The Sixth of February Movement or '6th FM' (

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 السادس من فبراير , ''Harakat al-Sadis min Fibrayir'') was a small, predominantly

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 ...

Nasserist Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic a ...

political party and militia active 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 ...

from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.

Structure and organization

Based at

West Beirut West Beirut is a term referring to the western part of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, which became popular during the Lebanese Civil War that lasted from 1975 to 1990, when the city was divided along sectarian lines into two main areas: West Beiru ...

, the '6th FM' strength was estimated at about 100–150 fighters armed and trained by the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

(PLO).

The Civil War years 1975–1986

The '6th FM' joined the ranks of the

Lebanese National Movement The Lebanese National Movement (LNM; , ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') was a front of Leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, which supported ...

(LNM) and its military wing, the Joint Forces (LNM-JF), during the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War, fighting alongside other Nasserist-oriented factions. However, the political collapse of the LNM in the wake of the June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the subsequent departure of the PLO from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

meant that the smaller Nasserist militias ('6th FM' included) had to fend for themselves. Their unwavering support for the PLO resulted in the adoption of a hostile stance regarding Syria's military presence in Lebanon and when the War of the Camps broke out at Beirut in May 1985, the '6th FM' allied itself with the pro- Arafat

Palestinian refugee camp Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodate Palestinians who were displaced by the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight during the 1948 Palestine war. Camps were established by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UN ...

militias, the

Al-Mourabitoun The Independent Nasserite Movement – INM () or simply Al-Murabitoun ( lit. ''The Steadfast''), also termed variously Independent Nasserite Organization (INO) or Movement of Independent Nasserists (MIN), is a Nasserist political party in Leban ...

, the Communist Action Organization in Lebanon (OCAL), and the Kurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L) against a powerful coalition of

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...

(PSP),

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), and

Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

Amal movement The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by ...

militia forces backed by

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 ...

,Stork, Joe.
The War of the Camps, The War of the Hostages
in ''MERIP Reports'', No. 133. (June 1985), pp. 3–7, 22. the

Lebanese Army The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; ), also known as the Lebanese Army (), is the national military of the Republic of Lebanon. It consists of three branches, the ground forces, the air force, and the navy. The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is ...

,O'Ballance, ''Civil War in Lebanon'' (1998), p. 158. and anti-Arafat dissident Palestinian guerrilla factions gathered into the

Palestinian National Salvation Front The Palestinian National Salvation Front () (PNSF) was a coalition of Palestinian factions. The creation of the Palestinian National Salvation Front was announced on March 25, 1985, by Khalid al-Fahum. The front consisted of the PFLP, PFLP-GC, ...

(PNSF). Eventually, the '6th FM' bore the brunt of this all-out offensive until being finally suppressed by the Amal Movement in June 1986. This faction is no longer active.

Notes

References

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, ''A History of Modern Lebanon: Second Edition'', Pluto Press, London 2012. * Marius Deeb, ''The Lebanese Civil War'', Praeger Publishers Inc., New York 1980. * 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). �

*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 Arab nationalism in Lebanon Arab nationalist militant groups Factions in the Lebanese Civil War Israeli–Lebanese conflict Lebanese National Movement Nasserist organizations {{Lebanon-party-stub

Structure and organization

The Civil War years 1975–1986

See also

Notes

References