Al-Ba’ath was founded in 1948 as an organ of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. Functioning initially as an opposition newspaper to the Nasserist government, Al-Ba’ath became the government organ of Syria following the Ba’athist coup in 1963. Al-Ba’ath propagates the viewpoint of the Ba’ath Party through opinion columns and news coverage, while also including coverage of popular culture—including sports and music. Al-Ba’ath is perhaps best known for its coverage of the 1966 split between the Syrian and Iraq-based branches of the original Ba’ath Party, the rise to power of the Assad family (starting in 1970), as well as the 1980 Iran-Iraq war (in which Syria supported Iran).
Al-Ba'ath, 1949-1997