Salah al-Din al-Bitar (; 1 January 1912 – 21 July 1980) was a Syrian politician who co-founded the Baʿath Party with Michel Aflaq in the early 1940s. As students in Paris in the early 1930s, the two formulated a doctrine that combined aspects of nationalism and socialism. Bitar later served as prime minister in several early Ba'athist governments in Syria but became alienated from the party as it grew more radical. In 1966 he fled the country, lived mostly in Europe and remained politically active until he was assassinated in Paris in 1980 by unidentified hitmen linked to the regime of Hafez al-Assad.
Early years
According to historian Hanna Batatu, Bitar was born in the Midan area of Damascus in 1912; he was the son of a reasonably well-off Sunni Muslim grain merchant. His family were religious, and many of his recent ancestors had been ulama and preachers in the district's mosques. Bitar grew up in a conservative family atmosphere and attended a Muslim elementary school before receiving his secondary education in Maktab Anbar. He was exposed to the political vicissitudes of the time, as Midan played a leading role in the Great Syrian Revolt of 1925 against Francethen the mandatory and colonial power in Syria. The district was heavily bombarded during the revolt, resulting in considerable loss of life and physical damage to its infrastructure.
Bitar traveled to France in 1929 to study in the Sorbonne. There, he became acquainted with Michel Aflaq, also the son of a Midan grain merchant who was from a Christian Orthodox family. They were both interested in the political and intellectual movements of the time and began applying nationalist and Marxist ideas to the situation of their homeland. In 1935, Bitar returned to Syria and took a job as a science teacher in Syria's most prestigious secondary school, and started a magazine with Aflaq, called al-Tali‘a [The Vanguard].
Ba'ath politics
Early political activity
During the next two years, Bitar, Aflaq and other associates edited a magazine entitled al-Tali`a (the vanguard). According to Batatu, this publication displayed more concern with social issues than with national problems. Bitar and Aflaq were unhappy with the National Bloc, the main party representing Syria in the Parliament, which Bitar called the "Syrian bourgeoisie". Al-Arsuzi's movement faded away following his exile by the French.
Bitar and Aflak slowly gained supporters and in 1945 the first elected Bureau of the Arab Ba'ath Movement was formed, including both men. The organisation gained many new members when most of the former supporters of Al-Arsuzi, led by Wahib al-Ghanim, joined it.
According to Bitar, most of the students joined them and not the communist party as "any political movement in Syria cannot materialize except through Arab nationalism", indicating that national independence was the priority at the time, rather than social issues. that Assad ordered the assassination. At the time, Bitar had reported to local authorities in France that he had received death threats by mail and telephone. He took personal measures by limiting his movements.
At the time of the assassination, Bitar held a diplomatic passport issued by South Yemen.
He was portrayed by Stanley Townsend in the 2019 OCS/Netflix miniseries The Spy.
Books
His writings include:
- Al-Siyasah al-Arabiyah bayn al-Mabda wa al-Tatbiq (Arab Policy in Principle and Practice). Beirut: Dar al-Taliah, 1960.
- Nida al-Ba'th (The Baath's Struggle). Beirut: Dar al-Taliah, 1963–1965. Vols. 1-4 contain items by subject.