Lebanese National Resistance Front

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Lebanese National Resistance Front
LeadersFlag of the Lebanese Communist Party.svg George Hawi
Flag of the Lebanese Communist Party.svg Mahdi Amel
Flag of the Lebanese Communist Party.svg Elias Atallah
OACLsymbol.PNG Muhsin Ibrahim
Flag of the Progressive Socialist Party.svg Walid Jumblatt
Flag of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.svg Inaam Raad
Socialist red flag.svg Hussein Hamdan
Dates of operation1982–1999
Group(s)Flag of the Lebanese Communist Party.svg Lebanese Communist Party
OACLsymbol.PNG Communist Action Organization
Flag of the Progressive Socialist Party.svg Progressive Socialist Party
Socialist red flag.svg Arab Socialist Action Party – Lebanon
Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Lebanon Region
Flag of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.svg Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon
Socialist red flag.svg Armed Revolutionary Factions
Flag of the Popular Nasserist Organization.svg Popular Nasserist Organization
Single Color Flag - 0434B1.svg Arab Democratic Party
Headquarters Beirut
Kfar Remen
Active regions Beirut
Mount Lebanon
South Lebanon
Jabal Amel
West Beqaa
Rashaya
Ideology Arab nationalism
Lebanese nationalism
Marxism-Leninism
Anti-Zionism
Revolutionary socialism
Nasserism
Arab socialism
Pan-Arabism
Neo-Ba'athism
Anti-imperialism
Secularism
Syrian nationalism
Left-wing nationalism
Political position Left-wing to far-left
Size25,000 fighters
Allies Flag of Palestine.svg Palestine Liberation Organization Flag of Palestine.svg Rejectionist Front
Flag of Mourabitoun.svg Al-Mourabitoun
Flag of the Amal Movement.svg Amal Movement
InfoboxHez.PNG Hezbollah
Flag of ASALA.png ASALA
Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party 1978.svg PKK
Flag of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces (1980-2024).svg Syrian Arab Armed Forces
OpponentsForces Libanaises Flag.svg Lebanese Forces
Lebanesearmyfirstflag.png Lebanese Armed Forces (only in 1983)
Flag of Lebanon.svg Internal Security Forces (ISF) (only in 1983)
Lebanesearmyfirstflag.png South Lebanon Army (SLA)
Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Battles and wars Lebanese Civil War
South Lebanon conflict
Flag Lebanese National Resistance Front.jpg

The Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF; Arabic : جبهة المقاومة الوطنية اللبنانية, romanized: Jabhat al-Muqawama al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya), best known by its Arabic acronym, ‘Jammoul’ (جمول), was a leftist alliance active in Lebanon in the 1980s. It acted as a successor to the Lebanese National Movement, which ceased to exist after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Origins

This organization was founded on September 16, 1982, the same day the Israeli army entered West Beirut. [1] The secretary general of the central committee of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) George Hawi, the secretary general of the Organization of Communist ActionLebanon (OCAL) Muhsin Ibrahim, the Arab Socialist Action Party – Lebanon (ASAP-L) secretary general Hussein Hamdan, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Lebanon Region, and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon (SSNP) issued that day a joint communiqué calling for the Lebanese people to raise up in arms and unite into a "Lebanese National Resistance Front" against the Israeli Occupation.

The pro-Syrian Arab Democratic Party (ADP) and the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF) rallied to the LNRF banner, which gained support of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leftist and Marxist factions based in Lebanon, mainly from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

Structure and organization

The LNRF did not have the strength of other larger militant groups in Lebanon. It was estimated at some 200–500 or so fighters drawn from the LCP, OCAL, LABP, ADP, LARF, PFLP and DFLP, placed under the overall command of Elias Atallah. A joint operational HQ was established at the village of Kfar Rumman in the Jabal Amel region of southern Lebanon, with Hawi and Ibrahim meeting daily to coordinate the activities of the Front's underground cells at west Beirut, Sidon, Tyre and Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon.

Most observers believe that the Front was a pro-Syrian organization whose membership was primarily Lebanese. However, the PLO stated that the actions claimed by the LNRF were actually carried out by isolated Palestinian guerrilla cells and some radical Lebanese leftists who supported them.

Activities: 1982–85

The LNRF carried out attacks against the IDF and Israeli-related targets in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the South in June, July and August 1983. At this point it was known as the Lebanese National Salvation Front and was backed by Syria.

Decline and demise: 1986–2000

A considerable number of LNRF fighters were killed in combat while fighting Israeli and South Lebanese Army (SLA) troops, whereas militants such as Anwar Yassin and Soha Bechara were taken prisoner and held in the Khiam detention center. Several others were killed in assassinations against leftist activists in Beirut and southern Lebanon in the late 1980s.

The last recorded Jammoul operation in the south occurred in 1999.

Notes

  1. Diab, Afif (September 16, 2012). "Jammoul at 30: Recalling the Birth of Resistance". Al Akhbar English. Lebanon: Al-Akhbar. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.

See also

References