Union of Working People's Forces-Corrective Movement

The Union of Working People's Forces – Corrective Movement or UWPF-CM (Arabic: اتحاد قوى الشعب العامل - الحركة التصحيحية‎ | Ittihâd qiwâ al-'amal al-cha'b al-'âmil – al-harakat al-tashihia), also designated variously as L'Union des Forces du Peuple Travailleur – Mouvement correctif (UFPT-MC) in French, the Nasserite Correctionist Movement – NCM (Arabic: الحركة التصحيحية الناصرية | Harakat al-Islahiat al-Nassery) and the Nasserite Socialists (Arabic: الاشتراكيون الناصريون | Al-Aishtirakioun al-Nassery), was a Nasserist political party in Lebanon,[1] which was active during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).

Origins

Led by Issam Al-Arab,[1][2] the party was formed through a split from the Union of Working People's Forces in October 1974.[1][3] Apart from Al-Arab, co-founders of the group included Fouad Itani and Samih Hamada.[4]

In founding the new party, Al-Arab condemned the support of the Union of Working People's Forces leadership to the new Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.[5] Al-Arab argued that the Egyptian government under Sadat had abandoned Nasserism.[6] The party joined the Lebanese National Movement (LNM), whilst its mother party Union of Working People's Forces parted ways with the LNM as it sided with the Syrian government.[2][7]

Military structure and organization

Like other Lebanese Nasserist parties, the UWPF-CM had its own militia, the Nasser's Forces (Arabic: قوات ناصر | Quwwat an-Nasir) or Forces de Nasser in French,[1][5] whose formation was announced on April 15, 1975.[4] The party and its militia were supported financially and militarily by the Libyan government.[5]

The UWPF-CM in the Lebanese Civil War

Although small in size, the Nasser's Forces took part in fighting in Beirut, in the Battle of the Hotels, Chyah, on the Ras Nabi-Sodeco axis, at Khandak El Ghamik as well as in combats in Mount Lebanon (Aley, Qmatiyeh and Bdadoun).[7][4]

However, relations with its LNM coalition partners were strained to the point of the Nasser's Forces battling rival Nasserite parties such as the Al-Mourabitoun in November 1975 over control of the Karantina district in East Beirut.[8]

The party underwent a split in 1978. In an extraordinary congress there was a dispute between Al-Arab, who argued in favour of alliance with the governments of Iraq and Libya, and his opponents led by Hassan Qubaisi. On July 23, 1978 Al-Arab was declared expelled from the party and Qubaisi was named new General Secretary of the party.[4]

The Nasser's Forces continued confronting the Christian Lebanese Front right-wing militias between 1978 and 1982.[4] After the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the departure of PLO, the Nasser Forces went underground and supposedly converted itself into a clandestine resistance group.[4]

See also

References
  1. Albert J. Jongman (1988). Political Terrorism: A New Guide To Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, And Literature. Transaction Publishers. p. 611. ISBN 978-1-4128-1566-6.
  2. SAIS Review. School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University. 1982. p. 80.
  3. Itamar Rabinovich (30 June 2019). The War for Lebanon, 1970-1983. Cornell University Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-5017-4295-8.
  4. Almodon. [https://www.almodon.com/politics/2017/4/13/%D8%AE%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8 خمسة أحزاب انتهت في الحرب]
  5. Frank Tachau (1 January 1994). Political Parties of the Middle East and North Africa. Greenwood Press. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-26649-2.
  6. Translations on Near East and North Africa. Joint Publications Research Service. 1975. p. 60.
  7. Marius Deeb (February 1980). The Lebanese civil war. Praeger. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-03-039701-1.
  8. O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 36.

Bibliography
  • Edgar O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92, Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. ISBN 0-333-72975-7
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.