31 Facts About Kataeb Party

Kataeb Party, known in English as the Phalanges, is a Christian political party in Lebanon.

Kataeb Party is the plural of Katiba which is a translation into Arabic of the Greek word phalanx which is the origin of the Spanish term Falange.

In 1943, the Kataeb Party played an instrumental role in attaining Lebanon's first independence from the French mandate.

The Kataeb Party elaborated the first Lebanese "labour charter" in 1937.

The Kataeb Party was one of the first Lebanese parties to have a solid avant-garde economic program and organized social activism throughout the country.

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Since 1939, the Kataeb Party has issued Al Amal, a leading bilingual political publication.

Kataeb Party entered the political and parliamentary scene during the late 1940s after a period in which it refrained from entering the political arena to focus mainly on the promotion of the youth and on social issues, away from the trivialities of post-mandate politics.

Kataeb Party struggled to preserve Lebanon's independence facing the growing appetite of its neighbors.

The Kataeb Party expanded considerably its presence throughout the territory and attracted thousands of new members, undoubtedly forming one of the largest parties in the Middle-East.

Kataeb Party adopted a modern organization which made its fame and became its trademark.

In 1958 the Kataeb Party was the key actor in confronting the coup influenced by pan-Arabists led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of the ephemeral United Arab Republic, and succeeded in maintaining Lebanon's independence and liberal identity.

The Kataeb Party achieved many electoral successes and became the main Christian component of successive governments.

The Kataeb Party succeeded in getting two of its leaders elected to the presidency.

Kataeb Party rebuilt the Lebanese University and laid its modern foundation, introduced many economic reforms and even started to rebuild Beirut central district.

Kataeb Party spirit was however still strong between its members and sympathizers.

Pierre Gemayel was assassinated on 21 November 2006, and in 2007, the Kataeb Party was dealt another blow when MP Antoine Ghanem was assassinated as well.

Kataeb Party suffered head trauma and succumbed to his injuries.

We, as the Kataeb party, have alone faced surrender to Hezbollah's will, isolating Lebanon from its surroundings, electing Michel Aoun as president, the electoral law that gave the majority to Hezbollah, and quotas and fictitious budgets such as taxes, power ships and seaports.

The Kataeb party was the most powerful of these militias at the time of the Lebanese Civil war.

The Kataeb party began to decline, not playing a major role for the remainder of the war.

Kataeb Party took a moderate position toward the Syrian presence.

Kataeb Party returned in 2000 to oppose the Syrian role in Lebanon and to back his son's parliamentary election campaign (which he won).

In March 2005 after the Rafik Hariri assassination, the Kataeb Party took part in an anti-Syrian presence demonstration, commonly known as the Cedar Revolution.

The Kataeb won 4 seats in the June 2005 elections, 3 representing the Gemayel Leadership and 1 representing the official leadership of the Party.

Kataeb Party's assassination in November 2006 was a major blow to the party.

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Since the end of Syria's occupation of Lebanon in 2005, the Kataeb Party has attracted new generations and has regained its role as one of the major political actors in Lebanon.

Kataeb Party has an active parliamentary group and has MPs elected in nearly all major Christian constituencies such as Beirut, Metn, Zahle, Aley and the North.

Kataeb Party calls for an objective assessment of the Lebanese political system's limitations in order to guarantee the required political stability, security and economic prosperity.

Kataeb Party is strongly concerned about the presence of Palestinian refugees with their regional and domestic ramifications.

Notwithstanding that the Kataeb Party has recently attempted to improve the inhumane living conditions of refugees through Parliament, it remains concerned about latent or gradual attempts to force their permanent settlement in Lebanon.

We, as the Kataeb party, have alone faced surrender to Hezbollah's will, isolating Lebanon from its surroundings, electing Michel Aoun as president, the electoral law that gave the majority to Hezbollah, and quotas and fictitious budgets such as taxes, power ships and seaports.