Ibrahim Hananu | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Hananu, 1932 | |
| Born | 1869 |
| Died | November 21, 1935(1935-11-21) (aged 65–66) |
| Known for | Leader of theHananu Revolt |
Ibrahim Hananu[a] (1869–1935) was aSyrian revolutionary and formerOttoman municipal official who led arevolt against theFrench colonial presence in northernSyria in the early 1920s. He was a member of a notable landholding family ofKurdish[1] origin[2] in northern Syria.
Hananu was born to a wealthyKurdish family inKafr Takharim and raised inAleppo. There is dispute on his birth date: one source[3] mentions he was born in 1879, while another[4] mentions he was born in 1869. He studied at the Imperial High School in Aleppo, and continued his studies at the Ottoman Law Academy of the prestigious Mülkiye school in Istanbul. As a student, he joined theCommittee of Union and Progress, the political organ that later took stage following theYoung Turk Revolution of 1908.[5]
Upon graduation, Hananu briefly taught at the military academy. Later, he joined the bureaucracy of theOttoman Empire, only to retire and manage his estates. One Syrian source from theUnited Arab Republic era indicates that having embraced nationalism when theArab Revolt broke out in 1916, Hananu joined the Arab army ofFaisal I and entered Aleppo with the Allies in 1918.[6] Supposedly, he also joined the secret nationalist societyal-Fatat, though there is no corroborating evidence for this. Along with many of the prominent merchants in Aleppo, Hananu became associated with the League of National Defense and the Arab Club of Aleppo.
Breaking out in the autumn of 1919 in the countryside surrounding Aleppo, when the French army had landed on the Syrian coast and was preparing to occupy all of Syria, Hananu launched his revolt, bringingAleppo,Idlib andAntakya into a coordinated campaign against French forces. Hananu was responsible for the disarmament of many French troops, the destruction of railroads and telegraph lines, the sabotage of tanks, and the foiling of French attacks on Aleppo. On July 23, 1920, when the French army successfully attacked Aleppo, Hananu was forced to retreat back to his village ofKafr Takharim Nahiyah and began to reorganize the revolt withNajeeb Oweid. The rebels decided to form acivilian government based inArmanaz, and sent Hananu to Turkey as a representative of the new civilian government to request for aid in fighting against the French.[7] He received aid from the Turkish nationalist movement ofMustafa Kemal Atatürk, which was battling the French army of theLevant for control ofCilicia and southernAnatolia. With the withdrawal of Turkish military assistance following the signing of theFranklin-Bouillon Agreement in October 1921, Hananu and his men could no longer sustain a revolt, and their struggle collapsed. Despite the failure of the revolt, the organization of the northern areas of Syria with Turkish help has been interpreted as a prototype for self-government that Hananu and other Syrians built upon in later years.[8]
In 1922 Ibrahim Hananu was arrested and presented to the French military criminal court on charges of criminal acts. The first sessions of the court was on 15 March 1922 . One of the best lawyers at that time,Fathallah Saqqal defended Hananu, advocated for Hananu's innocence, and argued that Hananu was a political opponent not a criminal.
On 25 March 1922 the French Attorney General requested the execution of Hananu, and he said "if Hananu has seven heads I will cut them all", but the French judge ultimately released Hananu following an agreement between Hananu and the French government.[9]
Hananu was put under house arrest following the trial and his movements were monitored by the French intelligence. However, Hananu was released after theGreat Syrian Revolt of 1925. Hananu went on to play an active role in the Syrian national movement. He was one of the founding fathers of theNational Bloc which steered the course of the independence struggle in Syria until its achievement in 1946. He was a member of the National Bloc's permanent council and chief of its political bureau. In 1928, Hananu held office on the Constitutional Assembly that drafted thefirst republican constitution for Syria. In the 1930s, he affirmed his reputation as a hard-liner, refusing to negotiate with the French until they pledged complete unconditional independence for Syria.[10]
In September 1933, an individual named Nazi Al-Kousa shot Hananu in the legs in his village,Kafr Tkharem. Regarded as an assassination attempt, the shooter was sentenced to 10 years in jail. The French commissioner later pardoned Nazi al-Kousa.[7]
Hananu died in 1935 in Aleppo. His death was attributed to tuberculosis. The three-day mourning period began the day after with newspapers and magazines being published in a black cover. He is considered to be one of the most celebrated individuals in the resistance against theFrench Mandate.[11]
| States |  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conflicts | |||||
| Treaties |
| ||||
| People |
| ||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
