May Martyrs in Syria between “Betrayal”, “Martyrdom” in transitional govt. curriculum 

A passage in the eighth-grade history textbook within the curriculum of Syria’s transitional government sparked widespread controversy after it described the Arab intellectuals executed in 1916 by the Ottoman authorities as “collaborators with the French and the British,” rather than recognizing them as “martyrs.”

In lesson six of the textbook, the “May 6 martyrs,” well-known figures in Syrian history, were portrayed as conspirators against the Ottoman state, in what appears to be an attempt to justify their execution by Jamal Pasha al-Saffah, who carried out widespread killings and executions during World War I.

This incident follows a presidential decree issued earlier this month by the transitional government in Syria, which canceled the celebration of Martyrs’ Day on May 6—a day commemorating the intellectuals executed in Damascus and Beirut in 1916. Execution sites in both capitals had been named “Martyrs’ Square,” although Damascus retained the name “Al-Marjeh Square.”

Many researchers argue that the original executions were intended to suppress the rising Arab nationalist movement against Ottoman control. Author Ali Al-Shahouda documented in his book Famous Muslim Figures that: Sheikh Badr al-Din al-Husseini refused to issue any religious fatwa justifying the executions. Nevertheless, Jamal Pasha insisted on carrying out the death sentences on May 6, 1916, against 8 intellectuals in Damascus and 14 in Beirut, from various Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian cities. This day later became a national Martyrs’ Day and a pivotal moment in the course of the Arab Revolt.

Activists expressed their astonishment at the change in historical narrative in the new curriculum of the transitional government, noting that the alteration distorts history and attempts to reframe major national events in ways that serve current political transformations, while these historical events have no connection to any contemporary political agenda.

Historians emphasized that falsifying historical facts is never justified, and that the May martyrs paid the ultimate price for their national positions, stressing: “History cannot be rewritten.”

May 6 remains a fixed symbol in the Arab memory, witnessing a pivotal phase in the region’s history, when speaking freely was worth one’s life. 

A-H 

ANHA