Political Parties (Lebanon)

Last modified: 2024-08-17 by ian macdonald
Keywords: lebanon | politics |
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• Introduction
•   Amal Movement (Harakat Amal)
  
•   Arab Socialist Organization (al-Ittihad al-Ishtiraki al-Arabi)
  
•   Aramaic Democratic Organisation
  
•   Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Hay Heghapokhakan Dashnaktsutiun)
  
•   Army of South Lebanon (Jaysh Lubnān al-Janūbi)
  
•   Democratic Left Movement (Ĥarakat al-Yasār Dimuqrātī)
  
•   Followers of God (Ansar Allah)
•   Free Patriotic Movement (al-Tayyar al-Watani al-Hurr)
    FPM Students' Committee (Lagnat Al-Talab)
•   Future Movement (Al-Tayyar Al-Mustaqbil)
    Future Youth (Shabab Al-Mustaqbil)
•   Green Party of Lebanon (Ĥizb-al-Khodor-al-Lubnanī)
  
•   Guardians of the Cedars
•   Hezbollah (Hizbullah)
•   Islamic Group (al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya)
    Islamic Zeal (Fatah Al-Islam)
  
•   Kadmous
  
•   Lebanese Communist Party (Hizbu-sh-shuy‘uī-l-Lubnānī)
  
•   Lebanese Forces (Quwwat al-Lubnaniya)
  
•   Marada Party (Giants)
  
•   Movement of Independent Nasserists (al-Mourabitoun)
•   Lebanese Phalanx (Kataeb or Phalanges Libanaises)
  
•   Najjadeh Party
  
•   National Liberal Party (Ahrar)
  
•   Party of God (Hizbullah)
  •   Islamic Resistance (Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya)
    
  •   Lebanese Resistance Brigades (Saraya, Saraya al-Moqawama el-Lebnaneya)
    
  •   Imam al-Mahdi Scouts
•    Progressive Socialist Party (Hizb al-Takadumi al-Ishtiraki)
•    Palestinian Civil Defense - Lebanon
  
•   Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (Hentchak)
  
•   Syrian Social Nationalist Party (al-Hizb as-Sūrī al-Qawmī al-Ijtimā`ī)
  
•   Tariq Jdeide Panther Party
  
•   United Phoenician Party

• 2005 Mass Protests ("Cedar Revolution") (Lebanon)
• Lebanon

A basic breakdown of Lebanese political parties by broad category:

The Christians had two parties, the Jamail [Gemayel] family one (Kataeb) and the Chamoun family one (Ahrar).
Dov Gutterman, 11 May 1999

In Lebanon the word party hasn't got the same meaning as in the West. Parties usually unite members of the same religion and have an army of their own.
Anonymous, 31 Aug 2001

Gaceta de Banderas, January 2002, contains images of Lebanese political parties, reported by Michel Lupant and drawn by Jorge Hurtado following his specifications. Jorge Hurtado kindly sent me the original vector and text files, and I exported the flag images to FOTW-standard GIFs. All credit to Jorge Hurtado, Michel Lupant and Gaceta de Banderas.

Michel Lupant says,

Pendant ma visite en avril 2001 j'ai découvert de nombreaux drapeaux: Parti Syrien National et Social, Parti Socialiste Progressiste (Druze), Parti Phalangiste, Hezbollah, Parti Communiste Libanais et Parti Chiite Amal. J'ai traversé la vallée de la Bekaa dans l'est du Liban. Partout des drapeaux étaient attachés aux poteaux le long des routes, aux fenêtres, en guirnalde à traves les rues. Il s'agissait de drapeaux du Hezbollah, il y en avait de toutes les couleurs: V/Y, N/R, W/N, W/R, V/N mais aussi nombre de drapeaux noirs (la couleur des chiites) avec l'emblème d'Amal en blanc, parfois avec des inscriptions en arabe, ou bien des drapeaux noirs à inscriptions blanches.

My translation:

I saw several flags during my trip in April 2001: National and Social Syrian Party, Socialist Progressist Party (Druze), Phalangist Party, Hizbullah, Lebanese Communist Party and Amal Shiite Party. I traveled across the Bekaa valley in Eastern Lebanon. Everywhere there were Hizbullah flags tied to the [electric] poles along the roads, on the windows, to strings over the streets. Those flag had several colours: Green/Yellow, Black/Red, White/Black, White/Red, Green/Black. There were also several black flags, the Shiite colour with the emblem of Amal in white, sometimes with Arabic inscriptions, and black flags with white inscriptions.

Michel Lupant also actually brought these flags home for his collection, and showed them to us at the October 2001 meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flaggenkunde. I took pictures of these flags. Obviously the illustrations in Gaceta de Banderas are based on these specimens, that do not necessarily represent 'official' regulations or even the most common use.
Marcus Schmöger, 24 May 2002

A news article I read recently mentioned that at the recent demonstrations, the various communities all brought their own flags, but were told to replace them with the Lebanese flag, and quickly did.
Nathan Lamm, 24 Mar 2005

Reported by Antonios Abidaoud, 14 Jul 2002