone to cure his commander of leprosy.