The Kurdish Democratic Party in Lebanon (

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

: ''Parti a Demoqrat a Kurdi e Lubnan'';

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: ''Hizb al-Dimuqrati al-Kurdi fi Lubnan'') or Parti Democratique Kurde – Liban (PDK-L) in French, is the Lebanese branch of a namesake Iraqi-based Kurdish nationalist party, established by Jamil Mihhu in 1960, and based in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. However, it was not licensed until 24 September 1970. Mihhu supported the

Iraqi government The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as wel ...

against

rebels fighting for an independent

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...

and he was captured and imprisoned by the Kurdish resistance in Iraq. Consequently, the leadership of the party passed to Jamil's son, Riyad. Another son, Muhammad, disagreed with his family's position on several issues and therefore in 1977 started his own movement, the Kurdish Democratic Party-Temporary Leadership. The party ceased activities in 1982 after the death of Jamil Mihhu, and lost its legal status in 1991.

The KDP-L in the Lebanese Civil War 1975–1990

When the

War of the Camps The War of the Camps ( ar, حرب المخيمات, ''Harb al-mukhayimat''), was a subconflict within the 1984–1990 phase of the Lebanese Civil War, in which the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut were besieged by the Shia Amal militia. ...

broke out at Beirut in May 1985, the KDP-L joined an alliance of pro- Arafat

Palestinian refugee camp Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian ...

militias, the

Al-Mourabitoun The Independent Nasserite Movement – INM ( ar-at, حركة الناصريين المستقلين-المرابطون, translit=Harakat al-Nasiriyin al-Mustaqillin) or simply Al-Murabitoun ( lit. ''The Steadfast''), also termed variously Mouveme ...

, the

Communist Action Organization in Lebanon The Communist Action Organization in Lebanon – CAOL ( ar, منظمة العمل الشيوعي في لبنان , ''munaẓẓamah al-‘amal al-shuyū‘ī fī lubnān''), also known as Organization of Communist Action in Lebanon (OCAL) or Orga ...

(OCAL), and the Sixth of February Movement ('6th FM') militias against a powerful coalition that gathered their

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

allies of the

Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party ( ar, الحزب التقدمي الاشتراكي, translit=al-Hizb al-Taqadummi al-Ishtiraki) is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon ...

(PSP), and the

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

Amal movement militia forces backed by

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

,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 ) , founded = 1 August 1945 , current_form = 1991 , disbanded = , branches = Lebanese Ground ForcesLebanese Air Force Lebanese Navy , headquarters = Yarze, Lebanon , flying_hours = , websit ...

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

References

Bibliography

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 intern ...

, ''Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92'', Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. * Marius Deeb, ''The Lebanese Civil War'', Praeger Publishers Inc., New York 1980. * William W. Harris, ''Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions'', Princeton Series on the Middle East, Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997. , 1-55876-115-2

External links

Official website of the KDP - Lebanon
1960 establishments in Lebanon Kurdish nationalist political parties Political parties established in 1960 Political parties in Lebanon {{Lebanon-party-stub Political parties of minorities in Lebanon