[SYRIA / PROPAGANDA OF THE SYRIAN BA’ATH PARTY] كلمات الرفيق قائد المسيرة خلال المعركة / Kalimât al-rafîq qā’id al-masîrah khilâl al-ma‘rakah [i.e., The words of the comrade, leader of the march, during the battle]

AL-ASSAD, HAFEZ (1930-2000).

N.p., [Syria], [1973].                        

Original staple-stitched wrappers with Hafez al-Assad’s portrait on the front cover. Cr. 8vo. 19 x 14 cm). In Arabic. 32 p. A fine copy.

A scarce and likely unrecorded propaganda brochure of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, containing three speeches by Hafez Al-Assad delivered after the outbreak of the October War in 1973 (6 October 1973), during which Arab forces led by Egypt and Syria fought against Israel. The speeches were delivered on 9th, 12th, and 30th October 1973. Notably, Hafez Al-Assad, after mentioning the names of the first four Rashidun caliphs (Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman, and Ali), says "May Allah be pleased with them" and calls for unity, a sentiment that can be associated with Sunni Muslims, despite his Alawite origin.

The October War, also known as the Ramadan War, the Yom Kippur War, the 1973 Arab - Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab - Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. Most of the fighting occurred in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

The speeches reflect Al-Assad's efforts to unite the Arab world under his early pan-Arab identity, transcending sectarian divisions, even as he, an Alawite, invoked the names of the first four Rashidun caliphs, a move aimed at appealing to the Sunni majority.