Appendix 5: A Letter from Michel Aflaq to His Excellency the Za'im

(From the newspaper al-Ayyam, 13 June 1949)

Sir, Your Excellency the Za'im

This last harsh experience has taught me things and opened my eyes to many mistakes. I have come to see that we, out of habit, went on using a method that is no longer fit for an era of construction and positive work. The truth is that in our hearts and minds we wanted this coup from the very first hour, and we still want it, and we consider it our duty to serve and support it. But it is the method we grew used to over many years of opposition to the Mandate and to the former regime whose traces have remained in our souls and in some of our conduct, and it is this that hid our true nature from you, Your Excellency, and made us appear as opponents of an era in which we had placed all our hopes and which we were determined to serve with devotion and sincerity.

Sir, Your Excellency the Za'im: I am fully convinced that this era, which you are fostering and building, represents the greatest hopes and the greatest possibilities of progress and glory for our country. If you so wish, we will be among its soldiers who build; and if you would rather we keep neutral and silent, we are ready for that.

This group of young men gathered in the Arab Baath has worked hard in the past to be a model of integrity and true patriotism, and its past should plead for it with you, sir, so that you may excuse the innocent rashness it has shown. Behind its hot-headed appearance there are pure souls and valuable abilities for public service, which your era would do well to give room to flourish and produce. As for me, sir, my Za'im, I have chosen to withdraw for good from all political work, having realized, on the occasion of my imprisonment, faults in myself that long years of national struggle against colonialism and the former regime bequeathed to me. I believe that my task is over, that my method is no longer fit for a new era, and that my country will gain no benefit from my political work from now on.

Sir, Your Excellency the Za'im: today you stand in the place of a father to the sons of the country, and you cannot bear rancor toward your sons. This experience has been a sufficient and useful warning to us, so leave us room to correct our mistakes and to give you proof of our faithfulness and loyalty.

11 June 1949
Michel Aflaq