 Arabs love their conspiracy theories. But often, these theories operate from a position of Arab victimhood and the result of external parties interfering with their progress, stability, and prosperity. Whether it's Western colonialist intervention, Islamic anti-Semitism, petroleum induced, or war on terrorism, every instant of the Arab world's desperate holding onto conspiracies is a means to justify their current and mismanaged predicaments. But when it comes to conspiracies internal to the Arab world, where it's an Arab-on-Arab concept, Hamush, nothing, silence, Arabs apparently don't conspire against themselves. And at this point is where we arrive at our story, to share a tale that had been hidden from Arabs for 40 years, and up until 1986, when those involved stepped forward and started to speak, and the more that spoke, the more facts were corroborated, and eventually this theory could no longer be ignored. This is the real story of how in 1935, the Red Book Collective, a secret movement, set the foundations for real and effective Arab nationalism over the next 40 years. In the late 19th century and beginnings of the 20th century, the concept of the motherland saw resurgence in Arabs. Having seen the various extraordinary advancements in Europe during the 1800s, as well as the static reality of the Ottoman Empire, intellectual movements started taking shape, criticizing the state of Arab identity and pride, looking for an opportunity to return the motherland to the forefront of the global stage. Conditions worsened after World War I, as the region was divvied up amongst the victors into mandates. Ignoring the promises made to the Arabs who had just assisted them in revolting against the Ottomans, the Imperial British and French carried on with their colonial aspirations by territorially partitioning the region. A single nation for the Arabs was not meant to be. Further Arab strife came about when the aggressive actions of the British and the French further alienated the populations, leading to anti-colonial engagements and uprisings in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. These circumstances led to the formation of several organizations that reflected the sentiments of a growing nationalism. It's the concept of a single unified Arab nation that prioritizes Arab culture, civilization and language. It calls for the reinvention of Arab society in line with modern interpretations of Islam and implements a new religious rationality more in line with the times. From the Atlantic coast of North Africa to the Indian Ocean, all Arabs were to be bound by a common identity of ethnicity, language, religion, culture, history, geography and ultimately politics. A priority was to overcome underdeveloped education, healthcare and infrastructure through major improvement of all civil services. As the idea came about during the Western colonial occupation, Arab nationalism commanded the elimination of all foreign influence that had degraded the Arab way of life, ethics, values, dignity and unity. All endeavors by any and all Arabs would be to achieve an independence granting self-rule, governance and fulfillment of the cause. Please subscribe to our channel as it would support us greatly in generating more content that documents our Arabian and Muslim heritage, history and culture. Now back to our story. In the beginning of 1935, within the mandate of Syria and Lebanon and on the campus of the American University of Beirut, a meeting was taking place in secrecy and in attendance was Konstantin Zurek, a professor of history, with Khadim and Tafiyuddin Saleh, both members of the Lebanese parliament. The purpose was the establishment of an Arab nationalist movement that would infiltrate the various existing political structures around the Middle East to instill a certain fundamentalist belief on the concepts of Arab nationalism. Six months later, after the tight-lipped recruitment of educated men and professionals by the three founders, the larger group of ten reconvened. But now, with a printed charter book, with a red cover, at the ready, documenting their mission statement and modus operandi, and hence their label, the red book collective. The five precepts that the collective's charter included were, The Arabs are one nation, those whose mother tongue is Arabic and those who reside in the Arab lands and have no objections to join the Arab nation. Arab lands are for Arabs alone. Arab lands are those whose populations speak the Arabic language, be them in Asia or Africa. To accept the choice that all Arab regions shall be unified into a federation structure. The intended Arab nation is to be a civil state and not a religious one, and shall be governed in such a manner. The universal freedoms such as thoughts, speech, writing and gatherings, as well as ownership and others, are protected by the rule of law for the benefits of the individual and society. In addition, there were three ancillary goals, and they are, liberating the Arab lands from foreign control, liberating the Arab society from ignorance, poverty, illness and other depravities, spreading the concept of Arab nationalism. On the surface, the collective's mission was the same as that of other Arab nationalist movements, except theirs identified two major differences. The first was to deal in total secrecy, to realize their agenda and its radical nature, thus avoiding the limelight. And second, what wouldn't succeed in diplomacy would have to be resolved by force. Over the next two years, the efforts to expand started within the American University itself, and targeted the various powerful student organizations saturated with highly politicized and influential Arab graduates from across the region. This strategy of infiltrating existing organizations, be them educational, social or political, became a very successful strategy in an accelerated expansion around the region over the next two years. Between 1936 and 1937, branches for the collective were opened in Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Kuwait. These entities operated normally, but also as fronts to recruit and embed the necessary network of cells and agents that the collective needed to become the king-making secret society that it intended on being from the outset. With aggressive and widespread expansion came problems for the collective. Its base of operations shifted to Iraq and saw a new leadership that miscalculated its historically successful method of management, and soon infighting began. In 1945, after a mere decade of existence, the collective collapsed and ceased to exist as an organization. The doctrine in the Red Book, though, was still out there, within the network of secret operatives that were still in place and would continue operating within the same mission, the rise of Arab nationalism, embedded within the various political societies of Arab nations. From the early 1950s, country after country became independent through military coups that led with announcements of Arab nationalism and unity. Was this a coincidence? After a mere decade of the collective's establishment and its intense infiltrations across the region, all these coups, ending monarchies, to then call for the unification of the Arab lands and people? It would be a misrepresentation to say that the collective was the sole voice for Arab unification. There were definitely Arab nationalist thinkers, missions and organizations outside of the Red Book collective. But what can't be denied is how effective this collective was in infiltrating the most highly connected, educated, and powerful of the Arab peoples and institutions. The various members of the collective most became extremely high-racking figures in their respective countries, from members of parliament, ambassadors, to ministers, prime ministers, and even in one case, president of a nation. Due to the collective secrecy, we will never know the absolute truth about the extent of their network or recruitment. But what we do know is that the timing of the establishment of the Red Book collective and the rise of the Arab nationalists a decade later could not be such a coincidence, and maybe not such a conspiracy after all.