Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Amal Movement
*** Shopping-Tip: Amal Movement
''For other uses of Amal, see the
Amal disambiguation page.''
{{Politics of Lebanon}}
'''Amal movement''' (
Arabic language Arabic: '''Øركة أمل''';
Arabic transliteration transliterated:Harakat Amal) is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments. Amal is the popular name, meaning "hope" in Arabic.
Amal became one of the most important Shi'ite Muslim militias during the
Lebanese Civil War. Amal grew strong through its close ties with the Islamic regime of Iran, and the 300,000 Shi'i internal refugees from southern
Lebanon after the Israeli bombings in the early 1980s. At its greatest the militia had 14,000 troops.
Unlike Hizbullah, Amal does not call for an Islamic state in Lebanon. Amal's historical objectives are to achieve respect for Lebanon's long-alienated Shiite population and a fairer distribution of resources for the South.
Amal fought a long campaign against Palestinian refugees in the Lebanese Civil War called the
War of the Camps. After the War of the Camps Amal fought a bloody battle against its fellow Shi'a group
Hizbullah for
Beirut. This battle ended with massive Syrian intervention.
History
Origin
1974: The Movement of the Disinherited is formed by the Shi'i leader Imam
Moussa Sader and member of parliament
Hussein Husseini.
20 January 1975: The Lebanese Resistance Detachments are formed as a military wing of The Movement of the Disinherited, and came to be popularly known as Amal (from the acronym Afwaj al-Mouqawma Al-Lubnaniyya).
Amal during the Lebanese war
Detailed article on the
Lebanese war
1980:
Hussein El-Husseini resigns from Amal leadership after refusing Syrian president
hafez al-asad's request to cooperate with the PLO.
1982:
Nabih Berri becomes one of the leaders of Amal. He was a Shi'i layman, but maintained close relations with Syria.
December 1985:
Nabih Berri of Amal,
Walid Jumblatt of the Druze
Progressive Socialist Party, and
Elie Hobeika of the
Lebanese Forces sign the
Tripartite Agreement in Damascus which is supposed to end the war and give strong influence to Damascus regarding Lebanese matters. The agreement will never come into effect due to
Elie Hobeika Hobeika ousting.
1989: Amal accept the
Taif agreement (mainly architected by Speaker of the House
Hussein el-Husseini) in order to end the civil war.
The war of the camps
''The war of the camps is a series of fightings that happened in the mid-80's between Amal and Palestinian groups. During these events, PSP and Hizbullah supported Palestinians while Syria supported Amal. See
War of the Camps for more details.''
=First battle: May 1985
=
Although most of the Palestinian guerrillas was expelled during the
1982 Israeli invasion, Palestinian militias began to regain after the Israeli withdrawal from Beirut at first, then from Sidon and Tyre. Syria was looking at this revival with some anxiety: though in the same ideological camp, Damascus had little control on most Palestinians organizations and was afraid that the build-up of Palestinian forces could lead to a new Israeli invasion. Moreover Syria's minority
alawite regime was never comfortable with Sunni militias in
Lebanon. In Lebanon, Shia-Palestinians relations were very tensed since the late 60's. After the multinational force withdrew from Beirut in February 1984, Amal and
Progressive Socialist Party PSP took control of west-Beirut and Amal built a number of outposts around the camps (in Beirut but also in the south). On
April 15 1985, Amal and
Progressive Socialist Party PSP attacked the Murabitun the main Lebanese
Sunni militia and the closest ally of
PLO in Lebanon. Murabitun were vanquished and their leader, Ibrahim Kulaylat was sent into exile. On
May 19 1985, heavy fightings erupted between Amal and Palestinians for the control of the Sabra, Shatila and Burj el-Branjneh camps (all in Beirut). Despite all its effort, Amal could not take the control of the camps. The death toll remains unknown, with estimate ranging from a few hundreds to a few thousands. This and heavy Arab pressure lead to a cease-fire
June 17.
=Second battle: May 1986
=
The situation remained tensed and fightings occurred again in September 1985 and March 1986. On
May 19 1986, heavy fightings erupted again. Despite new armament provided by Syria, Amal could not take control of the camps. Many cease-fires were announced but most of them did not last more than a few days. The situation began to cool after Syria deployed some troops on
June 24 1986.
=Third battle September 1986
=
The tension due to this conflict was also present in the south, an area where Shias and Palestinians were both present. This unavoidably led to frequent clashes. On September 29 1986, fightings occurred at the Rashidiyye camp (Tyre). The conflict immediately spread to Sidon and Beirut. Palestinian forces tried to occupy the town of Maghduche on the eastern hills of Sidon to open the road to Rashidiyye. Syrian forces helped Amal and Israel launched air strikes against PLO position around Maghdouche. A cease-fire was negotiated between Amal and pro-Syrian Palestinian groups on
December 15 1986, but it was rejected by Arafat's Fatah. Fatah tried to appease the situation by giving some of its position to Hezbollah and to the Murabitun. The situation became relatively calmer for a while, but the bombing against the camps continued. In Beirut, a blockade of the camps lead to a dramatic lack of food and medications inside the camps. In early 87, the fighting spread to
Hezbollah and
Progressive Socialist Party PSP who supported the Palestinians. The PSP quickly seized large portions of west-Beirut and the situation. Consequently, Syria occupied west-Beirut beginning of
February 21,
1987. In
April 7,
1987 Amal finally lifted the siege and handled its positions around the camps to the Syrian arm. The total number of death amounted to 3781 according to the New York Times (
March 10 1992, citing figures from the Lebanese police).
September
1991: With background in the Syrian controlled end of the Lebanese Civil War in October
1990, 2,800 Amal troops joined the Lebanese army.
Amal after the war
Amal was a strong supporter of Syria after 1990 and endorsed Syria's military presence in Lebanon. After
Rafik Hariri's assassination in 2005, Amal opposed the Syrian withdrawal and did not take part to the
cedar revolution. Since 1990, the party have been continuously represented in the parliament and the government. Amal is very criticized for alleged corruption.
Nabih Berri was elected speaker of parliament in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2005. Currently Amal have 14 representatives on 128 in the parliament.
Category:National liberation movements
Category:Political parties in Lebanon
ar:Øركة أمل
de:Amal-Miliz
fr:Amal
he:×?מל
nl:Amal (organisatie)
uk:Ð?маль
*** Shopping-Tip: Amal Movement
