# 1964 Hama riot

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Anti Baath Uprising

1964 Hama riot Part of the Arab Cold War In green is Old Hama, which was the epicenter of the insurrection. In blue is the Sultan Mosque, which served as the rebel headquarters. Date April 1964 Location Hama, Syria Result Insurrection suppressed Belligerents Syrian Armed Forces Workers' Battalions National Guard of the Ba'ath Party Muslim Brotherhood Fighting Vanguard Commanders and leaders Amin al-Hafiz President of Syria Prime Minister of Syria Hamad Ubayd Commander of National Guard Marwan Hadid (POW) Leader of the Fighting Vanguard Mahmud al-Hamid (POW) Imam of Sultan Mosque Saʽid Hawwa[1] Casualties and losses 300+ killed or captured[2] 70-100 killed Several wounded and imprisoned.

The **1964 Hama riot** was a major riot and insurrection that took place in [Hama](/source/Hama), a city in northern [Syria](/source/Syria), between the newly installed [Ba'athist government](/source/Ba'athist_Syria) of Syria and the [Muslim Brotherhood](/source/Muslim_Brotherhood_of_Syria) in April 1964. It occurred following the [1963 Ba'athist coup d'état](/source/1963_Syrian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat), that placed the [Ba'ath Party](/source/Arab_Socialist_Ba'ath_Party_%E2%80%93_Syria_Region) in power.

The insurrection was brutally suppressed with heavy military force, resulting in many mortal casualties and partial destruction of the old Hama city neighborhoods. However, despite the government successfully crushing the insurrection, Hama continued to be a center of Islamists and a focal point of the [Islamist uprising in Syria](/source/Islamist_uprising_in_Syria) (1979–1982).

## Background

Politics of Syria Member State of the Arab League Constitution Constitutional Declaration Human rights Executive President (list) Ahmed al-Sharaa Vice President (List) Vacant Cabinet Syrian transitional government Legislature People's Assembly Speaker: Vacant Judiciary Supreme Judicial Council Supreme Constitutional Court Ministry of Justice Minister: Mazhar al-Wais Subdivisions Governorates Districts Subdistricts (Nahiyas) Cities Villages Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2021 Next Parliamentary: 2024 2025-26 Political parties Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister: Asaad al-Shaibani Diplomatic missions of / in Syria Syrian nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy UN resolutions on Syria Status of the Golan Heights Syrian civil war Other countries v t e

The first clash between the Ba'ath Party and the Muslim Brotherhood occurred shortly after the [1963 coup](/source/1963_Syrian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat), in which the Ba'ath party gained power in [Syria](/source/Syria). The [Islamist](/source/Islamism) political groups, of which the Brotherhood was the most prominent, presented the most significant challenge to the Ba'athists, who had suppressed their [Nasserist](/source/Nasserism) and [Marxist](/source/Marxism) rivals by mid-1963. The outlawing of Brotherhood in 1964 strongly contributed to the movement's radicalization. In 1964 and 1965, [strikes](/source/Strike_action) and mass [demonstrations](/source/Demonstration_(protest)) spread throughout Syria's major cities, especially in [Hama](/source/Hama), and were crushed by the military.

The town of Hama in particular was a "stronghold of landed conservatism and of the Muslim Brothers," and "had long been a redoubtable opponent of the Ba'athist state," according to Syria expert [Patrick Seale](/source/Patrick_Seale)[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]. The governments of [Egypt](/source/Egypt) and [Iraq](/source/Iraq) financially supported opposition to the Ba'athists although countrywide discontent was high nonetheless from the stagnation of the economy, merchants resenting the increasing regulations, incompetent governance, and resentment of the Ba'athist government's secretive decision-making.[3]

## Riot

In April 1964 major disturbances occurred in several Syrian cities, with [Hama](/source/Hama) forming the epicenter of the anti-government insurrection. Islamist insurgents in the city set up "roadblocks, stockpiled food and weapons, ransacked wine shops."[3] The rebels were encouraged to revolt against the Ba'athists by the imam of the Sultan Mosque, Shaykh Mahmud al-Hamid, and were financed by some of the city's traditional merchant families. The Sultan Mosque would become the rebels headquarters, and it was used both as a sanctuary and to store weapons.[4] After Munzir al-Shimali, an [Ismaili](/source/Isma'ilism) Ba'athist militiaman, was killed and mutilated by rioters, riots intensified and rebels attacked "every vestige" of the Ba'ath Party in [Hama](/source/Hama).[3]

Hamad Ubayd, the commander of the Ba'athist-dominated [National Guard](/source/National_Guard_of_the_Ba'ath_Party), called for and received tank support and reinforcements from the [Syrian Army](/source/Syrian_Army). Subsequently, neighborhoods where the rebels held sway were attacked with tank and artillery fire, forcing the rebels to withdraw into the Sultan Mosque after two days of fighting. President [Amin al-Hafiz](/source/Amin_al-Hafiz) ordered for the rebels to be eliminated, and the mosque was subsequently bombarded, destroying the minaret where many of the rebels were positioned. The security forces thus managed to suppress the uprising.[3] Some 70-100 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were killed,[5][6] with many others wounded or captured and still more disappearing underground.[3][5]

## Aftermath

Main articles: [1981 Hama massacre](/source/1981_Hama_massacre) and [1982 Hama massacre](/source/1982_Hama_massacre)

Further information: [Islamic uprising in Syria](/source/Islamic_uprising_in_Syria) and [Syrian Civil War](/source/Syrian_Civil_War)

A tribunal was set up to try imprisoned insurgents and was headed by [Mustafa Tlass](/source/Mustafa_Tlass). Some prisoners were released, including [Marwan Hadid](/source/Marwan_Hadid), who was instrumental in organizing a second Islamist uprising in Hama years later.[3] The shelling of the Sultan Mosque had outraged many Syrian Muslims and numerous countrywide strikes and demonstrations were held in protest. The opposition to the Ba'ath was wide-ranging, and included merchants, professionals, laborers and craftsmen and brought together poor Sunni Muslims from the countryside, members of the middle class and the traditional political and social elites. Hafiz felt compelled to resign in favor of a civilian politician, [Salah al-Din al-Bitar](/source/Salah_al-Din_al-Bitar), who was a member of the Ba'ath Party, but not from the officer corps. Al-Bitar publicly promised to protect civil liberties and announced a new provisional constitution. Bitar and other civilian members of the Ba'ath, such as [Michel Aflaq](/source/Michel_Aflaq), still held little sway over governmental decisions and both resigned from the government, with al-Hafiz re-occupying the prime minister post.[7]

The events in Hama also caused a rupture within the [Military Committee](/source/Military_Committee_(Syria)), the secretive junta that held prominent influence in the Syrian government since the 1963 coup. [Muhammad Umran](/source/Muhammad_Umran), the senior member of the Committee, disapproved of the severity of the assault on Hama and the subsequent bloodshed, while [Salah Jadid](/source/Salah_Jadid) and [Hafez al-Assad](/source/Hafez_al-Assad) strongly supported Hafiz's handling of the riots, viewing it as a necessary means to protect Ba'athist power against "class enemies."[8]

In early 1980s, Hama became the epicenter of the countrywide [Islamist uprising](/source/Islamist_uprising_in_Syria). The city experienced a [massacre](/source/1981_Hama_massacre) in April 1981, with hundreds killed. The situation deteriorated further in early February 1982, when Islamist groups took over the city. In the [ensuing army operation to oust them](/source/1982_Hama_massacre), most of Hama was destroyed and thousands of its residents were killed.

## See also

- [Syrian Civil War](/source/Syrian_Civil_War)

- [Human rights in Syria](/source/Human_rights_in_Syria)

- [List of modern conflicts in the Middle East](/source/List_of_modern_conflicts_in_the_Middle_East)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Weismann, Itzchak (October 1993). "Sa'id Hawwa: The Making of a Radical Muslim Thinker in Modern Syria". *Middle Eastern Studies*. **29** (4): 616. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/00263209308700969](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00263209308700969).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Seale94-95_2-0)** Seale, 1990, pp. 94–95.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Seale92-93_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Seale92-93_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Seale92-93_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Seale92-93_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Seale92-93_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Seale92-93_3-5) Seale, 1990, pp. 92–93.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Miller_4-0)** Miller, Judith (2011). *God Has Ninety-Nine Names: Reporting from a Militant Middle East*. Simon and Schuster. p. 303.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DSA164_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DSA164_5-1) Dumper, Stanley, and Abu-Lughod, 2007, p.164.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** James A.Paul et al. *Human Rights in Syria*. Middle East Watch Organization, 1990: p.10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Seale, 1990, p. 94.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Seale, 1990, pp. 94–95.

## Bibliography

- Dumper, Michael; Stanley, Bruce E.; Abu-Lughod, Janet L. (2007), [*Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=Cities+of+the+Middle+East), ABC-CLIO, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781576079195](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781576079195)

- Seale, Patrick (1990). [*Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East*](https://archive.org/details/asadofsyriastrug00seal). University of California Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-520-06976-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-06976-3).

v t e List of modern conflicts in the Middle East 1910s World War I Italo-Turkish War Middle Eastern theatre Battle of Robat Karim Arab Revolt Armenian genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt 1919 Egyptian revolution Turkish War of Independence Anglo-Turkish War Al-Jazeera Front Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts United States Mahmud Barzanji revolts 1920s Franco-Syrian War Iraqi Revolt (1920) Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine 1922 Dhabyani coup d'état Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt 1926 Dhabyani coup d'état 1928 Dhabyani coup d'état Sheikh Said rebellion 1930s Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni war (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Dersim rebellion 1940s World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Allied invasion of Iraq Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Al-Waziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict 1948 Arab–Israeli War Suez Crisis 1967 Six-Day War 1973 Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War 1950s Buraimi dispute 1952 Egyptian revolution 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cyprus Emergency Suez Crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising 1960s Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar rebellion North Yemen civil war Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1948 Palestine war First Intifada Second Intifada 1965 Sharjawi coup d'état 1966 Syrian coup d'état 1966 Dhabyani coup d'état 1969 Saudi Arabian coup attempt 1970s Black September in Jordan 1972 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Yemenite War of 1972 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Islamist uprising in Syria 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq NDF Rebellion Yemenite War of 1979 Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq 1980s Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish–Turkish conflict Turkey–PKK conflict South Yemen civil war 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings 1987 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Mecca massacre Abu Nidal's executions 1990s Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 Iraqi uprisings Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni civil war (1994) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq 2000s 2003 American Invasion of Iraq Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict South Yemen insurgency 2010s 2011 Bahraini uprising Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian civil war Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi crisis Iraqi conflict following the American invasion (2003–2017) Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Yemeni crisis Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Western Iran clashes (2016–2023) 2020s 2021 Beirut clashes Gaza war Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) Red Sea crisis 2024 Iran–Israel conflict Twelve-Day War 2026 Kurdish–Iranian crisis Western Iran clashes (2026–present) 2026 Iran war This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.

v t e Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Iraqi-dominated faction Syrian-dominated faction History Predecessors Arab Ba'ath Arab Ba'ath Movement Arab Socialist Movement Syrian Committee to Help Iraq Founders Michel Aflaq Salah al-Din al-Bitar Pre-split 1954 Syrian coup d'état 14 July Revolution 1959 Mosul uprising Attempted assassination of Abdul-Karim Qasim 1961 Syrian coup d'état Ramadan Revolution 1963 Syrian coup d'état Ba'athist Syria Politics National Council for the Revolutionary Command Ar-Rashid revolt November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état 1964 Hama riot 1966 Syrian coup d'état Post-split 17 July Revolution Ba'athist Iraq Revolutionary Command Council Members Arab Belt Corrective Revolution Corrective Movement Union of Arab Republics Ba'athist Arabization campaigns in northern Iraq 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Assadist–Saddamist conflict 1984 Syrian coup attempt 8th Regional Congress of the Syrian Ba'ath Party Faith Campaign Iraqi conflict De-Ba'athification in Iraq Ba'ath Party archives Syrian civil war Fall of the Assad regime Leadership General Secretaries Pre-split Michel Aflaq Munif Razzaz Iraqi-dominated faction Michel Aflaq Saddam Hussein Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Salah Al-Mukhtar* Syrian-dominated faction Nureddin al-Atassi Hafez al-Assad Abdullah al-Ahmar (de facto) Bashar al-Assad Regional Secretaries Iraq Fuad al-Rikabi Talib El-Shibib Ali Salih al-Sa'di Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed* Jordan Abdullah Rimawi Munif Razzaz Akram al-Homsi* Lebanon Assem Qanso Abd al-Majid al-Rafei Palestine Isam al-Qadi Rakad Salem* Syria Hammud al-Shufi Shibli al-Aysami Amin al-Hafiz Nureddin al-Atassi Hafez al-Assad Bashar al-Assad Members of the National Command Hadiya Khalaf Abbas Michel Aflaq Abdullah al-Ahmar Zaki al-Arsuzi Bashar al-Assad Hafez al-Assad Nureddin al-Atassi Mansur al-Atrash Shibli al-Aysami Ali Abdullah Ayyoub Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Salah al-Din al-Bitar Elias Farah Hakem Al-Fayez Wahib al-Ghanim Amin al-Hafiz Akram al-Hourani Salah Jadid Zuheir Mohsen Munif Razzaz Fuad al-Rikabi Abdullah Rimawi Ali Salih al-Sa'di Talib El-Shibib Khaled Yashruti Members of the Regional Commands Iraq Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur Ghanim Abdul-Jalil Saad Abdul-Majid Jamal Mustafa Abdullah Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed Salah Omar al-Ali Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash Salih Mahdi Ammash Hussein Al-Awadi Tariq Aziz Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Adil Abdullah Mahdi Al-Douri Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Saadoun Ghaidan Fadil Mahmud Gharib Mizban Khadr al-Hadi Sa'dun Hammadi Qusay Hussein Saddam Hussein Latif Nassif Jassim Rashid Taan Kazim Adnan Khayr Allah Ali Hassan al-Majid Muhyi Abdul-Hussein Mashhadi Samir Abdul Aziz al-Najim Aziz Saleh Al-Numan Ghazi Hamoud Al-Obaidi Taha Yassin Ramadan Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi Rashid al-Rifai Fuad al-Rikabi Ali Salih al-Sa'di Abd Al-Baqi Abd Karim Al-Sadun Muhammad Zimam al-Sadun Abdul Khaliq al-Samarra'i Abdullah Sallum al-Samarra'i Talib El-Shibib Nayef Shindakh Thamer Khamis Sirhan Hardan al-Tikriti Yahya Abdallah al-Ubaydi Tahir Yahya Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi Ibrahim Hesqel Lebanon Musa Shuaib Syria Hadiya Khalaf Abbas Abdullah al-Ahmar Hussein Arnous Bashar al-Assad Hafez al-Assad Maher al-Assad Rifaat al-Assad Nureddin al-Atassi Shibli al-Aysami Ali Abdullah Ayyoub Mahmoud al-Ayyubi Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan Muhsen Bilal Mahdi Dakhlallah Ahmad Diyab Ali Duba Fahd Jassem al-Freij Marwan Habash Ibrahim al-Hadid Amin al-Hafiz Muhammad Ali al-Halabi Wael Nader al-Halqi Adnan Badr Hassan Salim Hatum Hilal Hilal Mohammad al-Hussein Hisham Ikhtiyar Salah Jadid Abdul-Karim al-Jundi Sami al-Jundi Abdul Rauf al-Kasm Abdul Halim Khaddam Imad Khamis Ahmad al-Khatib Abdul Rahman Khleifawi Mohammad Jihad al-Laham Ibrahim Makhous Zuhair Masharqa Muhammad Mustafa Mero Muhammad Naji al-Otari Abdul Qadir Qaddura Hammouda Sabbagh Farouk al-Sharaa Hikmat al-Shihabi Hammud al-Shufi Mustafa Tlass Hasan Turkmani Muhammad Umran Salim Yasin Mahmoud Al-Zoubi Yusuf Zuayyin Yemen Ali Ahmad Nasser al-Dhahab Heads of state Iraq Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Syria Amin al-Hafiz Nureddin al-Atassi Ahmad al-Khatib Hafez al-Assad Presidency Abdul Halim Khaddam (interim) Bashar al-Assad Presidency Heads of government Iraq Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Sa'dun Hammadi Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai Syria Salah al-Din al-Bitar Amin al-Hafiz Yusuf Zuayyin Nureddin al-Atassi Hafez al-Assad Abdul Rahman Khleifawi Mahmoud al-Ayyubi Muhammad Ali al-Halabi Abdul Rauf al-Kasm Mahmoud Al-Zoubi Muhammad Mustafa Mero Muhammad Naji al-Otari Adel Safar Riyad Farid Hijab Wael Nader al-Halqi Imad Khamis Hussein Arnous Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali * = incumbent Organization Regional branches Iraqi-dominated faction Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Regional Command Jordan Lebanon Libya Mauritania Palestine Sudan Tunisia Yemen Syrian-dominated faction Jordan Lebanon Mauritania Palestine Yemen Sudan Syria Central Command History National Security Bureau Yemen Committees Control and 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