Kataeb Party
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| Lebanese Social Democratic Party al-Kataeb | |
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| Leader | Amine Gemayel |
| Founded | 1936 |
| Religion | Officially secular Mainly Christian |
| Political ideology | National conservatism, Federalism, Christian Democracy |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Website | www.kataeb.com |
The Lebanese Social Democratic Party or Kataeb (Arabic: الكتائب اللبنانية, Kataeb is the plural of Katiba which is a translation into Arabic of the Greek word Phalanx - "battalion" - which is the origin of the Spanish term Falange), better known in English as the Phalange, is a right-wing Lebanese political party. Although it is officially secular, it is mainly supported by Maronite Christians. The party played a major role in the Lebanese war. In decline in the late 1980s and 1990s, the party slowly re-emerged since the early 2000s. It is now part of the parliamentary majority, the March 14 Alliance, opposed to the alliance led by Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement.
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[edit] Beginnings and rise
The Kataeb party was founded by Sheikh Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed in Nazi Germany during the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin.[1][2][3][4] The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Hitler salute[5].
He founded the party along with four other young Lebanese: Charles Helou (who later became a President of Lebanon), Shafic Nassif, Emile Yared and Georges Naccache. Sheikh Pierre was chosen to lead the organization, mostly in part because he was not a political figure at that time.[6]
During the first years of the Kataeb Party, the Party was strongly opposed to having anyone dominate Lebanon. They opposed the pan-Arabists who tried to take over Lebanon and also the French who had tried to infiltrate their culture and impose themselves within Lebanon.[7] Sheikh Pierre and the Kataeb Party have always believed in an independent and sovereign Lebanon free of all foreign influence.[8] It actively took part in the struggle against the French Mandate, until Lebanese independence was proclaimed in November 1943. Its motto was "God, Nation and Family."
The influence of the Phalangists was very limited in the early years of Lebanon's independence, but came to prominence as a strong ally of the government in the 1958 crisis. In the aftermath of the crisis, Pierre Gemayel was appointed to the cabinet, and two years later, was elected to the National Assembly.
In 1968, the party joined The Helf Alliance formed with the two other big mainly Christian parties in Lebanon: the National Liberal Party of former President Camille Chamoun, and National Bloc of Raymond Eddé, and won 9 seats (of 99) in the parliamentary elections held that year, making it one of the largest groupings in Lebanon's notoriously fractured political system.
By the end of the decade, the party created its own militia and soon clashes began with the rising Palestinian militant guerrillas.
Amin Gemayel, who was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 is the current leader of the Kataeb party. He is the son of Pierre Gemayel who founded the Kataeb party.
[edit] War era and decline
In April 1975 Phalangist militiamen were involved in the Bus massacre, commonly considered as the spark that set-off the Lebanese Civil War. In the following days, the 8,000-strong party militia, together with its allies, the Tigers militia and other formations, was heavily engaged in street fights against the Palestinians militias and the Lebanese National Movement.
During the Lebanese Civil war, many Christian militias were formed who gained support from the north of the Lebanon. These militias were generally very right-winged with a majority of their members being Maronite. The Kataeb party was the most powerful of these militias at the time of the Lebanese Civil war. The party later went on to help found the Lebanese Forces in 1977 which played a large role within the Lebanese Civil war. [9]
In September 1982, Bashir Gemayel was elected President of the Republic by the National Assembly. He was assassinated less than a month later in an operation thought to have been arranged by Syrian intelligence and was in turn succeeded by his brother, Amine Gemayel. Bashir was thought to have been very radical, and hinted at possible peace agreements with Israel while trying to expel all Palestinian refugees from Lebanon.[10] In contrast, Amine was thought to have been much more moderate.
On 16 September 1982, Elie Hobeika led the massacre of up to 2,000 Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, while the periphery of the camps were under the control of the Israeli army.
After the death of Pierre Gemayel in 1984, his successors Elie Karame and Amine Gemayel struggled to maintain influence over the actions of the Lebanese Forces, which become virtually independent. The Kataeb party began to decline, not playing a major role for the remainder of the war.
[edit] "Syrian era" and Cedar revolution
The party, lacking direction, broke down into several rival factions. Georges Saadeh took control of the Party from 1986 till his death in 1998. He took a moderate position toward the Syrian presence. Mounir Hajj became the new president of the party in 1999. From 2002 Karim Pakradouni was the president of the party but Amine Gemayel became the supreme president of the party after a reconciliation in 2005.
In March 2005 after the Rafik Hariri assassination, the party took part in an anti-Syrian presence demonstration, commonly known as the Cedar Revolution. It also became a member of the March 14 Alliance, along with the Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, Lebanese Forces and other minor parties. The Kataeb Party won 4 seats in the June 2005 elections. In July 2005, it participated in the Fouad Siniora Government, with Pierre Amine Gemayel as the minister of industry. Pierre, son of Amine, MP since 2000, played an important role in the reorganization and development of the party. His assassination in November 2006 was a major blow to the party. Syrian intelligence and "Fateh Al Islam" have been accused of the assassination. With 14 March Alliance forces, the party supports the Lebanese government against the opposition.[11]
In September 2007 another Kataeb MP, Antoine Ghanem was assassinated in a car bombing. Currently, Solange Gemayel is the party's only remaining seat in Parlement, since Pierre Gemayel's seat was lost to the Free Patriotic Movement of Michel Aoun in a special election in August 2007.
In 2007 also, Karim Pakradouni resigned from the Party, supposedly under much pressure from Amine's younger son Samy, who after his brother's death rejoined the Party. Samy was a very strong opposer of Pakradouni and his Syrian ties.
In the 2009 parliament elections the Kataeb party participated as a part of the 14 Marsh alliance with seven nominees: Matn: Samy Amine Gemayel and Elie Karame former President of the Kataeb Party Beirut One: Nadim Bachir Gemayel Zahle: Minister Elie Marouni Kesserwan: Sejaan Azzi Alaye: Fadi Al Haber Tripoli: Samer George Saade Ras Beaalbak: Saadalla Ardo
Kataeb party won in this election 5 seats in the parliament, MP’s Samy Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel, Elie Marouni, Fadi Al Haber and Samer Saade.
After 7 of June the Party declared a full organizational state in order to be ready for future challenges
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://countrystudies.us/lebanon/85.htm
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Zydtz0dDntQC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=lebanon+phalange+fascism&source=bl&ots=CQT3HLVZ_-&sig=eWqnWYSWajOYAQ1kqcCKxODZAeM&hl=en&ei=UEk4SouaAof5_AaYl_nLDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#PPA148,M1
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=4VnqkuE4c4AC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=lebanon+phalange+fascism&source=bl&ots=U7OOGDOY2V&sig=YGF66q7E8KbLkS1udE_e3MN5P0E&hl=en&ei=fUs4SurNC8GPsAbj47S2Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=i7KIa3VuD04C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=lebanon+phalange+fascism&source=bl&ots=KsrlCTXt_J&sig=EPW1wFxw4iwNKDIjhpzy8MRrAu0&hl=en&ei=fUs4SurNC8GPsAbj47S2Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#PPA85,M1
- ^ Fisk, Robert (2007-08-07). "Lebanese strike a blow at US-backed government". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-lebanese-strike-a-blow-at-usbacked-government-460547.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-10.
- ^ http://www.el-kataeb.org/founder.htm
- ^ http://www.el-kataeb.org/founder.htm
- ^ http://www.kataeb.org/pages.asp?pageid=3
- ^ http://www.kataeb.org/index.asp?stay=1
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amine_Gemayel
- ^ http://www.kataeb.org/
[edit] External links
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