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Thank you for inviting me to deliver a speech on the occasion of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party's founding, which took place nearly a century ago. I also congratulate New York on electing its mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who represents an open and principled model in supporting the right of peoples to self-determination, including the Palestinian people’s right to exist on their land.

Antoun Saadeh’s National Concept—Distinct from the Western Notion of Nationalism

Antoun Saadeh is the only Arab thinker who founded an original and authentically rooted political party—one grounded in the history, civilization, and conditions of Natural Syria (Surāqiyā). He did so without relying on theories outside the historical context of this region.

Saadeh did not base his party on Western ideologies—whether socialism, communism, fascism, or Nazism, as others had done. Instead, he proposed an innovative and distinct concept of the nation-state and national identity, one that was wholly unlike the Western model. The foundations of his doctrine stem from the history and civilisation of this region, rather than Western history.

(2)

Foundations of the Nation-State in Western Civilization

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party is a "means,” not an "end" by itself.

In Saadeh’s view, the Party is an institutional instrument necessary for achieving the goals laid by Saadeh. The Party is not an end, nor can it ever be an end, because the end, according to Saadeh’s Constitution, is “the establishment of a renaissance in geographic Syria.”

It is sad to see the Party becoming an end in itself, retreating into isolation, and shrinking away from the people, not inviting them or engaging them through dialogue and discussion.

I still remember, as a child in Beirut in 1947, how my father would take us on family excursions that included both Party members and non-members. We visited various regions of Lebanon, and everyone partook in discussions during the trip and over lunch. There was joy and comfort in knowing that this Party cared about the people of its country and its nation, about their progress, their development, their happiness, and the well-being of their sons and daughters. This was a vanguard Party that rejected confinement within sectarian or ethnic boundaries. Armenians, Circassians, Kurds—all were Syrians so long as they lived on this land, equal in every respect to those of Arab origin.

Women who took part in these excursions also organized and participated in the discussions. I cannot forget the sight of Mrs Muʿazzaz Rawda, an outstanding painter and sculptor, who was not a party member, moving about with her camera from place to place, capturing images and preserving them in her archive.

The Revival of a nation meant engaging with society, not withdrawing from it.

It meant rejoicing in the journey toward new horizons, breaking traditional barriers between sects and ethnicities, and between men and women, who stood beside one another in every public matter.

The Renaissance meant sharing life with others in all its forms and expressions, moving together from an existing condition to a better and more beautiful one.

But is this what we see today?

Instead of participating in life and advancing together, we have secluded ourselves and distanced ourselves from our people.

We need to always remember Saadeh’s objective:

The Party is a means. The goal is the revival and advancement of our people.

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No “Minorities” or “Majorities” in Saadeh’s National System

Our identity as a people who lived on this land for thousands of years, and our equality before the law—regardless of religion, ethnicity, or gender—are the guarantees that prevent the existence of “minorities” or “majorities” in Saadeh’s national framework.

The presence of a fixed “majority” and “minority” within a society means that nationalism in that society is based on an ethnic or religiously dominant state system. In other words, it is a nationalism centred on a particular ethnicity—such as the white race—or on a particular religion or sect, such as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism.

When a person’s identity becomes tied not to the land and his/her place of residence, but to his/her personal identity—religious or ethnic—the problem of minorities inevitably arises. Personal identities and unions destroy society because they divide it into two parts: a dominant group and a group that is dominated.

For this reason, Saadeh called for dismantling religious distinctions and blind sectarian fanaticism. He addressed his party members when sectarian strife broke out between al-Najjada and al-Kataeb in 1936, urging them to go down to the streets and separate the two sides:

“For turning the homeland into a battlefield where a single people, united by fate, is split into two armies fighting one another—only to reach one final outcome, national ruin—is a disgraceful act worthy only of barbaric peoples.”

(Antun Saadeh, Complete Works, vol. 2, pp. 54–55)

4

The Zahran Mamdani Phenomenon, Mayor of New York City

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York elections—despite the opposition of the white oligarchy, the massive flow of money aimed at defeating him, and the fact that New York is the fortress of finance and capital—is an exceptional and remarkable phenomenon.

“White America” attempted to bring him down, but he prevailed through the votes of a diverse populace: a mosaic of sects, religions, and ethnicities. There is no place on earth today comparable to the United States in terms of racial and religious diversity, representing migrants arriving from every corner of the world.

This Muslim man, with his brown complexion, was able to express the aspirations of Americans who reject the distinction between “settler” and “native,” who demand equality and social justice, and who cry out, “We are all settlers”,—and they are right to do so. For the “white man” is also a settler. And here he is again, this white settler, attempting to dominate and to claim that he alone is native while all others are intruders. The glaring truth, however, is that the white man is not only an intruder but also the one who worked to exterminate the true natives—the Indigenous peoples of America.

Mamdani rebelled against this situation and affirmed that all are equal. His vision, therefore, aligns with Sa’adeh’s, who made no distinction between settler and native.

Zahran Mamdani not only supports the just Palestinian cause; he goes further in defining nationhood and opposing every form of racism. Mamdani calls for integration and equality, and he rejects the arrogance of the white supremacist who sees himself as the foundation of civilization and the nation-state, unmatched by any other, while viewing everyone else as a wild barbarian.

Mamdani’s background is of Indian origin, where religions and communities once coexisted harmoniously—until British colonialism tore this fabric apart. Colonial rule destroyed a peaceful society, generating racism, hatred, bloody wars, and ultimately the partition of India, motivated by Britain’s desire to extract its wealth without oversight or restraint.

Mamdani's vision seeks justice for all, the right of people to exist, and to choose their own paths, without colonial intervention and subjugation.

Mamdani is recalibrating and transforming the role of the United States of America, both internally and externally, vis-à-vis the world at large.