Keep in mind his assassin was an Islamist, and Islamism isn't exactly going to be a popular ideology in a country that had it's capital under a months-long siege by Ulku Turkey (with the support of Saudi and Al-Iihya forces).
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Sand and Steel: The Story of the Modern Middle East (TL)
- Thread starter JSilvy
- Start date
Trust me, there will be several figures lost or forgotten to history who will have their day in the sun in this TL, as well as other well known ones who may take a quite different path.
Honestly one of the things I'm most excited to do is the character arcs for several OTL figures who have different roles ITTL.
Excerpt from Memoirs of a Young Woman
"The reality is that I do not remember much from that morning. I had spent all night awake to the sounds of the women coughing as they lay in their hard, cold beds. It was around noon when when I was near the fence and felt the ground shake beneath me, and when I gazed into the distance, past the wire and saw two flags fluttering in the distance: one with the hammer and sickle and one with the Star of David. As they came closer and closer, it was clear to all that the chains were finally being broken.
Upon our liberation, the first thing on everyone's mind was food, and then sex. That night, the men and women ate, and several went to bed together for the first time in years.
When all had gone to sleep for the night, I looked up at the stars, the same ones I looked at every other night. For all the darkness that existed around me, there were points of light. It was thinking of this beauty all around me that had allowed me to survive in the darkest of places. Through confusion, misery, and death, peace and tranquility had returned again. However, it was different from the life I lived before and even during my time in the attic. The world, through its darkness, could only be saved through the actions of those who sought to find the light. If the world were to return to a time of peace, I told myself, I need not wait a single moment to improve the world."
-Memoirs of a Young Woman
Upon our liberation, the first thing on everyone's mind was food, and then sex. That night, the men and women ate, and several went to bed together for the first time in years.
When all had gone to sleep for the night, I looked up at the stars, the same ones I looked at every other night. For all the darkness that existed around me, there were points of light. It was thinking of this beauty all around me that had allowed me to survive in the darkest of places. Through confusion, misery, and death, peace and tranquility had returned again. However, it was different from the life I lived before and even during my time in the attic. The world, through its darkness, could only be saved through the actions of those who sought to find the light. If the world were to return to a time of peace, I told myself, I need not wait a single moment to improve the world."
-Memoirs of a Young Woman
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Thanks!Great TL so far @JSilvy! Keep up the good work!
Interesting. She may possibly play a role larger than the one she played otl (or if that's too controversial, and analogue will do).
Excerpt from a 1970s interview with a Naarist leader
197_
Reporter: Mr. _______, how was it that you initially got involved in the Naarist movement.
__: I think it really started before [World War II], and before I was born actually, when the [Egyptian] government closed on my father's land. He went to court over the situation for 25 years, but he didn't get it back, and that really turned my family against the Sultan's government. So of course, when the depression came around and discontent increased in Palestine and the Hashemite realm, my parents related with the common struggle of those Arabs. Of course I was still young at the time, but I still remember the anger in the air. And with [World War II], all of the greatest heroes rebelling against the Turks [in Egypt] were not the Sultan's forces, but young revolutionary Naarist leaders like Naguib and Nasser, and then once I enrolled in the University of Cairo following the war, those views were further enforced. Due to my leanings, I was unable to visit my father's family in Gaza and my mother's family in Jerusalem, although all that did really was make me even more firm in my beliefs.
Reporter: Yes, now you mentioned World War II. How did that impact you?
__: I grew up during the war. It began when I was only ten years old and ended when I was a teenager. I remember the fear I felt when the Turks first occupied Cairo. Seeing the resistance of the Al-Naar fidayeen was what taught me strength and courage, and I aspired to be like them. I would even throw rocks at occupying Turkish soldiers, trying to be like my heroes, and truly following in their footsteps is a great honor, and that's what the Bronze Eagles set out to do.
(Any ideas about this guy?)
Reporter: Mr. _______, how was it that you initially got involved in the Naarist movement.
__: I think it really started before [World War II], and before I was born actually, when the [Egyptian] government closed on my father's land. He went to court over the situation for 25 years, but he didn't get it back, and that really turned my family against the Sultan's government. So of course, when the depression came around and discontent increased in Palestine and the Hashemite realm, my parents related with the common struggle of those Arabs. Of course I was still young at the time, but I still remember the anger in the air. And with [World War II], all of the greatest heroes rebelling against the Turks [in Egypt] were not the Sultan's forces, but young revolutionary Naarist leaders like Naguib and Nasser, and then once I enrolled in the University of Cairo following the war, those views were further enforced. Due to my leanings, I was unable to visit my father's family in Gaza and my mother's family in Jerusalem, although all that did really was make me even more firm in my beliefs.
Reporter: Yes, now you mentioned World War II. How did that impact you?
__: I grew up during the war. It began when I was only ten years old and ended when I was a teenager. I remember the fear I felt when the Turks first occupied Cairo. Seeing the resistance of the Al-Naar fidayeen was what taught me strength and courage, and I aspired to be like them. I would even throw rocks at occupying Turkish soldiers, trying to be like my heroes, and truly following in their footsteps is a great honor, and that's what the Bronze Eagles set out to do.
(Any ideas about this guy?)
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Dear Hafez
27 April 1942
Dear Hafez,
I do not know if this letter will reach you successfully in Jerusalem. I have recently received word that the Turks have attempted another offensive into Israel. I want to tell you, my son, to be brave, yet to also be safe. I know you have a strong desire to go out and fight, but you are still young, and that time is not now. Although you have the strength of the lion in you, you are not ready to go up against the brutality of the Turkish forces. You must swear, both to me and to God, that if the Turks should once again near Al-Quds, that you will retreat to Magen Tsiyon again with the government officials and their children.
Inshallah, the war shall come to an end soon and we can both return home to Latakia.
Sincerely,
Your Father
Your Father
His Excellency Ali-Sulayman al-Assad, Hashemite Ambassador to France
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Thank you. I'm unable to access my computer at this time due to a job I've taken, so I found writing vignettes and snippets would be easier, especially since that allows me to do more worldbuilding.
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