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How the West stole democracy from the Arabs : the Syrian Arab Congress of 1920 and the destruction of its historic liberal-Islamic alliance  Cover Image Book Book

How the West stole democracy from the Arabs : the Syrian Arab Congress of 1920 and the destruction of its historic liberal-Islamic alliance / Elizabeth F. Thompson.

Summary:

"When Europe's Great War engulfed the Ottoman Empire, Arab nationalists rose in revolt against their Turkish rulers and allied with the British on the promise of an independent Arab state. In October 1918, the Arabs' military leader, Prince Faisal, victoriously entered Damascus and proclaimed a constitutional government in an independent Greater Syria. Faisal won American support for self-determination at the Paris Peace Conference, but other Entente powers plotted to protect their colonial interests. Under threat of European occupation, the Syrian-Arab Congress declared independence on March 8, 1920 and crowned Faisal king of a "civil representative monarchy." Sheikh Rashid Rida, the most prominent Islamic thinker of the day, became Congress president and supervised the drafting of a constitution that established the world's first Arab democracy and guaranteed equal rights for all citizens, including non-Muslims. But France and Britain refused to recognize the Damascus government and instead imposed a system of mandates on the pretext that Arabs were not yet ready for self-government. In July 1920, the French invaded and crushed the Syrian state. The fragile coalition of secular modernizers and Islamic reformers that had established democracy was destroyed, with profound consequences that reverberate still. Using previously untapped primary sources, including contemporary newspaper accounts, reports of the Syrian-Arab Congress, and letters and diaries from participants, How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs is a groundbreaking account of an extraordinary, brief moment of unity and hope-and of its destruction"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780802148209 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: xxvi, 466 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subject: Muʼtamar al-Sūrī al-ʻĀmm (1919-1920)
Arab nationalism > Syria > History.
Syria > History > French occupation, 1918-1946.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Innisfil Public Library System. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Lakeshore Branch.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Lakeshore Branch 956.9103 Tho 31681010195071 NONFIC Available -


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