The Arab Revolutionary Workers Party ( ar, حزب العمال الثوري العربي ''Hizb Al-'Amal Al-Thawriy Al-'Arabi'') is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
active in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and
Syria.
As of 2008 the general secretary of the party is Abdul Hafiz Hafiz.
As of 2011, the chairman of the party is Tariq Abu Al-Hassan.
The party was founded in 1966 by , as a
Marxist splinter group of the
Ba'ath Party.
The party rejected the
Ba'athist ideology of
Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq ( ar, ميشيل عفلق, Mīšīl ʿAflaq, , 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its politi ...
as reactionary and backward-looking. Instead the party opted for
scientific socialism
Scientific socialism is a term coined in 1840 by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book '' What is Property?'' to mean a society ruled by a scientific government, i.e., one whose sovereignty rests upon reason, rather than sheer will: Thus, in a given ...
.
[Tibi, Bassam, Marion Farouk-Sluglett, and Peter Sluglett. ]
Arab nationalism: between Islam and the nation-state
'. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. p. 212 Another early prominent leader of the party was Ali Salah Saadi.
[Seddon, David. ]
A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East
'. London: Europa Publications, 2004. p. 63 This split in the Ba'ath Party emerged parallel to the growth of leftist dissent in the
Arab Nationalist Movement
The Arab Nationalist Movement ( ar, حركة القوميين العرب, ''Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab''), also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Ara ...
.
The party was active in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
during the 1970s. During the initial years of the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
(1975–76), al-Hafiz lived in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. Al-Hafiz died in Beirut in October 1978.
During the "
Damascus Spring
The Damascus Spring ( ar, ربيع دمشق, ) was a period of intense political and social debate in Syria which started after the death of President Hafiz al-Asad in June 2000 and continued to some degree until autumn 2001, when most of the act ...
", the initial period of
Bashar al-Assad's rule, the party could meet somewhat undisturbed under the guise of the 'Left Forum'. The party, along with other left-wing groups in Syria, decided to boycott the
2003 parliamentary election.
[Al-Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies. ]
I. Internal Reforms in the Arab World
'' The party was one of the forces behind the
National Democratic Gathering and the
Damascus Declaration.
[Damascus Centre for Theoretical and Civil Rights Studies]
أمين عام حزب العمال الثوري العربي يدعو للإفراج عن معتقلي إعلان دمشق وطي ملف الاعتقال السياسي
The party is part of the
Syrian opposition and was active in the
civil uprising phase of the
Syrian Civil War. On June 30, 2011 the party took part in forming the
. A politburo member of the party, Hazem Al-Nahhar was included in the leadership of the Association.
['' Al-Ahram''. ]
New voices for change
'' On October 10, 2011 the party decided to withdraw from the Coordination, but retained its commitment to working with the National Democratic Rally.
[Nidaasyria]
حزب العمال الثوري العربي.. قرار انسحاب من هيئة التنسيق الوطني
References
{{Syrian political parties
1966 establishments in Iraq
1966 establishments in Syria
Arab nationalism in Iraq
Arab nationalism in Syria
Arab socialist political parties
Ba'ath Party breakaway groups
Political parties established in 1966
Political parties in Iraq
Political parties in Syria
Socialist parties in Iraq
Socialist parties in Syria
Syrian opposition
Transnational political parties