The Union of Working People's Forces – UWPF ( ar, اتحاد قوى الشعب العامل , ''Ittihâd qiwâ al-'amal al-cha'b al-'âmil''), also known as Union of Toiling Peoples' Forces (UTPF) or Union des Forces du Peuple Travailleur (UFPT) in

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 ...

, was a

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 A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

which played a key role in 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 ...

(1975-1990).

Origins

The party was founded in 1965 by Kamal Chatila and

Najah Wakim Najah Wakim ( ar, نجاح واكيم; born 1946 in Berbara) is a Lebanese politician who served as member of parliament from 1972 to 2000. He is the president of the People's Movement (Lebanon), People's Movement. Biography He managed to defeat ...

, with Chatila being its general secretary. In ideological terms, the UNWPF represented a right-wing tendency in the Lebanese Nasserist movement. Najah Wakim was elected to parliament in 1972, making him the sole Nasserist deputy.

The UWPF in the Lebanese Civil War

In the early phase of the

the UWPF maintained a 1,000-man strong militia, the Victory Divisions (

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 ...

: ''Firqat an-Nasr''), which fought alongside the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) militias in the Beirut area. However, in late March 1976 the UWPF left the LNM to enter the pro-Syrian

Front of Patriotic and National Parties The Front of Patriotic and National Parties – FPNP (Arabic: جبهة الأحزاب الوطنية والقومية , ''Jabhat al-Ahzab al-Wataniyya wal-Qawmiyya'') or Front Patriotique des Parties Nacionaux (FPPN) in French language, French, w ...

(FPNP) alliance, and supported the June 1976 Syrian intervention in Lebanon, which caused a rift between them and the other Nasserist groups. From June to November 1976 the UWPF and its militia faced onslaughts by

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and the other LNM militias. There was also a splinter group of the party, the

Union of Working People's Forces-Corrective Movement The Union of Working People's Forces – Corrective Movement or UWPF-CM ( ar, اتحاد قوى الشعب العامل - الحركة التصحيحية , ''Ittihâd qiwâ al-'amal al-cha'b al-'âmil – al-harakat al-tashihia''), also designated ...

(UWPF-CM), formed in October 1974 and led by Issam Al-Arab.

References

Bibliography

* Alain Menargues, ''Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban: Du coup d'état de Béchir Gémayel aux massacres des camps palestiniens'', Albin Michel, Paris 2004. (in

) *

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 inter ...

, ''Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92'', Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. *

Itamar Rabinovich Itamar Rabinovich ( he, איתמר רבינוביץ; born 1942) is the president of the Israel Institute (Washington and Jerusalem). He was Israel's Ambassador to the United States in the 1990s and former chief negotiator with Syria between 1993 ...

, ''The war for Lebanon, 1970-1985'', Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 1989 (revised edition). , 0-8014-9313-7 �

* Marius Deeb, ''The Lebanese Civil War'', Praeger Publishers Inc., New York 1980. * Thomas Collelo (ed.), ''Lebanon: a country study'', Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Headquarters, Department of the Army (DA Pam 550-24), Washington D.C., December 1987 (Third edition 1989). �

1965 establishments in Lebanon Arab nationalism in Lebanon Arab nationalist militant groups Defunct nationalist parties Defunct political parties in Lebanon Defunct socialist parties in Asia Factions in the Lebanese Civil War Nasserist political parties Nationalist parties in Lebanon Political parties established in 1965 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Socialist parties in Lebanon {{Lebanon-party-stub

Origins

The UWPF in the Lebanese Civil War

See also

References

Bibliography