by Reese Erlich
Ocalan, Abdullah. Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation. London: Pluto Press, 2007.
Oren, Michael. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007.
Pargeter, Alison. The Muslim Brotherhood: From Opposition to Power. London: Saqi Books, 2010.
Provence, Michael. The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005.
Redd, Adrienne. Fallen Walls and Fallen Towers: The Fate of the Nation in a Global World. Ann Arbor, MI: Nimble Books, 2010–2011.
Rogan, Eugene. The Arabs: A History. New York: Basic Books, 2011.
Sennott, Charles, M. The Body and the Blood: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians and the Possibility for Peace. New York: Public Affairs, 2001.
Starr, Stephen. Revolt in Syria: Eye-Witness to the Uprising. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012.
Swanson, Bill, ed. Encarta Book of Quotes. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
Tabler, Andrew. In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2011.
Tejel, Jordil. Syria's Kurds: History, Politics, and Society. London: Rutledge Group, 2009.
Thomas, Lowell. With Lawrence in Arabia. 16th ed. London: Hutchinson, n.d.
United Nations. “Final Report, United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic.” December 12, 2013. https://www.un.org/apps/news//story.asp?NewsID=46730&Cr=syria&Cr1=.
United Nations Office for Human Rights. “UN Issues First Report on Human Rights of Gay and Lesbian People.” December 15, 2011. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40743#.UyCUyfrn_gg.
Wright, Robert. Our Man in Tehran: The True Story behind the Secret Mission to Save Six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Foreign Ambassador Who Worked with the CIA to Bring Them Home. New York: Other Press, 2011.
Pages in italic indicate subject was interviewed.
Abbas, 161
ABC (network), 42
Abdi, Assad, 156
“Abdi, Yusuf,” 158
Abdullah I (king of Jordan), 24, 44. See also Hashemite family
Aboud, Hassan, 96
Abourezk, Jim, 20, 64
Abrahams, Floyd, 186
Abu Awad, Ali, 195
Abu Jaafar, 141
Abu Musa. See Maragha, Said Musa
Abu Sakkar, 253
Acre, Palestine, 31
Adana, Turkey, 107
Adana Agreement, 174–75
Adra, massacre of civilians by Syrian opposition groups, 96
Afghanistan, 18, 127, 146, 148, 162, 217, 221, 232
Aflaq, Michael, 60, 61, 246
Afrin, Syria, 186–87
Agassi, Mahmoud al-, 79
Agence France Presse, 87–88
Aghdam, Ghader Daemi, 159
Ahmad, Najm al-, 109, 111
Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, 145, 151, 160, 163
Ahme, Nasradeen, 88
Ahrar al-Sham [Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant], 96, 98, 117, 230, 233, 239
Ahrar Syria [Free People of Syria], 17–18
AIPAC. See American Israel Public Affairs Committee
Air Force (US), 107, 220
Ajami, Maryam, 194
Al Arabiya (TV network), 85
al-Askari mosque, 153
Alawites, 11–12, 55, 69, 151–52, 243, 246
and Bashar al-Assad, 18, 83, 123, 125, 127–28, 139
and Hafez al-Assad, 64, 126
and Iran, 152, 155
killing of, 96, 117, 119, 223
use of discord with other faiths to control, 50, 53, 65
Aldington, Richard, 41
Aleppo, Syria, 96–97, 98, 99, 183
Aleppo Airport, 109
Aleppo Artillery School, 70
Al Ghouta, Syria, sarin-gas use, 101–105, 109–112, 113–14, 121, 254
Al Hasakah, Syria, 88, 130
Ali, Mohammad, 63
al-Islam. See Jaysh al-Islam
Al Jazeera (TV network), 85, 184, 233–34
Allenby, Edmund, 37
Allisa, Bisher, 53
Alloush, Mohammad, 95
Alloush, Zahran, 95–96, 240
Al-Nusra Front. See Jabhat al-Nusra
al-Qaeda, 96, 109, 184, 197, 232, 239, 252
affiliates. See Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham; Jabhat al-Nusra
cutting ties with ISIS, 99, 254
al-Qaeda in Iraq. See Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
Al-Sham. See Ahrar al-Sham
Al-Sukariya, Syria, 78, 249
al-Tawheed (rebel group), 254
Amal Movement, 148, 149
American Enterprise Institute, 222
American Friends Service Committee, 227
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), 162, 200–202
Americans for Peace Now, 201
Annan, Kofi, 251–52
Antakya, Turkey, Syrian Muslim insurgents in, 16–17, 88
Arab Baath Party (in Syria). See Baathist Party in Syria
Arab Bureau (British), 30
Arab-Israeli wars
Arab-Israeli war of 1948, 59, 65, 247
Israeli attacks/invasions
attacks on Syria, 198–99
invasions of Lebanon, 67, 68, 148, 149, 199, 248
three-week assault on Gaza Strip in 2008, 203
“Six Day War” (June 1967), 18, 62–63, 64, 65, 66, 191–92, 193, 194, 202, 203, 247
“Yom Kippur War” (1973), 63, 65, 66, 247–48
Arab League, 22, 59, 68, 113, 248, 251, 255
Arab nationalism, 25, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 60, 65, 79, 233. See also pan-Arabism
“Arab Revolt Flag,” 31
“Arab-socialism” in Syria, 128
Arab Socialist Baath Party (in Palestine), 211
Arab Spring, 11, 21–22, 81–82, 146, 150, 151, 179–80, 195, 196–97, 203, 206–207, 211, 234
Assad claiming couldn't happen in Syria, 15–16, 82
key dates during, 250
Arafat, Yasser, 66, 67, 206, 242, 248
Arar, Maher, 75
Armenia, 1892–1893 rebellion against Ottomans, 25
Armenian Orthodox Church, 125, 133, 135–36
Armour (company), 39, 42
Army of Islam. See Jaysh al-Islam
Ashrawi, Hannan, 205–207, 235
Ash-Sheikh, Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah al, 231–32
Ashti Hotel, 173
Asnarshari, Khodadad, 159
Asquith, Herbert, 31
Assad, Bashar al-, 18, 64, 82, 149, 249
author meeting with, 19–21, 74, 76, 77
believing Syria to be stable politically, 79–80
coming to power in 2000, 128
constitutional amendment to allow as president, 72
early reforms of, 72–73, 74, 87
and Golan negotiations, 203, 204
human-rights record, 215
seeing US as enemy, 74–75, 77
supporting military coup over Morsi in Egypt, 234
use of discord to manipulate religious groups, 53
winning presidential election May 2014, 255
See also Syria; Syrian Civil War
Assad, Basil al-, 20, 249
Assad, Hafez al-, 65, 70–71, 133, 135, 147, 149, 228, 247
assassination attempt in 1980, 70, 248
death of in 2000, 64, 72, 249
and Israel, 66, 72
and Kurds, 171–72
and the Palestinian cause, 65–67, 206
signing Adana Agreement with Turkey, 174–75
statues of in Tartus, 125–26
use of military coup to assume power in 1970, 20, 64
Assad, Rifat al-, 71
Associated Press, 103
Ataturk, Mustafa Kemal, 49, 169
Atrash, Sultan Pasha al-, 50–52, 54, 194
Auda Abu Tayi. See Tayi, Auda Abu
Aw
idat, Hamad, 195–96
“axis of evil,” 148
Baathist Party in Iraq, 147, 172
Baathist Party in Palestine (Arab Socialist Baath Party), 211
Baathist Party in Syria (Baath Socialist Party), 60–62, 64, 65, 74, 79, 84, 123, 128–29, 133, 135, 151, 171, 181, 184, 228, 251
founding of, 60, 133, 246
and Iraqi Baathists, 147, 172
military coups
in 1963, 61, 83, 171, 247
in 1966, 61, 64, 247
in 1970, 61, 126
and Muslim Brotherhood, 69, 70–71
as only legal political party under Constitution, 74, 75, 83, 251
and UAR, 61, 247
Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-, 98–99, 240
Bahrain, 82, 164, 215, 234
Bakdouness, Ahmad, 15, 86, 120, 220
Balfour, Arthur, and Balfour Declaration, 35–36, 37, 43, 245
Balo, Barkhodan, 167–68, 177
Bandow, Doug, 222–23
Baniyas district, Syria, 253
Banna, Hassan al-, 54–55
Banyas, Syria, 83
Barak, Ehud, 197
Barakat, Bassam, 106
Barakat, Mudar, 29, 49, 109, 111, 123, 130
Bardaweel, Salah, 211
Barghouti, Mustafa, 201, 206–207, 211, 212
Barzani, Masoud, 170, 183, 188, 242
Barzani, Mustafa, 170
“Bashar,” 89–90, 93
Basheer, Nawaf al-, 75, 76–77, 79
Bashir, Abdul-Ilah al-, 119
basiji (armed thugs), 141, 146
Batsanov, Sergey, 107
Bayanouni, Ali Sadreddine al-, 92
Bayda, Syria, 141–42
Bedouins settled into Kurdish territory, 171
Beirut, Lebanon, 67, 68, 75, 76, 77, 148, 249
bombing of US barracks in 1983, 69, 148
French in, 29–30, 31, 48, 57
Beirut-Damascus Declaration, 77
Beka Valley, Lebanon, 148, 174
Ben Ali, Zine el Abidine, 11, 81, 250
Benghazi, Libya, 226, 229
Beshank, Oum, 187
bin Laden, Osama, 232, 239
Bioredda, Miral, 88, 93
Bitar, Salah-al-Din al-, 246
Bogart, Humphrey, 56
border security, 124, 204–206
Bosnia, 1875 rebellion against Ottomans, 25
Bouazizi, Mohammed, 81, 83, 250
BP. See British Petroleum
BP (company), 218
Brahimi, Lakhdar, 12, 255
Britain (United Kingdom)
and the creation of the State of Israel, 33–38, 59–60
efforts to control Middle East, 25–29, 26, 47, 49, 54, 55, 56, 245, 246
King-Crane Commission, 44–46
use of World War I to divvy up, 30–33, 38, 42–44
and Syria, 113, 139
British Museum, 23
British Petroleum (BP), 28
Brown Moses Blog, 105
Buchanan, Pat, 223
Bulgaria, 1876 rebellion against Ottomans, 25
Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, 231
Burhan, Fadi, 153–54
Bush, George H. W., 71
Bush, George W., 75, 114, 148, 177
Caix, Robert de, 49–50
Caliphs’ Last Heritage: A Short History of the Turkish Empire, The (Sykes), 30–31
“Can Med,” 183
Capital Cities Broadcasting, 42
car bomb, first use of, 91
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 92
Casablanca (film), 55–56
Catholic Church, 133, 137, 138, 243
Cato Institute, 223
CBS (radio broadcasts), 42
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), 105
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (US), 216, 252
accused of being behind Arab Spring, 195
assisting in capture of Ocalan, 175
and coup against Mosaddegh in Iran in 1953, 145
work in Syria, 85, 95, 108, 114, 119, 216, 217, 221, 222, 252
and the Free Syrian Army, 17, 94, 198, 214
training rebels in Jordan, 17, 198, 235
CFP. See Compagnie Française des Pétroles
Chase, Harry, 39
checkpoints, security. See security checkpoints
chemical weapons, 156
chlorine gas used in 2014 against Kafr Zeta, 255
mustard gas, 108, 109, 115
phosphorus weapons used by Israel in Gaza Strip, 211
Russian plan on Syria's chemical weapons, 13, 115, 254
sarin gas, 108, 136, 254
in Al Ghouta (2013), 101–105, 109, 110–12, 113–14, 121
Iraq's use of during Iran-Iraq War, 105
in Jobar (2013), 110
on Khan Al Asal (2013), 106–107, 109, 114, 253
possible attack on Syrian Army checkpoint, 109–110
possible attack on US Air Force base, 107
VX, 115
Chemical Weapons Convention, 13, 115
Chevron (company), 218
China, 25, 229, 251, 255
Chivers, C. J., 102
Chomsky, Noam, 11–14, 225
Christians, 29, 53, 243, 246
and Syria, 18, 69, 132–38, 186
supporting Assad, 123, 125, 137, 139, 152
violence in the name of Christianity in US, 91
See also Catholic Church; Coptic Christians; Maronite Christians; Orthodox Church
Christian Science Monitor (newspaper), 228, 229
Churchill, Winston, 27–28, 56
CIA. See Central Intelligence Agency
Clemenceau, Georges, 48
Clinton, Hillary, 214
CNN (TV network), 97, 208
Commission of the Revolution's Shields (militia), 241, 252
Committee on Reconciliation, 154
Communists in Syria, 61
Compagnie Française des Pétroles [French Petroleum Company] (CFP), 29–30
Congo as example of atrocities committed, 13
Constitutions
Iranian, 145
Lebanese, 56, 57
Syrian, 72, 74, 75, 83, 134, 135, 170, 179, 181, 251
Tunisian, 82
Coptic Christians, 92
Crane, Charles R., 45
crony capitalism in Syria, 128–30
Dall'Oglio, Paolo, 117–18
Damascus, Syria, 47, 67, 69–70, 75, 125, 132–33, 155, 219, 243
attacks on US embassy in, 219, 249, 251
author in, 73, 84–85, 89, 106, 120, 125, 131, 142, 209
under Bashar al-Assad's control, 101, 102, 104
bombing of
by government, 136
by rebels, 91, 124, 125, 136, 251, 252
changes in after 2011, 123, 125, 131
and French, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 57, 245, 246
Hamas in, 150, 209
Israeli jets attack in 2013, 253
and Kurds, 169, 174, 179–80, 183
opposition activists in, 15, 21, 83, 86, 89, 95, 120, 121, 123, 240, 250–51
security checkpoints in, 19, 154, 252
at time of T. E. Lawrence, 27, 37, 38, 42, 51, 245
“Damascus Spring,” 74
Daraa, Syria, 22, 82–83, 84–85, 180, 250
Darwish, Issam, 137
Defense Department (US), 221, 222
de Gaulle, Charles, 56, 246
Deir Ezzor, Syria, 177
del Ponte, Carla, 107, 136
Democratic Union Party. See Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat
Dempsy, Martin E., 221
Dieb, Feras, 126
Dieb, Mahmood, 127
Dieb, Shafika, 127
Dieb, Wafaa, 127
Doctors Without Borders, 103
Donilon, Tom, 219
Druze, 25, 53, 65, 69, 96, 123, 134, 193, 243
and the French, 50–52, 246
supporting Assad, 123, 194–95, 204, 243
Ebrahim, Alaa, 141,
142–43
Egypt
invasion of by Israel, France, and Britain in 1956, 61
overthrow of Morsi (and Muslim Brotherhood) in 2013, 11, 138, 207, 209, 234
overthrow of Mubarak in 2011, 11, 16, 82, 207, 234, 250
peace treaty with Israel in 1979, 66
removing ambassadors from Qatar, 234
in “Six Day War” with Israel (June 1967), 192
and United Arab Republic with Syria, 61, 247
elections in Syria, 15, 21, 85, 138, 151, 163, 164, 180, 246, 255
Baathists as only legal party, 74, 75, 83, 251
desire to have opposition parties, 21, 73–74, 82, 83
Iranian government encouraging Assad to hold, 151
Kurds promising in three autonomous provinces, 185
in May 2012, 252
El-Hindy, Elie, 38, 49, 53–54, 55, 64–65, 138
El-Zaza, Ziad, 208–209
Ennahda Party (in Tunisia), 81–82
Erbil, Syria, 131, 183
Erdogan, Recep, 138
Europe, claims that demonstrators in Syria backed by, 84
Evans, Gareth, 14
“extraordinary rendition,” 75
Exxon/Mobil (company), 218
Facebook, 17, 82, 86, 180
legalized in Syria, 250
use of in Egypt and Tunisia during Arab Spring, 16
Faddul, Simon, 133, 138
Faisal (king of Syria and later Iraq), 25, 43–44, 50, 51
and the French, 48, 49, 55
as king of Hedjaz (Syria), 43, 47
as king of Iraq, 55
relations with Britain and US, 37, 42, 43
See also Hashemite family
Fallujah, Iraq, 99
Fantappie, Maria, 185
Farho, Mohammad, 181
Farouq Brigades, 253
Fatah, al- (Palestinian party), 206, 209, 211, 242. See also Palestine Liberation Organization
“Fatah Uprising” (group challenging Arafat), 67
Father Paolo. See Dall'Oglio, Paolo
fatwa [religious decree], 231
Fighting Vanguard, 70
Fisk, Robert, 104–105
Ford, Robert, 250–51
foreign organizations in Syria. See specific names, i.e., Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.
Foreign Policy (magazine), 119
For Those Who Yearn to Be Free (graffiti slogan), 81
Foxman, Abraham, 200
France
efforts to control Middle East, 25, 26, 29–30, 47, 48–50, 54, 56–57, 245, 246
importance of oil, 55
sowing religious divisions to control, 50, 133
use of World War I to divvy up, 30–33, 38, 42–44
French Mandate (1920–1946), 57, 127, 170, 245–46
Revolt of 1925 against, 50–53, 194
Nazi occupation of France, 55–56
and Syria, 113, 225–26
Free French, 56–57, 246
Free People of Syria. See Ahrar Syria