Arab Democratic Party (Lebanon)
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The Arab Democratic Party (ADP) () is a Lebanese political party, based in
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
, in the
North Lebanon Governorate North Governorate (, ') is one of the governorates of Lebanon and one of the two governorates of North Lebanon. Its capital is Tripoli. Ramzi Nohra has been its governor since May 2, 2014. The population of North Governorate is 731,251. Distri ...
. Its current leader is
Rifaat Eid Rifaat Ali Eid (; born 24 February 1977) is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Arab Democratic Party. The party has the largest support of Lebanese Alawites, and its base is Tripoli, Lebanon, in the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood. Rifa ...
.


Origins

The ADP traced back its origins to an earlier leftist students' organization called the Alawite Youth Movement (AYM) (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: حركة الشباب العلوي , ''Harakat al-Shabab al-Alawiyya'') or Mouvement de la Jeunesse Alaouite (MJA) in
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
, originally formed in 1972 at
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
by Ali Eid, a former teacher. As its name implies, the AYM drew its support from the
Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...
minority sect of
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, even receiving the personal backing of Rifa'at al-Assad,
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
's vice-president at the time and himself a member of that sect. During the early war years, the AYM kept itself outside the LNM-
PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
alliance, but in 1977–78 the movement joined the Patriotic Opposition Front (POF) (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: جبهة المعارضة الوطنية , ''Jabhat al-Muearadat al-Wataniyya''), a pro-Syrian multiconfessional coalition of Lebanese notables and activists founded in Tripoli by the MP Talal El-Merhebi (elected in 1972), Souhale Hamadah, Rashid Al-Muadim, George Mourani, and Nassib Al-Khatib, with Ali Eid being elected vice-president of the new formation. However, internal disagreements soon led to the dissolution of the alliance at the early 1980s, when Eid and some of its ex-coalition partners went to form in 1982 the ADP, choosing the
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
lawyer Nassib Al-Khatib as their first secretary-general, later replaced by Ali Eid in 1985. In the process, the AYM was absorbed into the new party and became its youth branch.


The ADP in the civil war 1982–1990

A pro-Syrian force which received support from the Syrian government, the ADP and its Red Knights' battled several Tripoli-based factions hostile to
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
' presence in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, in particular the
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
Islamic Unification Movement The Islamic Unification Movement – IUM ( , ''Harakat al-Tawhid al-Islami''), also named Islamic Unity Movement, but best known as Al-Tawhid, At-Tawhid, or Tawheed, is a Lebanon, Lebanese Sunni Islam in Lebanon, Sunni Muslim political party. It ...
– IUM () since 1981–82, which they suppressed with the help of the
Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...
, the pro-Syrian
Syrian Social Nationalist Party The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; ) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Leb ...
(SSNP) and
Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
factions and the
Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
(LCP) in 1985–86. The ADP/ARK also joined the LNRF ( Jammoul) guerrilla alliance in September 1982 to fight the
Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon lasted for eighteen years, from 1982 until 2000. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to attacks from southern Lebanon by Palestinian militants. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) occupied the ...
and later its successor, the wider Syrian-sponsored Lebanese National Salvation Front (LNSF) in July 1983 against the American-backed government of President
Amin Gemayel Amine Pierre Gemayel (, ; born 22 January 1942) is a Lebanese politician who served as the eighth president of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988. Gemayel was born in Bikfaya to Pierre Gemayel, the founder of the Christian Kataeb Party (also known as ...
. In 1988–1990 they accepted the
Taif Agreement The 1989 Taif Agreement (, ), officially known as the ('')'', was reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon". Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the 15 y ...
and supported the parliament-based provisional government of Selim al-Hoss against General Michel Aoun's military interim government.


Military structure and organization

The ADP raised in July 1981 with Syrian support its own militia, the Arab Red Knights – ARK () or Red Knights for short. Trained by Rifa'at's
Defense Companies The Companies for the Defense of the Revolution (; ), commonly referred to as Defense Companies, Defense Corps or Defense Brigades (; ), were a Syrian all-Alawite paramilitary force commanded by Rifaat al-Assad. Their task was to safeguard and d ...
, they were also known as the 'Pink Panthers' due to their green- and raspberry-colored lizard camouflage uniforms. Commanded by Ali Eid the ARK initially aligned just 500 militiamen, but subsequently grew to 1,000 well-armed male and female fighters, organized into infantry, signals, medical and Military Police 'branches', plus a motorized corps made of gun trucks and '
technicals Technicals may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle often used in civil conflict * TECHNICALS, a clothing brand owned by Blacks Leisure Group See also * Technical (disambiguation) Technical may refer to: * Technical ...
'. The latter consisted of
UAZ-469 The UAZ-469 is an off-road vehicle, off-road military light utility vehicle manufactured by UAZ since 1971. It was used by Soviet Armed Forces, Soviet and other Warsaw Pact armed forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. I ...
light utility vehicles,
Jeep CJ-5 The Jeep CJ models are a series and a range of small, open-bodied off-road vehicles and compact pickup trucks, built and sold by several successive incarnations of the Jeep automobile marque from 1945 through 1986. The 1945 Willys "Universal Jee ...
and Jeep CJ-8 (civilian versions of the Willys M38A1 MD jeep), Santana 88 Ligero Militar jeeps, Land-Rover series II-III and
Toyota Land Cruiser (J40) The Toyota Land Cruiser (J40), is a series of Toyota Land Cruiser, Land Cruisers made by Toyota from 1960 until 2001. The 40 series Land Cruisers featured a traditional body on frame construction, and most were built as 2-door models with slig ...
light pickups equipped with
heavy machine-guns A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ta ...
,
recoilless rifles A Recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "rr" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some fo ...
and
Anti-Aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
autocannons. The ADP/ARK operated mainly in
Northern Lebanon North Lebanon () is the northern region of Lebanon comprising the North Governorate and Akkar Governorate. On 16 July 2003, the two entities were divided from the same province by former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The division was known as Law ...
, with its main stronghold in the adjacent Alawite-populated Jabal Mohsen, a sub-urban strategic high ground area overlooking the whole city of Tripoli though they also claimed to control some of the Alawite villages of the
Akkar District Akkar District () is the only district in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. It is coextensive with the governorate and covers an area of . The UNHCR estimated the population of the district to be 389,899 in 2015, including 106,935 registered refugees of ...
right up to the Lebanese-Syrian border.


Illegal activities and controversy

By the mid-1980s, allied with the
Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
(LCP)
Popular Guard The Popular Guard or Popular Guards – PG ( , ''Al-Harās al-Sha‘abī'') was the military wing of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), which fought in the Lebanese Civil War#First phase (1975–1977), 1975–1977 phase of the Lebanese Civil W ...
s' militia, the Red Knights also controlled the city's commercial harbour and oil refinery – the second largest deep-waters port of Lebanon – in collusion with the director of Tripoli's harbour Ahmad Karami and corrupt
Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...
officers. The National Fuel Company (NFC) headed jointly by businessmen Maan Karami (brother of late prime-minister Rachid Karami) and Haj Muhammad Awadah, run in the behalf of the ADP and LCP a profitable fuel smuggling ring that stretched to the
Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...
.


The post-war years

After the end of the civil strife in October 1990, the ADP was disarmed and its leader Ali Eid was elected in 1991 to the newly established Alawite seat in the
Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...
. Prior to this, no Alawite had been elected to the Lebanese parliament. The Party seems to have revised its traditional pro-Syrian stance in the 1990s, in favour of a moderate, cautious neutralist posture in the current sphere of Lebanon's internal politics. In 2005 it was rumoured that Rifa'at al-Assad was reviving the Red Knights militia in
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
. It rearmed during the
2007 Lebanon conflict The 2007 Lebanon conflict began when fighting broke out between Fatah al-Islam, an Islamist militant organization, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on May 20, 2007 in Nahr al-Bared, a UNRWA Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli. It wa ...
, after it was revealed that the Islamist group
Fatah al-Islam Fatah al-Islam () is a Sunni Islamist militant group established in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadistLe Figaro (16 April 2007)"Fatah Al-Islam: the new terrorist threat ...
had planned to attack the Alawites of Tripoli. It was active during the
2008 Lebanon conflict The 2008 Lebanon conflict (or the 7 May clashes; Arabic: أحداث 7 أيار) was a brief intrastate military conflict in May 2008 in Lebanon between Hezbollah and pro-government Sunnis. After the 18-month-long political crisis spiralled out ...
, now led by Ali Eid's son Rifaat, being between 1,000 and 2,000 men strong. During the 2008 conflict, where Sunnis and Shias fought throughout Lebanon, Rifaat said in an interview: "We're the most convenient targets, the stand-in for Hezbollah, our problem can only be solved when the Shiites and Sunnis solve theirs." As many as 9,000 Alawites fled their homes during the conflict. Despite years of operating freely a militia throughout Tripoli, the Lebanese Army later severely cracked down on the ADP's military wing starting in April 2014. This forced most militants to surrender to the
Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces (; ; abbreviated ISF) are the national police and gendarmerie of Lebanon. Modern police were established in Lebanon in 1861, with the creation of a gendarmerie force. In April 2005, Ashraf Rifi became head of the I ...
(ISF) and led the group's leaders/commanders to flee in order to avoid the possibility of life in prison.


Syrian Civil War

During the Syrian civil war, spillover from that conflict has led to further tensions between the ADP and neighbouring
Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
IUM militants. On 29 March 2014, Rifaat and Ali Eid Left Lebanon to Syria. And on April 10, 2014, the Lebanese Military Investigative Judge Riyad Abu Ghayda issued an arrest warrant in absentia for the pro-Assad figure Rifaat Eid and 11 of his associates over their alleged involvement in clashes on the northern city of Tripoli. Abu Ghayda's warrants are based on articles in the Penal Code that could lead to the death penalty.


See also

*
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...
*
List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War A number of states and armed groups have involved themselves in the Syrian civil war (2011–present) as belligerents. The main groups were Ba'athist Syria and allies, Syrian opposition, the Syrian opposition and allies, Al-Qaeda and affiliate ...
*
List of weapons of the Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War was a multi-sided military conflict that pitted a variety of local irregular militias, both Muslim and Christian, against each other between 1975 and 1990. A wide variety of weapons were used by the different armies and ...
*
Popular Guard The Popular Guard or Popular Guards – PG ( , ''Al-Harās al-Sha‘abī'') was the military wing of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), which fought in the Lebanese Civil War#First phase (1975–1977), 1975–1977 phase of the Lebanese Civil W ...
*
2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) The 2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983 until its self-disbandment in 1987, being subsequently re-formed in June 1991. Origins In the afte ...


References


Bibliography

* CIA Lebanon report, ''Directory of Libanese Militias – A Reference Aid'', NESA 84-10171C, June 1984, pp. 6–7. Declassified in Part – Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP85T00314R000100070001-4.

*Denise Ammoun, ''Histoire du Liban contemporain: Tome 2 1943–1990'', Fayard, Paris 2005. (in
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
)

*
Edgar O'Ballance Major Edgar "Paddy" O'Ballance (17 July 1918, Dublin, Ireland – 8 July 2009, Wakebridge, Derbyshire, England) was an Irish-born British military journalist, researcher, defence commentator and academic lecturer specialising in internatio ...
, ''Civil War in Lebanon, 1975–92'', Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. *Fawwaz Traboulsi, ''Identités et solidarités croisées dans les conflits du Liban contemporain; Chapitre 12: L'économie politique des milices: le phénomène mafieux'', Thèse de Doctorat d'Histoire – 1993, Université de Paris VIII, 2007. (in
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
)

* Fawwaz Traboulsi, ''A History of Modern Lebanon: Second Edition'', Pluto Press, London 2012. *Leigh Neville, ''Technicals: Non-Standard Tactical Vehicles from the Great Toyota War to modern Special Forces'', New Vanguard series 257, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2018. * Rex Brynen, ''Sanctuary and Survival: the PLO in Lebanon'', Boulder: Westview Press, Oxford 1990.

*
Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...
, ''Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War'', London: Oxford University Press, (3rd ed. 2001).

*Moustafa El-Assad, ''Civil Wars Volume 1: The Gun Trucks'', Blue Steel books, Sidon 2008. *Samer Kassis, ''30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon'', Beirut: Elite Group, 2003. *Samir Makdisi and Richard Sadaka, ''The Lebanese Civil War, 1975–1990'', American University of Beirut, Institute of Financial Economics, Lecture and Working Paper Series (2003 No.3), pp. 1–53.

*Tom Najem and Roy C. Amore, ''Historical Dictionary of Lebanon'', Second Edition, Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, Boulder, New York & London 2021. , 1538120437 * William W. Harris, ''Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions'', Princeton Series on the Middle East, Markus Wiener Publishers, Princeton 1997. , 1-55876-115-2 {{Lebanese political parties 1974 establishments in Lebanon Alawite organizations Arab nationalism in Lebanon Arab nationalist militant groups Ba'athist parties Factions in the Lebanese Civil War Lebanese National Resistance Front Left-wing militant groups March 8 Alliance Nationalist parties in Lebanon Pan-Arabist political parties Political parties established in 1974 Pro-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war Socialist parties in Lebanon