National Front, Lebanon
NATIONAL FRONT, LEBANON
coalition of left-wing lebanese and arab political parties and forces formed in 1984.
In 1984 in Lebanon, the leftist-nationalist coalition known as the Lebanese National Movement was dissolved as a result of internecine battles. In Israel, elections led to the victory of the Likud under Yitzhak Shamir. In the United States, Ronald Reagan was on the brink of being reelected for a second term.
The National Front was created as a result of these events. This coalition included representatives of the Progressive Socialist Party, the Lebanese Communist Party, the Baʿth party, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the Arab Democratic Party, and the Arab Socialist Union. The platform of the National Front contained six principles: (1) consolidate the resistance to the Israeli occupation in south Lebanon, (2) stress the unity and integrity of Lebanon in the struggle against partition plans, (3) emphasize the Arab identity of Lebanon, (4) adopt an independent foreign policy, (5) call for political reforms and the abolition of the confessional system, and (6) call for economic and social reform. The mainstream Shiʿite AMAL movement was later invited to join the coalition.
see also amal; arab socialist union; baʿth, al-; communism in the middle east; likud; progressive socialist party; reagan, ronald; shamir, yitzhak; syrian social nationalist party.
george e. irani