title: RMIT University

text: Founded in 1887, the City campus began as the Working Men's College of Melbourne. Its original building is situated on the corner of Bowen Street and La Trobe Street, and the campus has since grown to 87 buildings in 2016. The campus has no perimeter walls. As such, its buildings are contiguous with the surrounding city. Most of its buildings are spread across six city blocks covering approximately . It is roughly bound by La Trobe Street to the south, Elizabeth Street to the south-east and Swanston Street to the north-east (connected by Franklin Street), Queensberry Street to the north, Lygon Street to the north-west and Russell Street to the south-west. The campus area is situated between the two oldest sections of the city; the northern edge of the Hoddle Grid to its south and the Queen Victoria Market to its south-west. The area is sometimes referred to as the "RMIT quarter" of the city.


title: RMIT University

text: At the intersection of La Trobe Street and Swanston Street, the campus also benefits from its proximity to the State Library of Victoria as well as the adjacent Melbourne Central Shopping Centre and its City Loop underground railway station. It is also well-serviced by the city tram network along La Trobe Street and Swanston Street and has its own tram stop (Stop 7 RMIT University/Swanston Street) in the densest section of the campus.


title: RMIT University

text: The city block bound by Bowen Street, Franklin Street, La Trobe Street, and Russell Street, served as the justice precinct of the city for over 100 years. While it is mostly occupied by campus buildings today, which were constructed over the site of the demolished Old Melbourne Gaol, some original buildings from the precinct remain and are used by the university. From the Old Melbourne Gaol, they include its east wing cell block (1854) which is now operated as a museum by the National Trust of Australia, its former chapel and gatehouse (1860) which are now used as a multi-faith place of worship for the campus, and the site of its former hospital which is now used as a landscaped space known as Alumni Courtyard. Other buildings from the precinct that remain are the former Melbourne City Watchhouse (1904) which is also operated as a museum by the National Trust, and the former Melbourne Magistrates' Court (1914) which is now used to house university administration.


title: RMIT University

text: Other notable buildings on the City campus include Storey Hall original section (1887), Forresters' Hall (1888), Capitol Theatre (1924), Emily McPherson College (1927), Building 8 (1993), Storey Hall annex (1995), Singer Building "green brain" (2010), Design Hub (2011), and Swanston Academic Building (2012).


title: RMIT University

text: The Bundoora campus was established in 1992. It is located 18 km from the City campus in the outer northern suburb of Bundoora. The campus is divided into 'East' and 'West' by Plenty Road. In a contrast to the urban City campus, the Bundoora West campus is set amongst almost of parkland.


title: RMIT University

text: Programs in aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, medical sciences and social sciences are offered at the Bundoora campus.


title: RMIT University

text: The Brunswick campus became a part of RMIT in 1999 as a dedicated site for its vocational design schools. It is located 6 km from the City campus in the inner northern suburb of Brunswick. Prior to its annexation by RMIT, it was the campus of the former Melbourne Institute of Textiles for nearly 50 years.


title: RMIT University

text: Programs in fashion design, graphic design, printing, publishing and textiles are offered at the Brunswick campus.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT's flight training programs are conducted from its site at the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) historic Williams base. It is located from the City campus in the outer south-western suburb of Point Cook. RAAF Williams is the world's oldest operating air force base and the birthplace of the Royal Australian Air Force.


title: RMIT University

text: The university also has a regional research site in the rural town of Hamilton. It is located 300 km north-west of the City campus in regional Victoria—just south of the Grampians National Park. The Potter Rural Community Research Centre at the site focuses on rural and regional issues in a global context.


title: RMIT University

text: In 1998, RMIT was invited by the Vietnamese Government to establish the country's first foreign-owned university. In 2001, it purchased and restored a 19th-century French Colonial building and grounds in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. The building, located on Pham Ngoc Thach Street, is informally referred to as "the Castle" by students. Today, the Pham Ngoc Thach site remains a radial site of the present Ho Chi Minh City campus.


title: RMIT University

text: The present Ho Chi Minh City campus is located in the Phu My Hung area of the Saigon South development in District 7. The first academic buildings on the large purpose-built campus opened in 2005. In 2011, its recreation complex and residential centres opened.


title: RMIT University

text: The Hanoi campus was established in 2004. It was initially located in the Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound in the government precinct of the Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. In 2007, it also acquired a building in the Dong Da District to accommodate rising student numbers. It consolidated its two buildings in a newly built tower overlooking Ngoc Khanh Lake in the Ba Dinh District in 2010.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT teaches and/or accredits programs for the Hong Kong Art School and Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade in China, SIM Global Education in Singapore and Taylor's University in Malaysia.


title: RMIT University

text: In 2013, RMIT established a coordinating centre in Barcelona, Spain. The centre offers a variety of programs in conjunction with RMIT's partners in Europe, including a double master's degree in architecture which facilitates the RMIT School of Architecture and Design's participation in the reconstruction of Antoni Gaudí's basilica, Sagrada Família.


title: RMIT University

text: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is a public university created under the "Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Act 1992" by the Government of Victoria, and continues in accordance with the "Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Act 2010".


title: RMIT University

text: The university trades under the name "RMIT University" which is a registered business name and trademark. It is composed of the academic colleges and schools, research centres and institutes of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and is governed by the RMIT Council and is managed by the RMIT Chancellery.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT University is separated into two divisions: the Higher Education Division and the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Division. The divisions are responsible for the 17 academic schools of RMIT—which are grouped into three academic portfolios referred to as colleges. The higher education schools offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, while the VET schools offer vocational certificates and diplomas.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT is governed by a council consisting of 21 members, which is responsible for the "general direction and superintendence of the University". The RMIT Council is led by the RMIT Chancellor who is an ex officio member and serves as its Governor-in-Council. The RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President, as well as the Chair of the RMIT Academic Board, are also ex officio members of the council.


title: RMIT University

text: Five members of the RMIT Council are elected by direct ballot of the staff and students of the university. They consist of three staff members elected to represent the higher education, vocational education and general staff of the university, and two students elected to represent higher education and vocational education students. The remaining members are appointed directly by the RMIT Chancellor and Governor, or by a vote of the sitting council members. Members appointed directly to the council are required to possess a substantial expertise in academic or financial management, vocational education or training experience, and be drawn from beyond the university community.


title: RMIT University

text: The RMIT Chancellor and Governor of the RMIT Council, since 1 January 2011, is telecommunications businessman and nuclear physicist Ziggy Switkowski AO.


title: RMIT University

text: The RMIT Council grants power over all academic and administrative affairs of the university to the RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President—who is the chief executive officer of the university. The Vice-Chancellor and President is "responsible for the conduct of the University's affairs in all matters". Management of RMIT's colleges and portfolios is then delegated by the Vice-Chancellor and President to a team of Deputy and Pro Vice-Chancellors as well as senior executives.


title: RMIT University

text: The RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President, since 1 February 2015, is information technology businessman and former Vice-Chancellor of the United Kingdom's Open University, Martin G. Bean CBE.


title: RMIT University

text: The requirements for the conferring of an academic degree of the university is determined and approved by the RMIT Academic Board. The board consists of the RMIT Chancellery as ex officio members, and up to a further 46 members—34 of which must be elected by staff and students. Those conferred an academic degree of the university may use the post-nominal letters "RMIT" with the abbreviation of their degree title.


title: RMIT University

text: The four academic colleges housing the schools of RMIT are the College of Business and Law (BUSL), College of Design and Social Context (DSC) and College of Vocational Education and the STEM College (incorporating the fields of sciences, engineering, computing technologies and health and medical sciences (STEM).


title: RMIT University

text: incorporates the fields of business, design and technology, media, art and communication, social care, engineering technology, nursing, computer science, myotherapy, dental studies, trades and the built environment.


title: RMIT University

text: "RMIT Group" is the business unit of the university and consists of the entities controlled by RMIT University, including wholly owned subsidiaries such as:


title: RMIT University

text: As of 2013, international holdings companies included RMIT Spain (trading as RMIT Europe) and RMIT Vietnam, and there were other commercial interests and sub-entities. , RMIT has two campuses in Vietnam and one in Spain.


title: RMIT University

text: According to the QS World University Rankings, RMIT is ranked as a five star university in the areas of: research, employability, teaching, facilities, internationalisation, innovation, engagement, specialisation.


title: RMIT University

text: According to the 2021 QS World University Rankings, RMIT was ranked 15th in the world for art and design subjects, making it the top art and design school in Australia and Oceania. RMIT is ranked 16th in the world and 3rd in Australia among universities less than 50 years old in the 2016–17 QS Top 50 Under 50 index. Times Higher Education rankings placed RMIT in the 55th position of 100 universities under 50 years old.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT is ranked 28th in the world for Architecture and the Built Environment (4th highest in Australia) in the 2017 "QS World University Rankings by Subject".


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT focuses on applied research as well as outcome-related research and consultancy services, and has extensive partnerships with government and industry. It mainly focuses its research in the areas of design, technology, health, globalisation and sustainability.


title: RMIT University

text: Its Portfolio of Research and Innovation operates on a similar scale to its colleges, and also contains a specialist research school in order to foster excellence in research methodology and pedagogy. In addition to the Portfolio of Research and Innovation, over 50 research centres operate independently within RMIT's colleges and schools as well as a large number of smaller research groups.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT Library is the central libraries network of the university. It has four locations across RMIT's three Australian campuses. Swanston Library is the largest in the network, and is located in Building 8 at the City campus. Swanston Library is also reported to be amongst the top five libraries in all of Melbourne. Other libraries in the network are the Brunswick Library, Bundoora West Library and Carlton Library (the latter of which is also at the City campus).


title: RMIT University

text: The City campus also benefits from its proximity to the State Library of Victoria—the central public reference library and the largest library in Melbourne.


title: RMIT University

text: In addition to its libraries network, RMIT schools also maintain their own specialised collections. Notable examples of school-maintained collections are the AFI Research Collection, RMIT Design Archives and National Aerospace Resource.


title: RMIT University

text: Two libraries are located at RMIT's Vietnam campuses; Beanland Library and Hanoi Library. The Beanland Library is the larger of the two libraries, and is located at the Ho Chi Minh City campus.


title: RMIT University

text: Selected research of RMIT academics and postgraduate students can be accessed through the RMIT Research Repository—an open access database of peer-reviewed published articles, conference papers, books and chapters, etc. Documents held by the RMIT Research Repository are also indexed by Google Scholar, National Library of Australia and WorldCat. As of March 2013, there are more than 19,000 records in the Repository.


title: RMIT University

text: The university's subsidiary, RMIT Training, also owns and operates the Informit online library database (see above), which is the largest database of research from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific.


title: RMIT University

text: The major public art gallery of the university is RMIT Gallery, located at the City campus. The gallery runs a highly regarded program of Australian and international exhibitions, and focuses on contemporary art, design and visual culture. It is located in the historic original section of Storey Hall on Swanston Street and is considered to be one of Melbourne's most vibrant art galleries. The gallery also publishes widely on art and design research in partnership with RMIT Publishing.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT First Site Gallery at the City campus is the main gallery of the RMIT Link campus union, and focuses on emerging artists and is located beneath RMIT Gallery. The campus union also manages the Artland program at the Brunswick campus. Artland consists of 16 sites around the campus and Brunswick streets showcasing work of design students.


title: RMIT University

text: In addition to the Story Hall galleries, many of RMIT's schools also manage their own discipline-relevant galleries. Notable examples are the School of Art's main gallery and


title: RMIT University

text: Project Space / Spare Room Gallery, the School of Media and Communication's Field36 Gallery, and the School of Architecture and Design's Virtual Reality Centre and Design Hub Gallery. The acclaimed public art program of the School of Art also produces art in public spaces around RMIT's campuses as well as the greater Melbourne city centre and metropolitan area.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT Gallery is also charged as the caretaker of RMIT's permanent art collection. It includes the substantial Linsday Edward Collection of fine art and invaluable W. E. Macmillan Collection of gold and silver as well as a number of other sub-collections. The Linsday Edwards Collection has a strong focus on Australian art, and holds work by leading Australian artists (including RMIT alumni or former faculty) such as Howard Arkley, John Brack, Leonard French, Roger Kemp, Inge King, Max Meldrum, John Olsen, Lenton Parr, and Fred Williams.


title: RMIT University

text: A history of the art collection is documented in the publication "A Skilled Hand and Cultivated Mind: A Guide to the Architecture and Art of RMIT".


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT Link is the university's campus union. It exists to sponsor and promote social, cultural, educational, sporting and recreational programs and activities among the RMIT community, and to provide such facilities and services at RMIT's Australian campuses. Link is separated into two divisions: Arts & Culture and Sports & Recreation. It is a controlled entity under the authority of RMIT's Council.


title: RMIT University

text: Arts & Culture manages a number of extra-curricular arts collectives. It also offers workshop and seminars as well as funding for arts initiatives, and runs a free cinema program at the City and Bundoora campuses.


title: RMIT University

text: Sports & Recreation manages the university's semi-professional sports teams, which are collectively known as the Redbacks, and has an elite athlete funding program. It offers funding for community and social sports clubs on RMIT's Australian campuses, and also runs community and charity sporting events and tournaments. It also operates the City campus gym, and co-owns a ski lodge on Mount Buller.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT's University Student Union (RUSU) is the independent body representing students enrolled at RMIT. It was founded in 1944 by John Storey Jr., after whom Storey Hall at the City campus is named. The objective of RUSU is to safeguard the interests and rights of students, and to advance education, welfare, social life and cultural activities of students. RUSU has a number of departments advocating various elements of student life, and it also supports academic, cultural, political, spiritual and special interest clubs and societies run by students.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT operates several student accommodation facilities including: RMIT Village, Cambridge Court and College Square on the City campus and Walert House on the Bundoora campus—all of which operate as self-catered apartment complexes. Twelve other student hostels are also operated by other providers.


title: RMIT University

text: Some of the traditional residential colleges of the nearby University of Melbourne also reserve places for RMIT students. The college fees include all catering, utilities, academic and pastoral support. The colleges affiliated with RMIT include: International House, Janet Clarke Hall, Newman College, Queen's College, St Mary's College, University College and Whitley College.


title: RMIT University

text: In 2014, RMIT's program enrollments by gender were 54% male and 46% female. RMIT's Higher Education student body was 52% male and 48% female while its Vocational Educational student body was 53% male and 47% female. According to a study of over 100 RMIT STEM graduates, male RMIT University STEM graduates outnumber females by 7 to 1.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT's Spiritual Centre is a multi-faith place of worship located on the City campus. It is housed in the historic Old Melbourne Gaol chapel, built in 1860. The centre provides a contemplative space to all staff and students of RMIT, regardless of their faith and without showing favour to any one faith, and houses the RMIT Chaplaincy services. RMIT has chaplains that represent Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths of various branches as well as for Integral spirituality.


title: RMIT University

text: RMIT graduates are considered to be some of the most employable in the world. In a 2011 survey of 5000 employers by Quacquarelli Symonds, RMIT was ranked 51st in the world for graduate employability. In 2011, the university had an alumni community of around 280,000 graduates in 130 countries.


title: RMIT University

text: Notable attendees and graduates include: Australian skier, Winter Olympic gold medalist, Lydia Lassila; Irish Australian rules footballer and charity worker, Jim Stynes; Australian film director and writer, James Wan; Australian actor, Travis Fimmel (attended); Australian sportsman, three-time Olympic gold medalist, James Tomkins; Australian comedian and television host, Rove McManus; Australian singer and guitarist of the band Wolfmother, Andrew Stockdale; Vietnamese actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder, 2006 Miss Vietnam, Mai Phương Thúy; Australian documentary maker, John Safran; Australian artist, Charles Billich; Australian animator, Felix Colgrave, Director of Photography Greig Fraser, and Director of the Omani Society for Fine Arts Maryam Al Zadjali.


title: RMIT University

text: A notable graduation tradition of RMIT is its graduation parade. The parade is town and gown-style academic procession which proceeds from the City campus down the major city thoroughfare of Swanston Street to Federation Square (until 2002 the parade culminated outside the Melbourne Town Hall). Graduands and faculty march in full academic regalia and receive a military escort from the central marching band of the Royal Australian Air Force. The parade is welcomed at Federation Square by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne—on behalf of the city and its citizens. The mayor grants RMIT's vice-chancellor a "writ of passage" to proceed with the graduation ceremony, which takes place at the Docklands Stadium.


title: Basophil

text: Basophils are a type of white blood cell. Basophils are the least common type of granulocyte, representing about 0.5% to 1% of circulating white blood cells. However, they are the largest type of granulocyte. They are responsible for inflammatory reactions during immune response, as well as in the formation of acute and chronic allergic diseases, including anaphylaxis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever. They also produce compounds that coordinate immune responses, including histamine and serotonin that induce inflammation, heparin that prevents blood clotting, although there are less than that found in mast cell granules. Mast cells were once thought to be basophils that migrated from blood into their resident tissues (connective tissue), but they are now known to be different types of cells.


title: Basophil

text: Basophils were discovered in 1879 by German physician Paul Ehrlich, who one year earlier had found a cell type present in tissues that he termed "mastzellen" (now mast cells). Ehrlich received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries.


title: Basophil

text: The name comes from the fact that these leukocytes are basophilic, i.e., they are susceptible to staining by basic dyes, as shown in the picture.


title: Basophil

text: Basophils contain large cytoplasmic granules which obscure the cell nucleus under the microscope when stained. However, when unstained, the nucleus is visible and it usually has two lobes. The mast cell, another granulocyte, is similar in appearance and function. Both cell types store histamine, a chemical that is secreted by the cells when stimulated. However, they arise from different branches of hematopoiesis, and mast cells usually do not circulate in the blood stream, but instead are located in connective tissue. Like all circulating granulocytes, basophils can be recruited out of the blood into a tissue when needed.


title: Basophil

text: Basophils appear in many specific kinds of inflammatory reactions, particularly those that cause allergic symptoms. Basophils contain anticoagulant heparin , which prevents blood from clotting too quickly. They also contain the vasodilator histamine, which promotes blood flow to tissues. They can be found in unusually high numbers at sites of ectoparasite infection, e.g., ticks. Like eosinophils, basophils play a role in both parasitic infections and allergies. They are found in tissues where allergic reactions are occurring and probably contribute to the severity of these reactions. Basophils have protein receptors on their cell surface that bind IgE, an immunoglobulin involved in macroparasite defense and allergy. It is the bound IgE antibody that confers a selective response of these cells to environmental substances, for example, pollen proteins or helminth antigens. Recent studies in mice suggest that basophils may also regulate the behavior of T cells and mediate the magnitude of the secondary immune response.


title: Basophil

text: Basophil function is inhibited by CD200. Herpesvirus-6, herpesvirus-7, and herpesvirus-8 produce a CD200 homolog which also inhibits basophil function. This suggests that basophils may play a role in the immune response to these viruses. The role of basophils in the immune response to these viruses is further supported by findings that the CD200 receptor is expressed more frequently in basophils than in other circulating leukocytes.


title: Basophil

text: Basophils arise and mature in bone marrow. When activated, basophils degranulate to release histamine, proteoglycans (e.g. heparin and chondroitin), and proteolytic enzymes (e.g. elastase and lysophospholipase). They also secrete lipid mediators like leukotrienes (LTD-4), and several cytokines. Histamine and proteoglycans are pre-stored in the cell's granules while the other secreted substances are newly generated. Each of these substances contributes to inflammation. Recent evidence suggests that basophils are an important source of the cytokine, interleukin-4, perhaps more important than T cells. Interleukin-4 is considered one of the critical cytokines in the development of allergies and the production of IgE antibody by the immune system. There are other substances that can activate basophils to secrete which suggests that these cells have other roles in inflammation.


title: Basophil

text: The degranulation of basophils can be investigated "in vitro" by using flow cytometry and the so-called basophil-activation-test (BAT). Especially, in the diagnosis of allergies including of drug reactions (e.g. induced by contrast medium), the BAT is of great impact.


title: Basophil

text: Basopenia (a low basophil count) is difficult to demonstrate as the normal basophil count is so low; it has been reported in association with autoimmune urticaria (a chronic itching condition). Basophilia is also uncommon but may be seen in some forms of leukemia or lymphoma.


title: Basophil

text: Basophils of mice and humans have consistent immunophenotypes, including FcεRI, CD123, CD49b(DX-5), CD69, Thy-1.2, 2B4, CD11b, CD117(c-kit), CD24, CD19, CD80, CD14, CD23, Ly49c, CD122, CD11c, Gr-1, NK1.1, B220, CD3, γδTCR, αβTCR, α and β-integrin negative.


title: Basophil

text: Recently, Heneberg proposed that basophils may be defined as the cellular population positive for CD13, CD44, CD54, CD63, CD69, CD107a, CD123, CD164, CD193/ CCR3, CD203c, TLR-4, and FcεRI. When activated, some additional surface markers are known to be upregulated (CD13, CD107a, CD164), or surface-exposed (CD63, and the ectoenzyme CD203c).


title: Basophil

text: Basophils are easily isolated from venous blood and present good "indicator cells" of an IgE-mediated allergic response based on the upregulation of activation markers such as CD63 and/or CD203c upon suspect allergen stimulation. Therefore, the BAT serves to confirm IgE-mediated allergy following uncertain results from classical testing based on anamnesis, skin testing or specific IgE results. More recently, BAT has also been used for the monitoring of successful allergen immunotherapy (desensitization) to differentiate short-term desensitization versus sustained unresponsiveness to the allergen.


title: Cro-Mags

text: Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal.


title: Cro-Mags

text: Cro-Mags have gone through many line-up changes since the band's beginnings. Flanagan has been the sole trademark owner of the group's name since the early 1990s, the primary songwriter (a claim strongly denied by founding member Parris Mayhew in multiple recent interviews regarding the first three albums), and only member featured on every album, while Joseph and Jayson continued to tour with other musicians using the Cro-Mags name, against the wishes of Flanagan.


title: Cro-Mags

text: In April 2019, Flanagan reached a settlement with Joseph and Mackie Jayson in which Flanagan would retain exclusive rights to the Cro-Mags name while Joseph and Jayson would move forward under the name, Cro-Mags "JM".


title: Cro-Mags

text: The band was formed under the name Mode of Ignorance, after Parris Mayhew had put up a number of posters in search of band members, which Harley Flanagan responded to. The band's original lineup consisted of Dave Hahn on drums, Mayhew and Dave Stein on guitar, John Joseph on lead vocals and Flanagan on bass. During its early existence, the band would go through frequent lineup changes, Mayhew explained in Tony Rettman's book "New York Hardcore" that this was because "Harley would see some kid with a shaved head and think 'This kid is hard... let's bring him into the band.' Then I would end up tolerating some horrible, talentless person for however long it took Harley to realise that the guy had no talent". Joseph left the band soon after to live in Puerto Rico and then Hawaii, and was replaced by Eric Casanova. One Cro-Mags lineup from this time consisted of Flanagan on drums, Mayhew on guitar, Todd Youth on bass and Casanova on vocals. By the time the band played their first live performance, Youth had been replaced by Roger Miret, however soon after Casanova was kicked out of the band due to the birth of his son interfering with scheduling. By this time, Joseph had returned to New York and so rejoined as the band's vocalist. Youth briefly re-joined the band after Miret's departure, at the same time Robb "Nunzio" Ortiz joined as an additional guitarist. A few months later, the band changed their name to the Cro-Mags.


title: Cro-Mags

text: The band's debut album "The Age of Quarrel" was released in 1986, which was mostly written by Parris Mayhew and Flanagan, some songs being based on a four track demo that Flanagan had recorded solo in 1982 while on the West Coast. Joseph parted ways with the band again after "The Age of Quarrel", leaving Flanagan to sing on the following Cro-Mags release, "Best Wishes" (1989), which had a more heavy metal-influenced sound. The next record "Alpha Omega" saw the return of Joseph singing along with Flanagan. According to cofounder Parris Mayhew, he wrote most of the album with guitarist Rob Buckley. However, neither Mayhew or Buckley played on the actual recording, and the writing has been disputed by Flanagan and others. Cro-Mags disbanded but later recorded the album with the return of Doug Holland and a new rhythm guitarist, Gabby Abularach.


title: Cro-Mags

text: The album, "Near Death Experience" was released in 1993, after which the group disbanded for several years. They began touring again in the late 1990s with Flanagan on vocals and bass and Mayhew returning to the fold. Eventually, the band released "Revenge" in 2000. For many fans, this album signified a return to Cro-Mags' early hardcore roots. Many songs were comparable to those on "The Age of Quarrel", although some featured a more melodic/punk rock style. The release of "Revenge" and its subsequent tour resulted in yet another break up, which caused lasting resentment between Mayhew and Flanagan. In 2001 Flanagan asked Joseph to join him once again, but the short-lived reunion ended in 2002.


title: Cro-Mags

text: In 2008, John Joseph and Jayson began playing shows under the Cro-Mags name with other established hardcore musicians such as Craig Setari from Sick of It All on bass and A.J. Novello from Leeway on guitar. In an October 2010 interview, Joseph revealed that they were planning to release a new album in 2011, though, ultimately, this did not happen. Flanagan released his solo debut album, "Cro-Mags", in 2016, featuring Cro-Mags alumnus, Gabby Abularach, on guitar.


title: Cro-Mags

text: In 2018, Flanagan filed a federal trademark infringement against John Joseph and Mackie Jayson. In April 2019, Flanagan announced a settlement wherein he would own exclusive rights to the name Cro-Mags; simultaneously, Joseph announced his recognition of the settlement, and that he and his band would perform as Cro-Mags JM, beginning in August 2019. The lawsuit was settled in September 2022, with the rights to the Cro-Mags name belonging only to Flanagan.


title: Cro-Mags

text: On June 28, 2019, Cro-Mags released their first new music in nineteen years, sharing three new songs "Don't Give In", "Drag You Under", and "No One's Victim", and toured in North America and Europe.


title: Cro-Mags

text: Following the European tour, Cro-Mags released the digital single "From the Grave" that featured former Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell on lead and slide guitar. A three-song 7" EP of the same name was released on December 6, 2019 in various colors and have the tracks "PTSD" and "Between Wars" included. The band was set to perform with Body Count in New York City on March 15 at Webster Hall. The show was postponed due to the COVID-19 virus. The band decided to live stream a free performance from SIR studios, one of the first bands to do so during the pandemic. On March 31, 2020, the band offered a free download of the track, "The Final Test" and announced the June 19 release date of their first studio album in twenty years, "In the Beginning".


title: Cro-Mags

text: On September 2, the band premiered the video for "Between Wars", which features footage from the upcoming independent film of the same name starring Flanagan and "The Sopranos" star, Michael Imperioli, due to be released in 2020. As of July 2022, the film has not been released.


title: Cro-Mags

text: In July 2022, Flanagan announced that Cro-Mags have been working on new material for their next album.


title: Cro-Mags

text: At various times during the 1990s and 2000s, Flanagan and Joseph simultaneously led separate versions of the Cro-Mags with completely different lineups. The groups billed themselves as Cro-Mag Jam, Street Justice, Age of Quarrel, FVK (Fearless Vampire Killers) or Cholo-Mags.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975) is an English singer. She rose to fame in 1997 as a member of the girl group All Saints. The group have gained five number one singles, two multi-platinum albums, two BRIT Awards and have sold over 10 million records worldwide.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: Blatt began recording a solo album in 2003, working with numerous producers including Xenomania and released her debut solo single "Do Me Wrong" in 2003. Blatt was later dropped by her record label, and her solo album was cancelled. In 2005, she made a return to music with her single "See Me", and began recording another album independently which was later shelved and cancelled in favour of the All Saints reunion. In 2013 and 2015, she was a judge on the television series "The X Factor NZ".


title: Melanie Blatt

text: Blatt was born at University College Hospital in the London Borough of Camden and is named after American folk singer Melanie Safka. She has a French mother and a British father, David Blatt (known also as author of the book "Manchester United Ruined My Wife"), whose ancestors were from Poland and Russia and a younger sister named Jasmine. She was brought up in both the UK and France. In 1986, Blatt was diagnosed as having scoliosis. Since her parents were not satisfied with the treatment for the condition in the United Kingdom they decided to move to France, where a specialist inserted three metal rods in her back.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: Blatt went to Fitzjohn's Primary School where her musical talent was immediately noticed by the music teacher David Joyner, who encouraged her parents to send her to a stage school. In 1986, she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she met Nicole Appleton. The two girls became best friends. During this period, Blatt also played young Eponine in "Les Misérables" for six months, and was the understudy for Cosette together with fellow Sylvia Young student Denise van Outen.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: In 1993, Blatt sang under the name Melanie Guillaume in the band Drive with Julienne Davis. They released one single, "Curfew", together. She also did backing vocals for Dreadzone with Denise van Outen. Later that year, Blatt met Shaznay Lewis at the Metamorphosis recording studio in All Saints Road, London. Together, with Simone Rainford, they formed the group All Saints 1.9.7.5 which was later renamed to All Saints when Rainford left and Nicole and Natalie Appleton joined Blatt and Lewis.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: In 1997 All Saints released their debut single "I Know Where It's At", and peaked at number 4 in the UK. The same year the group released a second single "Never Ever, which introduced the group to international success after topping the charts in the UK and Australia, and reaching the top ten across Europe, Canada and the United States. The single sold over 1.2 million copies in the United Kingdom and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The same year the group released their debut album "All Saints", it reached number two in the United Kingdom and was certified platinum five times for sales of 1.5 million. The group gained a further two number one singles the following year: "Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade" and "Bootie Call". In 2000 the group released new single "Pure Shores", which was used in the film "The Beach" and reached number one in the UK. The single was certified platinum for sales over 600,000 copies. The single was followed by their fifth number one single "Black Coffee", their second album "Saints & Sinners" was released shortly after and topped the chart in the United Kingdom. The album was eventually certified double platinum by the BPI for sales over 600,000. In early 2001, following the release of their single "All Hooked Up", the group split and reasons for this were later explained by Shaznay Lewis, who revealed details of tensions between the group.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: In 2000, Blatt appeared in the film "Honest" directed by Dave Stewart opposite Nicole and Natalie Appleton and in 2001 she played a small role in the independent British film "Dog Eat Dog".


title: Melanie Blatt

text: Blatt's solo releases were of variable success; her most prominent being "TwentyFourSeven", a collaboration with the "Artful Dodger", peaking at No 6 in September 2001. Melanie began recording on her debut solo album in 2002, working with numerous producers including Sony Music production team Xenomania. In late 2003 she released her debut single "Do Me Wrong", it reached number 18 in the UK and led to Blatt being dropped by her label due to its low charting. The album she was working on was scrapped, therefore the release of her upcoming single "Blue" was cancelled, but later included on British singer Amelia Lily's debut album "Be a Fighter", on which she worked with Xenomania. In 2005 Blatt made a return to music with new single "See Me", which was used in the "Robots" movie. She began working on a new album with independent label Sowlen Ankle Ltd written with, and recorded by, Matt Hales from Aqualung. During 2005, Blatt played small venues in the UK which featured songs from the album she was working on at the time and included unreleased songs like "In Your Arms," "I Don't Mind," "Now You're Gone," "No Lullaby" and "Love Sweet Love." Blatt's solo record was shelved in favour of the All Saints reunion.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: On 24 January 2006, it was announced that the band had reformed and signed a record deal with Parlophone. They subsequently began work on their third studio album, "Studio 1". The first single, "Rock Steady" (released in November 2006), reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. "Studio 1" entered the albums chart at number forty and sold 60,000 copies according to the BPI, being certified silver. A second single, "Chick Fit" failed to reach the top 200. Blatt discussed the reunion's failure in an interview with "i-D" magazine in 2012: "I don't think it was done for the right reasons... I know that I did it for the money. We got signed before we had even made music again, it wasn't like we felt we had something to give back to the world... we were given an opportunity and took it, without really thinking about it too hard". She also said she never felt comfortable with the success the band had and that "it was not necessarily the plan at the beginning; there was a lot of compromise involved".


title: Melanie Blatt

text: Since 2007 Blatt presents the TV show "The Hot Desk" on ITV2 with co-hosts Nicole Appleton, Dave Berry, Emma Willis and Jayne Sharp. Between 2009 and 2010 she was reporter of Angela Griffin's show "Angela and Friends". In January 2013 it was announced Melanie Blatt would join Daniel Bedingfield, Stan Walker and Ruby Frost as a judge/mentor on the New Zealand version of "The X Factor": "I can't wait to see what kind of artists and voices we are going to find in New Zealand." Blatt will be mentoring the Groups category. It was reported that she and her daughter Lilyella will live in the country for the duration of the series. In February 2013, Blatt revealed she is "making music" and when asked about a solo comeback she said she is going to do something she never thought in a million years she would do.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: On 11 September 2014 MediaWorks announced both Blatt and Stan Walker would return to judge the second season of the X Factor NZ alongside returning host Dominic Bowden. Blatt and Walker would be joined by new husband-wife duo Willy Moon and Natalia Kills until their sacking, and replaced by Natalie Bassingthwaite and Shelton Woolwright. Blatt mentored the Over 25's and placed 5th with her contestant Steve Broad.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: In 2014, All Saints reformed to support the Backstreet Boys for five dates across the UK and Ireland in 2014. On 27 January 2016, it was confirmed that All Saints will release their fourth studio album "Red Flag" on 8 April 2016. The lead single from the album, "One Strike", preceded the album on 26 February 2016.


title: Melanie Blatt

text: On 20 November 1998 Blatt gave birth to daughter Lilyella, whose father is Stuart Zender, Jamiroquai's former bass player. They broke up in early 2006.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: Marquise Derell Goodwin (born November 19, 1990) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He also is an Olympian who competed in the long jump in track and field. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round with the 78th pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In track and field, his specialty is the long jump, an event in which he won two national college championships. Goodwin represented the United States at the 2008 IAAF World junior championships, the 2011 World University games, the 2011 IAAF World Championships, the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the 2015 Pan American Games, where he won silver. He has competed as a long jumper and sprinter, and has been a top competitor in the 60 meters and 100 meters dashes, and the triple jump.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: Goodwin was born in Lubbock, Texas. He attended Rowlett High School in Rowlett, Texas, and played high school football and competed in track and field for the Rowlett Eagles. He had the second fastest 100-meter time (10.24w) in the state, was the state champion in the triple jump and long jump, and was a member of the state title-winning 4×100-meter relay team. He won seven Texas Class 5A state track and field championships while he was at Rowlett. He also finished first in the long jump at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and first again at the 2008 and 2009 United States Junior Championships. At the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Goodwin set the national high school record in the long jump and placed fifth ().


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: Goodwin received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where he pledged Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He played for coach Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns football team from 2009 to 2012, and also competed for the Texas Longhorns track and field team from 2010 to 2012.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: Goodwin was a two-time NCAA champion in the long jump (2010, 2012) and a four-time All-American in track and field. He won five Big 12 Conference championships and made the All-Big 12 team seven times. He is the Longhorns' indoor record holder in the long jump and was the runner-up for the 2012 NCAA Indoor long jump title.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: He won the 2011 U.S. Outdoor Track and Field long jump title with a personal-best and won the 2012 Outdoor Championship/Olympic Trials with the same distance. He competed in the 2012 Olympics, ranking tied for the #1 qualifier, but only managed 10th place in the final.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In his collegiate career, Goodwin started 21 of the 49 games in which he appeared, including the 2010 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama. His final career statistics included 116 receptions for 1,296 yards and six touchdowns, rushed 46 times for 405 yards and 44 kickoff returns for 985 yards and one touchdown. He also returned a punt for 22 yards. Some of his key plays include his first touchdown of his 2009 freshman year, a game-winning touchdown in a 16–13 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. Goodwin also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to seal the Longhorns' win over the Texas A&M Aggies.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In the 2010 season, Goodwin had 31 receptions for 324 yards and one touchdown. In the 2011 season, he had 33 receptions for 421 yards and two touchdowns. In the 2012 season, Goodwin was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy. In the 2012 Alamo Bowl against Oregon State, Goodwin rushed for a 64-yard touchdown, and caught the game-winning, 36-yard touchdown pass—an effort that was good enough to earn him the game's Offensive Most Valuable Player trophy. In the 2012 season, he had 26 receptions for 340 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: After posting the third-fastest 40-yard dash time ever at the NFL scouting combine, Goodwin was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round, with the 78th overall pick, of the 2013 NFL Draft.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On May 10, 2013, Goodwin signed a four-year contract with the Bills, where he also practiced in his first day of rookie minicamp. He caught his first career touchdown Week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals, a 40-yard pass from Thaddeus Lewis. Goodwin played 12 games in his rookie season making 17 receptions for 283 receiving yards. He also had 16 kickoff return opportunities totaling 351 returning yards.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In 2014, hobbled by numerous injuries (concussion, ankle, ribs, and hamstring), Goodwin caught only one pass for 42 yards, which came against the Detroit Lions.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: After missing five games with broken ribs, Goodwin posted two receptions for 24 yards in the 2015 season.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In 2016, Goodwin posted 29 receptions, 431 yards, and three touchdowns, setting career highs in games played, receptions, and receiving yards. While Goodwin enjoyed his most productive season, he was also inconsistent. His 42.6% catch rate ranked 107th among qualified NFL wide receivers in 2016.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On March 9, 2017, Goodwin signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. On September 10, 2017, in his 49ers debut, Goodwin had three receptions for 21 yards in the season opening 23–3 loss to the Carolina Panthers. On November 12, 2017, against the New York Giants, he caught his first touchdown of the season on an 83-yard reception. After beating one defender, Goodwin blew a kiss to the sky and once in the end zone, then took a knee in prayer before falling to both knees with his head in hands, as his teammates gathered around him. After the game, in which the 49ers beat the New York Giants for their first win of the season, Goodwin revealed that he and his wife had lost their prematurely born son due to complications during pregnancy in the early morning hours the day of the game. In Week 15, Goodwin caught a career-high 10 passes for 114 yards in a 25–23 win over the Titans. Goodwin established new career highs in receptions and receiving yards in his first season with the 49ers, finishing the season with 56 catches for 962 yards and two touchdowns.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On March 8, 2018, Goodwin signed a three-year, $20.3 million contract extension with the 49ers that would last through the 2021 season.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In Week 6, against the Green Bay Packers, Goodwin set career-highs with 126 yards and two touchdowns. In the 2018 season, he finished with 23 receptions for 395 yards and four touchdowns.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In 2019, Goodwin played in nine games before being placed on injured reserve on December 10, 2019. He finished the season with 12 receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown. Without Goodwin, the 49ers reached Super Bowl LIV, but lost 31–20 to the Kansas City Chiefs.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On April 25, 2020, Goodwin was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for a swap of sixth-round draft picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. After being traded to the Eagles, Goodwin agreed on a restructured contract on a one-year deal worth $1.35 million. On July 28, 2020, Goodwin announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to focus more on his family.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On March 16, 2021, Goodwin reverted to the San Francisco 49ers due to stipulations from the trade with the Eagles, and the 49ers sent a seventh-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to the Eagles as part of the trade clause. The 49ers released him the next day.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On April 16, 2021, Goodwin signed with the Chicago Bears. He ended the season with 20 receptions, 313 yards, and one touchdown.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: On May 23, 2022, Goodwin signed with the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 7, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Goodwin had two receiving touchdowns in the 37–23 victory.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: Goodwin made the 2012 United States Olympic team in the long jump with a career-best and meet-best mark of 8.33m (27-04.25) at the US Olympic Team Trials, a jump that would have been good enough to win the gold medal at the following Olympics.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he qualified for the finals on his first jump of 8.11m (26-7), but he failed to match that performance in the finals and finished in 10th place.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In 2015, after a three-year absence, he returned to track and field. In his first event back, despite jumping a career best 8.37m (27-05.5), he finished in fourth place, just missing qualification for the World Championship. A month later, at the 2015 Pan Am Games, he earned a silver medal with a jump of 8.27m (27-1).


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In 2016, Goodwin won the long jump at the Rod McCravy Invitational in Kentucky and placed third in the Millrose Games in New York. In New York he also placed 6th in the 60m dash, with a then career best 6.68s. In March, he placed third at the United States Indoor Track and Field Championships while also making it to the semifinals in the 60-meter dash with another personal best. He won the long jump at the Meeting Region Guadeloupe with a personal best mark of , also a world-leading mark at the time of the meet. As of 2020, his personal best ranks him as the 46th best long jumper of all time. Then a month later, he won the long jump at the IAAF Diamond League meet in Birmingham, England. However, his dream of returning to the Olympics came up short when he finished a disappointing seventh at the Olympic Trials in July. His best jump of 8.25m was well below his best jumps of the year, which would have been enough to qualify.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: In June 2021, Goodwin competed in the long jump field in the 2020 Olympic Trials. However, Goodwin was unable to qualify for the Games after placing 19th out of 24 jumpers with his best jump being a 24-foot, 10-inch leap.


title: Marquise Goodwin

text: Goodwin is married to former Longhorn hurdler champion Morgan Goodwin-Snow. On November 12, 2017, their premature son died just hours prior to the 49ers' game against the New York Giants. In November 2018, Goodwin missed two games when he and his wife lost their unborn twin boys. Goodwin and his wife welcomed a daughter, Marae, on February 19, 2020. Goodwin is a cousin of former San Francisco 49ers teammate, Adrian Colbert.


title: Epitaph Records

text: Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and bands signed to the label as well. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several sister labels also exist, such as ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Hellcat Records, and Heart & Skull Records that have signed other types of bands.


title: Epitaph Records

text: Brett Gurewitz formed Epitaph Records as a vehicle for releases by his band Bad Religion. The name had been taken from the King Crimson cold war protest song "Epitaph" from which the lyrics "Confusion will be my epitaph." had struck a chord with Brett and Greg when they were young. Its first release for the label was Bad Religion's 1981 self-titled EP, followed by their debut "How Could Hell Be Any Worse?", which was also the label's first full-length release. Also released during this period was "Peace thru Vandalism", an EP by The Vandals, who were the first band besides Bad Religion to sign to Epitaph. Two more Bad Religion releases followed – "Into the Unknown" and the EP "Back to the Known" – before their temporary split. After Gurewitz had cleaned up his drug issues, both Epitaph and Bad Religion were revived in 1987. In the following year, Epitaph released its first record as a proper label, which was L7's self-titled album, and it was distributed by Chameleon. Also in 1988, Bad Religion released "Suffer", which was both released and distributed by Epitaph. Not only is "Suffer" often cited as one of the band's best by fans, but it is credited with "saving" the Southern California punk rock scene by fans and Bad Religion's contemporaries alike.


title: Epitaph Records

text: In 1989, Gurewitz signed NOFX to Epitaph. They released their debut for the label, "S&M Airlines", that same year, featuring the video for its title track and the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way", which featured guest vocals by Gurewitz and Greg Graffin, also a member of Bad Religion. This was followed by Bad Religion's next two albums – "No Control" and "Against the Grain" – which sold 60,000 and 100,000 copies respectively.


title: Epitaph Records

text: By 1993, more punk acts had signed to Epitaph, including Pennywise, Down by Law, Coffin Break, The Offspring, Rancid, RKL, SNFU, Dead Fucking Last, Total Chaos and Claw Hammer. Epitaph's expansion saw the label relocate to new offices in Silver Lake.


title: Epitaph Records

text: Although Bad Religion was the founding band of Epitaph, releasing their early records through the label, they switched over to Atlantic in 1993, with "Recipe for Hate" being their first record outside of the label. Brett Gurewitz is thought to have left Bad Religion as a result of internal disputes, but actually left the band in 1994 so he could run Epitaph full-time. That year Bad Religion and Epitaph received widespread fame, both within and outside the punk community, when Bad Religion (even though they had left Epitaph by this time), NOFX, Rancid and The Offspring all released hit records. This was a big year for punk in the mainstream; Rancid appeared on "Saturday Night Live" the following year, playing "Ruby Soho" and "Roots Radicals". The Offspring eventually left for Columbia Records in a contract dispute, but their album "Smash" became the best-selling independent album of all time, with more than 11 million units sold worldwide to date.


title: Epitaph Records

text: In 2001, Brett Gurewitz returned to Bad Religion, and the band returned to Epitaph Records, releasing seven more albums, the latest being "Age of Unreason" (2019).


title: Epitaph Records

text: In mid-2005 Epitaph was added to the official list of RIAA members along with several other high-profile independent labels. The reason for the listing is not clear, but one source points to an agreement for internet P2P distribution. Another source claims label management joined RIAA to get certified sales awards (i.e., official "Gold" or "Platinum" record status) for releases. This sparked some controversy as some feel they should no longer be labeled independent if they are a member of the RIAA. However, the only source that has actually been used for these claims of membership is the official RIAA membership list, which has been disputed. As of this writing, not only is Epitaph listed as an official member but Lookout! Records is once again listed, after being falsely listed before. In addition, Fat Wreck Chords has released statements denying their own involvement in the RIAA, condemning the organization.


title: Epitaph Records

text: During this time, the label started to stray from its traditional punk rock output by signing a number of post-hardcore bands such as The Blackout, Escape The Fate, From First to Last, Hell Is for Heroes, I Am Ghost, Matchbook Romance, Our Last Night, Scatter the Ashes, Story of the Year, Thursday, Vanna, and You Me at Six.


title: Epitaph Records

text: Epitaph signed Weezer in 2010, the label releasing "Hurley" later that year. The label signed Social Distortion in the same year. Epitaph signed Australian punk band Dangerous! in 2011 and released album "Teenage Rampage". Epitaph had also signed the Canadian punk rock band Propagandhi. The label has also been more active in signing bands from the emo revival including The Menzingers, Joyce Manor, Pianos Become the Teeth, Defeater, The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, and Touché Amoré.


title: Epitaph Records

text: Epitaph has issued two albums that have been certified as platinum or multi-platinum, for sales of over 1 million units, by the Recording Industry Association of America: "Smash" by The Offspring, which has been certified six-times platinum, and "...And Out Come the Wolves" by Rancid, which has been certified platinum.


title: Epitaph Records

text: Seven albums released by the label, or its subsidiaries Hellcat and ANTI-, have been certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies: "Ignition" by The Offspring, "Punk in Drublic" by NOFX, "Let's Go" by Rancid, "" by Tom Waits, "The Drug in Me Is You" by Falling in Reverse, "The Warrior's Code" by Dropkick Murphys and "Sempiternal" by Bring Me the Horizon.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, Cyprus, Sinai, Hatay Province, and Cilicia, based on geographical boundaries and the common history people within the boundaries share. It has also been active in the Syrian and Lebanese diaspora, for example in South America with over 100,000 members as of 2016, it is the second-largest legal political group in Syria after the ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Founded in Beirut in 1932 by the Greek Orthodox Lebanese intellectual Antoun Saadeh as an anticolonial and national liberation organization hostile to French colonialism, the party played a significant role in Lebanese politics and was involved in attempted coups d'état in 1949 and 1961, following which it was thoroughly repressed. It was active in resistance against the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon until 2000, while continuously supporting the Syrian presence in Lebanon out of belief in Syrian irredentism.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In Syria, the SSNP had become a major syncretic political force in the early 1950s, but was thoroughly repressed in 1955–56. It remained organized, and by the late 1990s had allied itself with the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Lebanese Communist Party, despite the ideological differences between them. The SSNP was legalized in Syria in 2005, and joined the Ba'ath Party-led National Progressive Front. From 2012 to 6 May 2014, the party was part of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation. During the course of the Syrian Civil War, the party has become more prominent in Syria, where almost 12,000 fighters of the party's armed branch, the Eagles of the Whirlwind, have fought alongside the Syrian Armed Forces against the Syrian opposition and the Islamic State.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In the mid-nineteenth century Butrus al-Bustani was one of the first to assert the existence of a natural Syrian nation that should be accommodated in a reformed Ottoman Empire. He belonged to the Nahda, thinkers influenced by the Arabic Literary Renaissance and the French Revolution and who wished to shape the Tanzimat reforms, which were an attempt to introduce a constitutional monarchy with religious freedom to reverse the Ottoman state's creeping economic marginalisation and which would lead to the Young Turks and the Second Constitutional Era.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: An influential follower of al-Bustani was the Belgian Jesuit historian, Henri Lammens, ordained as a priest in Beirut in 1893, who claimed that Greater Syria had since ancient times encompassed all the land between the Arab peninsula, Egypt, the Levantine corridor and the Taurus Mountains, including all the peoples within the Fertile Crescent.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: This was also accompanied with the rise of a profoundly idealistic patriotism, largely resembling European romantic nationalism, idealizing the coming of a National Revival to the Levant, that would shake off the Ottoman past and propel back what many started to see again as the cradle of civilization into the modern world's front stage. In that aspect, the works of Kahlil Gibran (the English name of Jubran Khalil Jubran) who began expressing his belief in Syrian nationalism and patriotism are central. As Gibran said, "I believe in you, and I believe in your destiny. I believe that you are contributors to this new civilization... I believe that it is in you to be good citizens. And what is it to be a good citizen?... It is to stand before the towers of New York and Washington, Chicago and San Francisco saying in your hearts, "I am the descendent of a people the built Damascus and Byblos, and Tyre and Sidon and Antioch, and I am here to build with you, and with a will."


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The late 1920s and the early 1930s were also a period of cultural and political effervescence that greatly contributed to the emergence of Syrian nationalism as a distinct ideology. In 1920, the French army toppled the first Arab Kingdom of Syria and the Hashemite King Faisal, who had been proclaimed "King of all-Syria" by the Syrian National Congress at the Battle of Maysalun. The British and the French dissected the region into spheres of influence in what later became known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, setting up colonial administrations throughout the Levant.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The Great Syrian Revolt was brutally repressed in 1925 while a small clique of traditional landowners and notables coalesced around the newly founded administration of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Greater Lebanon was established on the ruins of the Mutasarrifiyya of Mount Lebanon with arbitrarily drawn borders and with a state structure largely dominated by the Christian Maronites, a community whose elite were historically well-disposed to the French, and who would ensure the French colonial empire a strong foothold in the Arab world. Jewish immigration to Palestine was increasing at an alarming speed, bringing to the shores of Palestine Zionist migrants who had little affinity to (Revisionist Zionism) or similarities with (Marxist and Labor Zionism) the local Palestinian Arabs. Class tensions sharpened as some Palestinian landowners sold their lands to the Jewish National Fund, with little regard to national aspirations and plight of the peasantry. As the Balfour Declaration became public, fears in the Levant of the parceling out of the region along colonial borders implied in the minds of many the need for concerted action throughout the Levant that would transcend traditional sectarian divides. Similarly, communism, perceived by many as an alien ideology that did not resonate much with the socioeconomic conditions of the early 20th century Levant, was looked upon with suspicion, particularly since many Zionist migrants settling in Palestine were coming from the Soviet Union.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Many Syrian and Lebanese youth saw these events as omens of an ill future in which the Levant, which had until then been a single economic and social entity within the Ottoman Empire referred to as Bilad al-Sham, would be dismembered along religious, ethnic, and class lines. As the traditional elite stirred away from the people and slowly sought the good offices of the French High Commissioner, and given the repression with which the French Mandate was applied, secret societies flourished in the late 1920s. Similarly, many begin to see the devastating effect that sectarianism was bringing upon the people of the region, be it pro-Christian Separatism in Lebanon or the radicalism of Islamist elements in Syria, which pitted each faction against the other and benefited no other than the colonial administration, and began to condemn the mixing of religion with politics. The path was hence laid down for the emergence of a political ideology that would simultaneously fight against the dismemberment of the region, Zionism, and colonialism, through anti-colonialism, liberation war, and national revival, while keeping communism in check. It also represented a clear departure from the Arab nationalist current that advocated the unification of the entirety of the Arab World, and which had implicit Islamic nationalist undertones. This ideology was to be that of a Romanticized Secular Greater Syria based upon the natural geographical boundaries that defined the region loosely dubbed as the Fertile Crescent, an ideology that Antun Saadeh would come to assert with the foundation of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, where it found its full expression.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The SSNP was founded by Antun Saadeh, a Lebanese journalist and lecturer from a Greek Orthodox family who had lived in South America from 1919 to 1930 who in November 1932 secretly established the first nucleus of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which operated underground for the first three years of its existence, and in 1933 started publishing the monthly journal "Al-Majalla" which was distributed in the American University of Beirut and developed the party's ideology. In 1936 the party's open hostility to colonialism led to the French authorities banning the party and the imprisoning Saadeh for six months for creating a clandestine party, although an accusation of having been in contact with the German and Italian fascist movements was dropped after the Germans denied any relationship. During his time in prison Saadeh wrote "The Genesis of Nations" to lay out the SSNP's ideology. At that time, the Party joined ranks with other nationalist and patriotic forces including the National Bloc, whereas it began militating, in secret, for the overthrow of the Mandate. Nonetheless, the alliance between the SSNP and the National Bloc did not last long: The National Bloc refrained from engaging in actual militant activities against the French, deciding instead to cooperate with the High Commissioner. Many SSNP members also felt that the NB refused to cooperate with them due to the fact that their founder was Christian.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Saadeh emigrated again to Brazil in 1938 and afterwards to Argentina, only to return to Lebanon in 1947 following the country's independence from the French in 1943. On his way to Argentina, he visited Italy and Berlin, which increased the suspicions of the French that the SSNP might have been entertaining relations with the Axis. Coming back shortly to Lebanon in 1939, he was questioned by the French authorities who accused him of plotting with the Germans. The charge was dropped when no evidence of collaboration had been found and after that Saadeh declared that even the French rule to which he was vehemently opposed would be better than German or Italian rule. Having afterwards left for Argentina, Saadeh found out that the Argentinian branch of the SSNP newspaper had been voicing its outright support for Nazi Germany and to the Axis powers, which led Saadeh to issue a lengthy letter to the editor-in-chef, restating that the SSNP is not a National Socialist party and that no stance should be taken vis-à-vis the Allies or the Axis. By that time, the SSNP had grown exponentially and had clashed on many occasions with its primary ideological rival, the Kataeb Party, a Spanish Fascist-Inspired party that had been founded by Pierre Gemayel, a pharmacist and athlete after his return from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Being vehemently anti-communist in its early days, a position that would later change, it had also clashed with the Syrian-Lebanese Communist Party, the latter accusing the SSNP of Nazi sympathies.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: While the Kataeb was committed to the notion of Lebanon as a nation state defined as an entity presiding over the borders outlined first by the Sykes–Picot agreement in 1916, and afterwards by the French administrative division of its mandate into six states including the state of Greater Lebanon, and had espoused a strong bond between the nation and the church as well as outright social ultraconservatism, the SSNP rejected these national claim on the basis that the borders outlining the newly created states were fictitious, resulting from colonialism, and do not reflect any historical and social realities. The party claimed that Greater Syria as defined by Saadeh represents the national ideal encompassing the historical people of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, bound together by a clearly defined geography and a common historical, social and cultural development path away from all sectarianism.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The Party took a radical stance against the traditional notable class in Syria and Lebanon, including the large landowners and feudal lords, and called for the emancipation of the working class and the peasantry away from religion and sectarianism, into a socialist-inspired production-based economy. The SSNP also called for the reclamation of Alexandretta which had been arbitrarily given to Turkey by France. With the start of the Arab–Israeli conflict in 1948, Saadeh radicalized the party's Anti-Zionist stance by declaring that "Our struggle with the enemy is not a struggle for borders but for existence", and called on Party members to fight in the Arab Liberation Army, although many regular Lebanese and Syrian army officers were already Party members.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: When the Lebanese Communist Party, which had fought against Saadeh's return in 1947 and which had been fighting for the title of head of the country's Anti-Zionist movement, declared its acceptance of the Partition Plan, infuriated and increasingly zealous SSNP members burned down a Communist headquarters. As communists defected away after the Communist Party's sudden pivot upon orders from the Soviet Union, the SSNP's ranks swelled.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: When the Arabs lost the war in 1948, Saadeh propelled the Party into a fully confrontational stance: He deemed Arabism as a purely rhetorical gimmick, condemned the incompetence and hypocrisy of the Arab leaders, and asserted that the creation of the State of Israel and the expulsion of the Palestinians was the direct result of this incompetence.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: On 4 July 1949, a year after the declaration of the establishment of the state of Israel and the 1948 Palestinian exodus (the Nakba), and a response to a series of aggressions perpetrated by the Kataeb-backed Lebanese government, the SSNP attempted its first revolution. Following a violent crackdown by government forces, Saadeh traveled to Damascus to meet with Husni al-Za'im in an attempt to obtain his support. A decision was taken by King Farouk, Riad el Solh and Husni al-Za'im to eliminate Antoun Saadeh, under the patronage of British Intelligence and the Mossad. As a result, Al-Za'im handed Saadeh over to Lebanese authorities, who had him executed on 8 July 1949. It was the shortest and most secretive trial given to a political offender.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: After Saadeh was executed and its high-ranking leaders were arrested, the party remained underground until 1958 when it sided with the pro-Western president Camille Chamoun against the Arab nationalist rebels. This occurred right after the Party was accused of having plotted the assassination of Adnan al-Malki, a left-leaning Baath Party army officer in Syria, and after Party members had fled to Beirut. The Party at that time still viewed the Soviet Union with contempt, and opposed the Arab Nationalist current of Nasser, while retaining its commitment to Syrian Nationalism. Indeed, the idea of having Greater Syria subsumed under the creed of Arab Nationalism founded on the Arabic language, Arab and Islamic culture was abhorred by the SSNP, which retained its profound belief in Syrian social and anthropological historicism, namely the process of national and social association that characterizes the Fertile Crescent and that differentiates it from the Arabian Peninsula or North Africa.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: On the last day of 1961, two SSNP members, company commanders in the Lebanese army, led an unsuccessful attempted lightning coup against Fouad Chehab, supported by some 200 civilian SSNP members. In the scholarly literature, the coup has been explained as stemming from the party's ideological preference for violence ("bullets over ballots"), its frustration at exclusion from the Lebanese state, and both political and military criticism of the rule of Fouad Chehab.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Advisors of Chehab who allegedly witnessed armed SSNP partisans gathering around the central areas of Beirut rushed to the presidential palace to inform Chehab of the insurrection. This resulted in a renewed proscription and the imprisonment and/or execution of many SSNP leaders. Most of the party's known activists remained in prison or exile until a general amnesty in 1969. In 1969, the party re-aligned towards Arab nationalism.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: With the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, the SSNP formed a military squad that allied with the Lebanese National Movement (LNM), against the Phalangists and their allies of the Lebanese Front. The SSNP saw the Lebanese Civil War as the inevitable result of the divisions of the Syrian nation into small states and away from a liberation war against Israel. In the mid-1970s, there were tensions within the party between "a reformist branch close to the Palestinian factions and another more inclined toward Damascus"; it reunified in 1978.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: After the defeat of anti-Israeli forces in the 1982 Lebanon War, the SSNP joined a number of the organizations who regrouped to resist the Israeli occupation, including the killing of two Israeli soldiers in a Wimpy Cafe in west Beirut by party member Khalid Alwan. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation blames the SSNP for the assassination, in 1982, of Bachir Gemayel, Lebanon's newly elected president supported by the Israelis besieging Beirut. An SSNP member, Habib Shartouni, was arrested for the assassination and eventually convicted for it in 2017.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In 1983 the party joined the Lebanese National Salvation Front. In 1985, a member of the party, Sana'a Mehaidli, detonated a car bomb next to an Israeli military convoy at Jezzin, South Lebanon. She killed two Israeli soldiers and become one of the first known female suicide bombers.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The SSNP in Lebanon was broadly supportive of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon and was allied to pro-Syrian parties (including the March 8 Alliance) in the aftermath of the occupation.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The SSNP participated in a number of general elections in Lebanon, winning six seats in 1992, although seeing a decline in subsequent elections winning two seats in both 2005 and 2009. The SSNP were involved in the 2008 conflict in Lebanon, with gunmen attacking an SSNP office.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Assaad Hardan was party leader for two terms. Hardan was succeeded by Rabih Banat in 2020, but with a growing split in the party between Hardan's followers, who are closer to the Syrian government and the March 8 Alliance, and Banat's followers, who are closer to the administration of Saad Hariri. As of the 2022 Lebanese elections, the party did not win any seat and currently has no representation in the Lebanese Parliament.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In Syria, the SSNP grew to a position of considerable influence in the years following the country's independence in 1946, and was a major political force immediately after the restoration of democracy in 1954. It was a fierce rival of the Syrian Communist Party and of the radical pan-Arab Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, the other main ideological parties of the period. In April 1955 Colonel Adnan al-Malki, a Ba'athist officer who was a very popular figure in the Syrian army, was assassinated by a party member. This provided the Communists and Ba'athists with the opportunity to eliminate their main ideological rival, and under pressure from them and their allies in the security forces the SSNP was practically wiped out as a political force in Syria.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The SSNP's stance during the Lebanese civil war and in Lebanese politics—where it has become a close ally of Hezbollah—was consistent with that of Syria, and that facilitated a rapprochement between the party and the Syrian government. During Hafez al-Assad's presidency, the party was increasingly tolerated. After the succession of his son Bashar in 2000, this process continued. In 2001, although still officially banned, the party was permitted to attend meetings of the Ba'ath-led National Progressive Front coalition of legal parties as an observer. In Spring 2005 the party was legalised in Syria, in what has been described as "an attempt to allow a limited form of political activity".


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Over time, the SSNP and the Syrian Baathist regime experienced a dramatic turnabout in their historical relationship, from enemies to allies. The process started as the party reckoned that Hafez al-Assad regional goals such as consolidating Syria's control over Lebanon and the PLO were consistent with the SSNP's goal of establishing Greater Syria, while the SSNP reciprocated acting as a Syrian proxy in Lebanon. The alliance has strengthened on the face of the Syrian Civil War.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In the 22 April 2007 election for the People's Council of Syria, the party gained 3 out of 250 in the parliament. In 2015, journalist Terry Glavin wrote that "But for a brief and friendly interregnum during the Baathist regime’s phoney national elections of 2012, the SSNP has been a member of Assad’s ruling coalition since 2005." Its Syrian leader is Ali Haidar, who has been one of the two non-Baath party minister's in the Damascus government since 2012, as Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Notable SSNP politicians in Syria include Diala Barakat, Issam Al Mahayri, Joseph Sweid, Bushra Massouh, and Issam Bagdi.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The Syrian revolution and civil war "was an opportunity for the SSNP to take on a new dimension", regaining its strength (particularly among Christian and Shi'ite minority groups) and taking on a new purpose. During the civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War the SSNP participated in counter demonstrations in support of the government. Once the war broke out, the Syrian government reciprocated providing weaponry and training. In the meantime, SSNP officials had become a target for rebel militants and were kidnapped and assassinated. Bashar al-Yazigi, head of the political SSNP bureau in Syria stated that the "opposition is seeking to create sharp sectarian rifts and fragment Syrian society" with the party regarding both the ongoing Syrian Civil War and the Iraq War as attempts to partition those countries—and, eventually Lebanon—along ethno-sectarian lines.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: As of 2016, estimates of the number of SSNP fighters in Syria range from 6,000 to 8,000. Lebanese fighters are included in their ranks, even though the party claims that "their proportion within the group's total fighting force has decreased steadily, as more Syrians sign up".


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: By February 2014, SSNP fighters were primarily deployed in the governorates of Homs and Damascus and were said to be the most formidable military force other than the Syrian Army in Suweida. SSNP fighters have participated in the battles of Sadad, Ma'loula or al-Qaryatayn, among others. In 2016, party officials say its membership has increased "by the thousands" since the start of the war as a result of its alleged "reputation as an effective fighting force in Syria".


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The party is taking on a larger role in Syria's official political system: it fielded 30 candidates for the 2016 parliamentary election, winning 7 seats.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In 1966 King Hussein had his security services sent into action to eradicate the SSNP from Jordan. The party had been active among the Palestinian population.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Scholars and analysts have debated how the SSNP's ideology should be described. Many Western scholars have superimposed its ideological and organizational resemblances to European fascism, and of its external symbols to those of German Nazism, although these criticisms are not accepted by the party itself. Recent accounts by Western journalists also describe it as fascist. Terry Glavin writes that it "sports its very own stylized swastika [and] sings an anthem to the tune of Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Alles", while Bellingcat calls its a "rabidly anti-Semitic, fascist organization [with] international ties to the far-right." Other sources are less definitive. For example, "L'Orient-Le Jour" write that Saadeh's "national vision was based on belonging to one’s geographical milieu, rather than one’s race. His supporters insist that their leader chose the party’s emblem long before he learned of Nazism."


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Saadeh was aware of accusations of fascism, and he responded to them during his speech of 1 June 1935:


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: According to historian Stanley G. Payne, interwar Arab nationalism was influenced by European fascism, with the creation of at least seven Arab nationalist shirt movements similar to the brown shirt movement by 1939, with the most influenced ones being the SSNP, the Iraqi Futawa youth movement and the Young Egypt movement. These three movements would share characteristics like being territorially expansionist, with the SSNP wanting the complete control of Syria, belief in the superiority of their own people (with Saadeh theorizing a "distinct and naturally superior" Syrian race), being "nonrationalist, anti-intellectual, and highly emotional" and "[emphasizing] military virtues and power [and stressing] self-sacrifice". Also according to Payne, all these movements received strong influence from European fascism and praised the Italian and German fascism but "[they never became] fully developed fascist movements, and none reproduced the full characteristics of European fascism"; the influence in Arab nationalism remained long after 1945. Also, Saadeh's superior race was not a pure one, but a fusion of all races in Syrian history. The SSNP would be "[an] elite group, with little structure for mobilization".


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: While in jail from early February to early May 1936, Saadeh completed "The Genesis of Nations" which he had started writing three months before the French authorities in Lebanon discovered the secret organization and arrested its leader and his assistants. In his book, Saadeh formulated his belief in the existence of a Syrian nation in a homeland defined as embracing all historic Syria extended to the Suez Canal in the south, and that includes modern Syria, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait. The boundaries of the historic environment in which the Syrian nation evolved went much beyond the scope usually ascribed to Syria, extending from the Taurus range in the north-east and the Zagros mountains in the north-west to the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the south and includes the Sinai peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including the island of Cyprus, to the arch of the Arabian desert and the Persian Gulf in the east. According to Saadeh, this region is also called the Syrian Fertile Crescent, the island Cyprus being its star.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Greater Syria corresponds to the Mesopotamian basin of Bilad al-Sham before it was arbitrarily dissected by the colonial powers. According to Saadeh, geographical factors play an important role in setting the parameters for the process of association and thus for the establishment of a nation. He held that the process of human evolution from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture was among the most important factors that led to the creation of private property and the class system. Saadeh highlighted the role that the class system played in the flourishing of trade and commerce and the creation of wealth, ascribing it to be a characteristic of the Semitic peoples, namely the coastal Phoenicians. He also stressed the link between the economic modes of production and the establishment of cultural norms and values, a view he shared with Karl Marx.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: However, Saadeh believed that while the economic modes of production can create culture, culture acquires a life of its own with time and eventually becomes embedded and perpetuated in its people, who come to recognize themselves as a living organism. Hence comes the importance of the state in serving the interest of the nation, and of national democracy as the legitimate source of political legislation. The party espouses the idea that the fundamental basis of nation is the territory or geographical region, not the ethnical bond. The natural environment and geographical specifications of a certain land is what eventually allows, or disallows, its transition from a socio-economic phase to another.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: These natural geographical factors hence create the societal framework in which man establishes his existence, beliefs, habits, and value systems. Saadeh's critique of ethnic nationalisms led him to hence develop a framework of geographical nationalism, the idea of the "natural homeland". When he applied this model to the case of the Fertile Crescent, the conclusion he reached was straightforward: the natural geographical factors of the basin lying east of the Mediterranean is what has allowed it to become the cradle of civilizations, what has driven throughout the course of human history movements seeking to unify it, what has allowed it to establish, through ethnic, religious and cultural assimilation and mixing, a high culture and civilization, and what has made it the prize coveted by all imperialist powers. Saadeh advocated for all ethnoreligious groups to consider themselves as descendants of the pre-Christian era empires of Babylon and Assyria, of the Hittites and the kings of Aram, then of the Islamic empires, all the way up until the present. The SSNP claimed that the Greater Syria is the natural home of the Syrian people with clearly defined geographic boundaries, yet that its people are suffering from what Saadeh described as a "woe" ("al-wail") owing to an identity crisis due to Ottoman occupation, colonialism, and sectarianism. Saadeh claimed that the "renaissance" of the Syrian nation is inevitably linked to the purge of these "decadent" forces through the reinforcing of national solidarity, resistance against colonialism, and adoption of secularism.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: In Saadeh's vision of "harmony" among the country's ethnic and religious communities through a return to a so-called Syrian "racial unity" which was itself in fact a mixture of races, neither Islam nor pan-Arabism was important, and therefore religion wasn't either. Saadeh's concept of the nation was shaped mainly by historical concrete interactions amongst people over the centuries in a given geography, rather than being based on ethnic origins, race, language or religion. This led him also to conclude that the Arabs could not form one nation, but many nations could be called Arab.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The SSNP's Greater Syria ideal posed a problem for all of the existing nationalist movements because of its clear departure from Arab nationalist and Islamic undertones, and its inextricable link with what the party leader defined as "the Syrian people", Greater Syria being its natural homeland. The notion of a Syrian people is the cornerstone of the SSNP, and is defined according to the Party as the people inhabiting the Fertile Crescent, whose culture and socio-economic conditions have been a direct consequence of its own interaction with the natural environment.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The Syrian people, according to the Party's founder, is a cultural and socio-economic body of people hailing from a very heterogeneous background, but whose social mixing and assimilation over time within the Levantine basin has allowed for the emergence of a high settled civilization and for the extension of this people over the entirety of Natural Syria. In a clear departure from ethnic, racial and religious understandings of a nation, the Syrian people is a "mixture of races generated by migrations and intermarriages", its social life and cohesion having been shaped and determined by the environment and geography in which it developed. Hence the SSNP rejects racial notions of nationalism, Saadeh himself having ridiculed European racial doctrines in the opening chapters of the Genesis of Nations.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The attitude of the party and its founder towards minority separatism and movements calling for ethnically-separate homelands was one of outright hostility. Saadeh was also hostile to all religiously-motivated political movements, or movements that did not call for the separation between Church (or Mosque) and State. Thus he called Wahhabism and Islamism a "return to the desert", a "dry ideology of Arabian tribes" that had no commonalities with the high civilization of the Fertile Crescent. The incoming Jewish migrants to Southern Syria (Palestine) and the Jewish communities were criticized for their "foreign and racial loyalties", their unwillingness to assimilate, and their active willingness to create an ethnically Jewish state in Palestine, with Saadeh deeming the Jews as the community unable and unwilling to assimilate, and having criticized the notion that Jewishness can be a cornerstone for a nation-state. For the SSNP, the Jews do not constitute a nation as they are a heterogeneous mixture of peoples in a similar sense that Muslims and Christians do not constitute a nation. Similarly, the Kurds were attacked for their communitarianism and their disposition to establish a Kurdish state in the north. In what relates to the Arab–Israeli conflict, the party has since its establishment adopted a hard-lined anti-Zionist stance, while retaining its belief that a secular and democratic state in Palestine is the only proper solution to the conflict.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The societal cohesion of the Syrian people and its ability to properly assimilate newcomers, minorities, and migrations, is essential to its survival to its progress, and any movement that seeks to assert ethnic, religious, or racial separatism within the Syrian homeland is one that ought to be met with outright hostility. The answer to these threats, according to the Party, lay in the rebirth of the Syrian people, the Renaissance.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The Syrian people, as outlined above, is, according to Saadeh, among the first people to have historically moved from the tribal phase into the settled agricultural phase and towards the establishment of private property and social classes. This first transition allowed the Syrian people to prosper exponentially and to excel in most of the crafts of the ancient world. Saadeh and the party espoused the belief that a new transition has to take place, a transition to the modern age, which ought to have two prerequisites: the secular unity of the Syrian people and its renaissance. The unity of the Syrian people firstly implies debarring the clergy from interfering in state affairs, and enacting a full separation between Church-Mosque and State. This would inevitably allow the Syrian people to regain its unity and social cohesion.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The second task of the party is to work towards the Renaissance, which the party leader described as being a dynamic undertaking that would shatter what he described as the old regime. The Renaissance ideal, which Saadeh traces back to the ingenuity of the first Syrians – the Assyrians and the Phoenicians, among others, lies in the mastery of the Syrian people over the sciences and the crafts, which he eulogizes in The Genesis of Nations while attacking what he deemed as the antiquated notions of religious fatalism. In order to regain its mastery over the crafts and over its own destiny, Saadeh underlines the need for intellectualism, education, and the pursuit of knowledge as cornerstones of the future Syrian society, a notion he summarizes in his famous quote, "Society is knowledge, and knowledge is power".


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: While the Renaissance is underlined as a romanticized notion of spiritual, intellectual, and patriotic elevation, the SSNP elaborated a simple yet straightforward doctrine pertaining to how the Syrian People ought to organize itself once the Renaissance has begun, albeit the fact that Saadeh had not developed the idea completely. The social-nationalist model elaborated by Saadeh is reflected in the "Communiqué of the First Social Nationalist Revolution of 1949".


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: The first of these principles is the abolition of feudalism and of the rule of the traditional notables and landowners, which the Party deems responsible for the "desolate state of things to which the country had gotten to", including maintaining educational levels at an all-time low and being instrumental in the loss of Palestine. The second principle is "opposing capitalist tyranny". Despite its belief in the necessity of private property, the SSNP declared defending workers' rights and establishing a framework that guarantees these rights as an inalienable right. This is coupled with the need to establish mandatory education, universal healthcare, the nationalization of vital areas of the economy such as the production of raw materials, and a strong centralized state that is able to give economic directions. The third principle stated is combating communism. This remains a topic of debate, however, as the strongly pronounced nationalistic features of SSNP ideology would permit scholars to interpret "social nationalism" as a distinctive breed of National Syndicalism.


title: Syrian Social Nationalist Party

text: Perhaps one of the most striking features of the Party throughout its history is the zealous and the almost mystical devotion of its members to the notion of liberation war. Most Party members have historically conducted military, guerrilla, and assassination operations. Saadeh himself had a very revolutionary view of life and death, whereas the Renaissance and the "New Generation" would not see the light of day without sacrifice: "we love life because we love freedom, and we love death when death is a path to life" is among the few quotes of Saadeh which the SSNP reveres.