Union of Working People's Forces-Corrective Movement

Union of Working People's Forces – Corrective Movement
General SecretaryIssam Al-Arab (1974–1978)
Hasan Qubaysi (1978–?)
Founded1974
IdeologyNasserism

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 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 military wing were supported financially and militarily by the Libyan government.[5]

The UWPF-CM in the Lebanese Civil War

Nasser's Forces
قوات الناصر
LeadersIssam Al-Arab
Hasan Qubaysi
Dates of operation1975 - ?
Active regionsBeirut, Mount Lebanon (Aley, Qmatiyeh and Bdadoun)
Part ofLebanese National Movement
Allies Progressive Socialist Party (PSP)
Palestine Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
 Libya
Syria
Opponents Lebanese Front
Lebanon Lebanese Army
Al-Mourabitoun
Israel Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Battles and warsLebanese Civil War

Although small in size, the Nasser's Forces took part in fighting in Beirut, in the Battle of the Hotels,[8][9][10] 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.[11]

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 Qubaysi. On July 23, 1978 Al-Arab was declared expelled from the party and Qubaysi 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. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f Almodon. خمسة أحزاب انتهت في الحرب
  5. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Marius Deeb (February 1980). The Lebanese civil war. Praeger. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-03-039701-1.
  8. ^ Jureidini, McLaurin, and Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas (1979), p. 6.
  9. ^ O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 29.
  10. ^ Tony Badran, Lebanon's Militia Wars in Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis (2009), p. 38.
  11. ^ 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
  • Itamar Rabinovich, The war for Lebanon, 1970-1985, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 1989 (revised edition). ISBN 978-0-8014-9313-3, 0-8014-9313-7 – [1]
  • Marius Deeb, The Lebanese Civil War, Praeger Publishers Inc, New York 1980. ISBN 978-0-03-039701-1
  • Paul Jureidini, R. D. McLaurin, and James Price, Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas, 1975-1978, Aberdeen, MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Technical Memorandum 11–79, June 1979.
  • Tony Badran (Barry Rubin ed.), Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2010. ISBN 978-0-230-62306-4