The Lebanese Kataeb Party
- The Lebanese Kataeb Party (or Phalange) was founded by Sheikh Pierre Gemayel in 1936. The party opposed and struggled against the French and demanded their withdrawal from Lebanon until Lebanese independence was proclaimed in November 1943. The Phalange party was regarded as the protector of the Christian Maronites
in Lebanon.
In 1968, the party joined The Helf Alliance formed with the two other big mainly Christian parties in Lebanon: the National Liberal Party of former President Camille Chamoun, and National Bloc of Raymond Eddé. In 1969, the National Bloc left the alliance over a disagreement about the Cairo Agreement. The Kataeb and the NLP, still close allies, went on to form the Lebanese Front in 1976.
In April 1975 Phalangist militiamen were involved in the Bus massacre, commonly considered as the spark that set-off the Lebanese Civil War. In the following days, the phalangist together with its allies, the Tigers militia and other formations, was heavily engaged in street fights against the Lebanese National Movement and the Palestinian militias.
The Kataeb created a military Security Council led by William Hawi, which came to be commanded by Pierre Gemayel's son Bachir Gemayel upon the assassination of Hawi in July 1976. In August 1976, the party greatly contributed to the formation of the Lebanese Forces, as the military wing of the Lebanese Front, Bachir Gemayel being chosen as its leader.
In September 1982, Bachir Gemayel was elected President of the Republic by the National Assembly. He was assassinated less than a month later and was in turn succeeded by his brother, Amine Gemayel.
Elie Karamee succeeded Pierre Gemayel after his death in 1984 as the leader of the Phalange, he opposed the 'triple agreement' and allied with Samir Gaegae. Under his leadership the Phalange was a very tight ally with the Lebanese Forces.
The party, lacking direction, broke down into several rival factions. Georges Saadeh took control of the Party from 1986 till his death in 1998. Under Saades command the Phalange signed the 'Taef' agreement. Mounir Hajj succeeded Saadeh. From 2002 Karim Pakradouni was the president of the party but Amine Gemayel became the supreme president after a reconciliation in 2005.
In March 2005 after the Rafik Hariri assassination, the party took part in an anti-Syrian presence demonstration, commonly known as the Cedar Revolution. It also became a member of the March 14 Alliance. In July 2005, it participated in the Fouad Siniora Government, with Pierre Amine Gemayel as the minister of industry. Pierre, son of Amine, member of the Parliament since 2000, played an important role in the reorganization and development of the party. His assassination in November 2006 was a major blow to the party.
In September 2007 another Kataeb member of the Parliament, Antoine Ghanem was assassinated in a car bombing. Currently, there are no representatives of the party in the Lebanese parliament.
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