Tayyeb Tizini

Tayeb Tizini (الطيب تيزيني; August 10, 1934 – May 18, 2019) was a Syrian philosopher, researcher and academic.

born in the city of Homs, a supporter of Marxist nationalist thought.

He relies on the historical dialectic in his philosophical project to re-read Arab thought since before Islam until now.

He died at the age of 85 after struggle with disease in his city, Homs.

In his 1976 work, Min al-turath ila al-thawra ('From tradition to revolution'), Tizini hoped for a Marxist revolution.

Tizini's 2001 critique of the Damascus Spring, Min thulathiyyat al-fasad ila qadaya al-mujtama' al-madani ('From the trilogy of corruption to issues of civil society'), argued that reform of the state was needed, rather than putting excessive hope in civil society.

He nevertheless signed the 2005 Damascus Declaration and the 2006 Beirut-Damascus Declaration.

His own 2005 manifesto, Bayan fi al-nahda wa al-tanwir al-arabi ('Statement regarding the Renaissance and the Arab Enlightenment'), called for a new nahda (renaissance) and tanwir ('enlightenment').

After demonstrating to demand the release of political prisoners at the start of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, he was beaten and briefly held by the state security forces.

In October 2011 he participated in the national conference convened by the regime in Damascus.

He listed five demands as a precondition for national dialogue: no firing at fellow Syrians; release of political prisoners; applying the rule of law; abandoning the security state; and reconstructing the media for a real national debate.

Tizini said in an interview with Syria Today magazine in November 2011 that there is no political option, and that instead only a single fist is used.

"[The veins of] this fist will coagulate because it has frozen while grasping society, and it will decay by itself."

Tizini said that Syria's internal economy and many institutions were destroyed throughout what he called "quadrant totalitarian law".

In this model of state power, there are four pillars: remaining in power, controlling all media, monopolising [the nation's] wealth, and monopolising all referents."

Tizini suggested that reform in Syria now equals the existence of Syria itself.

"For the regime it is a 'to be or not to be situation'," he said, adding that "the security state's big motto is 'we must corrupt whoever is not corrupted yet, whereby all become dirty and controllable.' And this is what happened," Tizini continued.

"Syria was drained of good manpower and active democratic labour trends in all fields."

Tizini concluded that reform starts with holding people accountable for their actions.

"When people are held accountable, the mountain will crack and the plain will appear."

He died in Homs on May 17, 2019.

Tizini believed that while the Syrian regime was incapable of reform – because this very reform would enact its destruction – it pretends not to see the problem, or thinks that it does not exist.