Mansur al-Atrash

At the time, the Jabal al-Druze area constituted an autonomous zone (existing between 1922 and 1936) within the French Mandate of Syria (established in 1920).

Tensions between the Druze and the French authorities stemmed from a number of reasons, particularly what the local Druze leaders saw as French encroachment into their domestic affairs and self-governance.

Mansur al-Atrash (منصور الأطرش; 3 February 1925 – 14 November 2006) was a Syrian politician and journalist.

Atrash was born 3 February 1925 in the Druze community of al-Qurayya in Jabal al-Druze (Jabal al-Arab), months before the Great Syrian Revolt, which was launched and led by his father Sultan al-Atrash.

The revolt began in the summer of 1925 and had soon spread throughout Syria, ending with the military defeat of Syrian rebels in 1927 and the self-imposed exile of Sultan to Transjordan after the Mandatory authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.

He returned in 1937 after being pardoned by the authorities.

It was in Transjordan, and later in Damascus and Beirut, that Mansur completed his primary and secondary education.

In 1946, Mansur went to study at the American University in Beirut (AUB), and graduated in 1948 with a BA in political science.

Together with fellow university students, Atrash became a founding member of the Ba'ath Party and its Syrian regional branch in 1947.

In 1947 Atrash, an ardent socialist and Arab nationalist 'in principle and practice," according to historian Sami Moubayed, became a founding member of the Ba'ath Party. He joined the organization during his time at the AUB and then left with his party colleagues Salah al-Din al-Bitar and Michel Aflaq for further studies in Paris. He became part of its Syrian regional branch, and actively participated in party strikes, marches and parades. Atrash wrote regularly for the party newspaper al-Ba'ath. He was the only prominent Druze member in the Ba'ath Party who hailed from a major clan, the al-Atrash.

During the presidency of Adib Shishakli (1951–54), he became an anti-government activist and was imprisoned twice, only to be released in an unsuccessful attempt by Shishakli to gain the support of Atrash's father, Sultan.

In the year Shishakli was overthrown, Atrash was elected to parliament and turned down an offer to serve in Said al-Ghazzi's government.

In 1951, he attained a law degree from the Sorbonne University.

He also served as a lecturer on Arabic literature in the University of Damascus.

General Adib Shishakli seized power in 1951, establishing a military-backed autocracy.

Atrash participated in anti-Shishakli activity, including throwing explosives at Shishakli's residence in 1952, an action which resulted in Atrash's arrest.

In 1953 Shishakli launched a crackdown on the Druze community, claiming they were being funded by Hashemite-ruled Jordan and Iraq to establish a Hashemite government in Syria.

Jabal al-Druze was bombarded by government forces and Atrash's father Sultan was put under house arrest for his vocal criticism of Shishakli.

After Shishakli came into conflict with the Ba'athists that year as a result of the former's authoritarian manner of governance, Atrash moved to Homs, a hotbed of opposition to Shishakli's rule, where he helped coordinate the supply of arms to insurgents in Jabal al-Druze.

He was arrested by the authorities for a second time in May, during the peak of the unrest.

He had been released both times because of his father's popularity at the national level; by releasing Atrash, Shishakli attempted to gain the appeasement of Sultan.

In response to Atrash's second release from prison, Sultan said "I didn't ask Shishakli for the freedom of my son. I asked him for the freedom of my country."

According to Moubayed, Atrash's anti-government activities significantly contributed to Shishakli's resignation and departure from Syria in February 1954 amid the countrywide unrest.

In the first post-Shishakli democratic election later that year, Atrash was elected to parliament.

Atrash was offered a cabinet position in Said al-Ghazzi's September 1955 government, but he rejected the offer because of the Ba'ath Party's opposition to the government's makeup.

During the period of the United Arab Republic (1958–61), Atrash became a strong supporter of Egyptian president and pan-Arab leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.

He opposed Syria's secession from the UAR and turned down offers to serve in successive separatist governments in protest.

Atrash supported formation of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union between Syria and Egypt, in 1958.

During the UAR years, Atrash became a devoted Nasserite—a supporter of President Gamal Abdel Nasser's policies—and wrote several articles in Nasserite daily newspaper Al Jamahir ("The People.") Atrash opposed the break-up of the union after a secessionist coup in September 1961, and opposed playing a political role in the anti-unionist governments that succeeded the UAR; Prime Minister Bashir al-Azma (term in 1962) offered him a cabinet post, but he turned down the offer, citing his ideological opposition to a secessionist government.

Prime Minister Khalid al-Azm (term in 1962–63) appointed him minister of social affairs without asking him, but Atrash turned down that job as well.

When the Ba'ath Party gained power in the 1963 coup, Atrash became Minister of Social Affairs and in 1965 the head of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).

A second coup by left-wing Ba'athist officers resulted in a split within the party between the coup officers led by the Military Committee and the founders led by Michel Aflaq, with Atrash being an ardent supporter of the latter.

His seclusion from Syrian politics ended after the Military Committee of the Ba'ath Party took power in a coup d'état on 8 March 1963.

The Military Committee's stated goal was to reestablish a pan-Arab state; a goal Atrash shared.

He was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in Salah al-Din al-Bitar's first government, and became a member of the Presidential Council, an organ responsible for running day-to-day state affairs.

In February 1964 Atrash was elected to the 12-member Ba'ath Party National Command, which was nominally the highest policy-making body of the party.

Differences between Bitar and the Regional Command had developed in 1964, with the latter viewing Bitar's cabinet as being right-leaning and soft on "reactionary" elements within Syria in the aftermath of Hama uprising in April of that year by the Muslim Brotherhood.

He was subsequently imprisoned, but released in the aftermath of Syria's defeat in the 1967 War with Israel.

After two years of self-imposed exile in Lebanon, he returned to Syria where he mostly abandoned political life.

He died on 14 November 2006 and was buried near his hometown of al-Qurayya.