Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth (ULDY) ( ar, اتحاد الشباب الديمقراطي اللبناني,

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

: ''Ittihad ash-Shabab ad-Dimuqrati al-Lubnani''), also known as UJDL (the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

abbreviation of ''Union de la jeunesse démocratique libanaise''), is a Lebanese

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

democratic youth organization as it defines itself in its documents. ULDY was legally established in 1970 by leftist—mainly communist—students and young activists, after being active underground since 1945. ULDY is a member in many regional and international youth organizations, but its main affiliation is to the

World Federation of Democratic Youth The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) is an international youth organization, and has historically characterized itself as left-wing and anti-imperialist. WFDY was founded in London in 1945 as a broad international youth movement, o ...

(WFDY). ULDY is the vice president of WFDY since March 2007 after a long history of international action. It was the president of WFDY during the late 1980s before and during the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Many prominent leftist leaders and activists 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 ...

were affiliated to ULDY during their early political life including

Anwar Yassin Anwar Yassin (Arabic: أنور ياسين) is a former Lebanese detainee in Israeli prisons. He was both a member of the Popular Guard, the armed wing of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), and the broader Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF ...

and

Souha Bechara Souha Bechara (; born 15 June 1967) is a Lebanese former prisoner at the Khiam detention center. In 1988, she unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Antoine Lahad, the then-leader of the Israel-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA); she was subseque ...

, two former resistors and detainees in Israel,

Saadallah Mazraani Saadallah Mazraani ( ar, سعدالله مزرعاني) is the Vice General Secretary of the Lebanese Communist Party since its 8th congress in 1998. He was nominated for parliamentary elections for several times in South Lebanon and scored a consid ...

the Vice General-Secretary of the

Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), abbr. PCL is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1924 by the Lebanese intellectual, writer and reporter Yusuf Yazbek and Fu'ad al-Shamali, a tobacco worker from Bikfaya. History Creation The Syr ...

and Hanna Gharib the former President of

Union of High School Teachers in Lebanon Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Recent activities

After the 6th National Congress, ULDY made several distinguished activities including: * Popular aid to thousands of internally displaced people due to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon during July and August 2006. * Hosting the Coordinating Council meeting of

WFDY The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) is an international youth organization, and has historically characterized itself as left-wing and anti-imperialist. WFDY was founded in London in 1945 as a broad international youth movement, o ...

in November 2006 in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

with the participation of tens of international leftist and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

organizations and hundreds of attendants from Lebanon. * Several camps hosting hundreds of participants in Summer of 2007. * "The Spring March" that toured

for 34 consecutive days in the summer of 2008 under the slogan of "All of Lebanon is for us all" and demanding the unity of the Lebanese people across the

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

division lines drawn by the Lebanese political and social system. * An open solidarity protest for 24 days near the UN offices in

ESCWA The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA; ar, الإسكوا) is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The role of the Commission is to promote e ...

building in downtown

during the Israeli aggression against Gaza from December 25, 2008 to January 18, 2009. During this period several demonstrations, protests and solidarity events were held in

and across

, mainly towards the Egyptian, U.S. and Canadian embassies in addition to the EU commission and

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

representatives, in collaboration with other Lebanese and

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

leftist youth organizations. * ULDY organizes a set of youth camps every summer which include Educational, Dialogue, Pioneers, Artistic and Voluntary work camps throughout

. * In the beginning of 2011, ULDY together with some

Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

organizations and activists organized a

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

to support the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

revolutions especially during the peak of the revolutions of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. The campaign conducted different protests in front of the embassies and consulates of those countries and had a daily protest in front of the Egyptian embassy including the day when the demonstrators tried to enter the embassy. * ULDY was an effective and leading factor in the campaign to change the sectarian regime in Lebanon. Five central demonstrations were organized in

and three others in

Saida Saida may refer to: Places * Saïda, Algeria, a city in Algeria * Saïda Province, a province of Algeria * Saida, Lebanon, the Arabic name for Sidon, a city in Lebanon * Saida, a village in Helan, Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab province, Pakistan * Sai ...

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

and

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...

between February 27 and June 26, 2011. The biggest demonstration of the campaign had around 30.000 protestors in the streets of

on March 20, 2011.

Organization

ULDY has currently 26 branches around

, with another 10 branches under establishment. It also has 4 central departments for young workers, university students, high school students and pioneers. Membership is accepted through branches so that every member should commit to one of the existing branches. In addition, a member is considered automatically to belong to one of the departments related to his study or work. The branches are organized through regional committees that have coordinating status within its geographical region. Now ULDY has 5 regional committees that are:

and suburbs,

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

Bekaa The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...

North Lebanon North Lebanon (Arabic: شمال لبنان) 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 which ...

and

South Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

. The highest body in ULDY is its congress held every three years to draw the general policies and organization of ULDY and elect its

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

and directive body, the National Council. The National Council is elected by the congress and convenes regularly every two months to draw short term plans of the organization and watch the sound action and functioning of all other organs of ULDY. The National Council elects a President, Vice President, a General secretary and an Executive Bureau of the organization. The Executive Bureau convenes every two weeks to pursue the daily action of the organization, apply the plans drawn by the National Council and represent the organization legally and practically between meetings of the National Council.

Recent congresses

After several years of not having regular congresses due to many political and organizational problems, especially after the collapse of the

and the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, ULDY had its 5th National Congress in May 2003. The congress was intended to revive the bodies of the organization and put it back to strong action. This two-year experience set the ground for the 6th National Congress that brought real life to ULDY. ULDY had its 6th National Congress in May, 2005 and elected Imad Bawab as President and Arabi Andari as General Secretary. It brought all the constituents of the organization to action and put it back on the political map in Lebanon especially after the big activities and new leadership spirit that it had. In its 7th National Congress in September 2008, ULDY renewed its bodies with many new young activists. 24 out of its 41 National Council members and 10 out of its 11 Executive Bureau members were renewed, with Imad Bawab remaining president and Hussein Mroue elected as a new General Secretary.

References

External links

ULDY websiteWFDY website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914095610/http://www.wfdy.org/17wfys , date=2017-09-14 1970 establishments in Lebanon Communism in Lebanon Lebanese Communist Party Youth organisations based in Lebanon Youth organizations established in 1970 Youth wings of communist parties Secularism in Lebanon