Based in Cairo, the party called for the reform of the Ottoman provincial administration for Arab provinces through decentralization of power and functions, rather than outright independence.
[2] This discontent surfaced immediately following the start of the 1909 countercoup and took on the form of public celebrations as well as planned assassinations of local CUP activists.
With the failure of the coup came increased censorship and surveillance of Greater Syria and a flight of many of its intellectuals, either in forced or self-imposed exile, to Paris and Cairo.
[4] Its initial executive committee was a 14-man panel consisting of 8 Muslims, 5 Christians (Michel Tueni, Josef Hani, Pierre Tarrad, Doctor Eyub Sabit, Khalil Zeine), and 1 Druze (Rizcullah Arcash).
[7] Rather than agitating for independence, the party sought to remain within the Ottoman Empire, albeit with improved political representation and autonomy.
This is reflected in instructions passed on from the leadership to a prominent Palestinian activist in 1913: "Each branch will remain secret until the government recognizes the party officially".
In many cases, they were sentenced on the grounds of treason on evidence either in the form of testimony of local notables or documents left in the French consulate in Beirut.