Constitutional Arab Identity Referring To National Unity: The Cases of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan

Abstract

This article focuses on how Arab identity is used to indicate membership in a supra-state Arab union in the Constitutions drafted in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan When the constitutionalism movements are examined, it is seen that political identity is directly or indirectly brought to the fore to establish the bond of citizenship. In most constitutions prepared in Arab countries, Arab identity was used to emphasise belonging to a supra-state structure. This study, limited to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, reveals how this belonging is emphasised in the constitutions and constitutional documents drafted in the region. The expressions used in the constitutions, such as the Arab States, the people are a part of the Arab nation and easy citizenship to the peoples of other Arab countries, have been examined in detail. The relevant articles in the constitutions prepared in the three countries of the Levant Region were examined in connection with the theory of citizenship in the Islamic legal literature and the history of Arab nationalism.