Guardians of the Cedars
| Guardians of the Cedars | |
|---|---|
| Participant in Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) | |
.png)
Logo of the Guardians of the Cedars (1974-1990). The motto can be loosely translated as "At your service, Lebanon".
|
|
| Active | Until 1990 and 2000-present |
| Groups | Lebanese Renewal Party, Lebanese Front, Lebanese Forces |
| Leaders | Etienne Saqr |
| Headquarters | Ashrafieh, Sabbah, Tel-Aviv |
| Strength | 3,000-6,000 fighters |
| Originated as | 500-1,000 fighters |
| Allies | Israel Defense Forces (IDF), South Lebanon Army (SLA) |
| Opponents | Lebanese National Movement (LNM), Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hezbollah, Jammoul, Syrian Army |
The Guardians of the Cedars – GoC (Arabic: حراس الأرز; Ḥurrās al-Arz), also designated Gardiens du Cedre or Gardiens des Cèdres (GdC) in French, are a far-right ultranationalist Lebanese party and former Christian militia in Lebanon. It was formed by Étienne Saqr (also known with the kunya or nom de guerre "Abu Arz" or "Father of the Cedars") and others along with the Lebanese Renewal Party in the early 1970s. It operated in the Lebanese Civil War under the slogan: Lebanon, at your service.
The Guardians of the Cedars started to form a militia in the years leading up to the Lebanese Civil War and commenced military operations in April 1975.
In September 1975, Communiqué No. 1 was issued to denounce advocates of the partition of Lebanon. The second communiqué contained a bitter attack on the Palestinians. The third articulated the party's attitude on the issue of Lebanese identity: Lebanon should dissociate itself from Arabism. The party spread its messages by means of graffiti in East Beirut, including slogans against Syria, the "Palestinian Resistance", and Pan-Arabism, sometimes with violent anti-Palestinian tones, as in the slogan على كل لبناني ان يقتل فلسطينياً ("It is a duty for each Lebanese to kill a Palestinian").
The Guardians of the Cedars joined other pro-status quo, mainly Christian Lebanese militias in 1976 to form the Lebanese Front.
In March 1976, they confronted Palestinian and leftist forces in West Beirut. A Guardians unit was also dispatched to Zaarour, above the mountain road to Zahlé, to support Phalangist forces. In April, Guardian fighters held a line in the area of Hadeth, Kfar Shima, and Bsaba, south of Beirut, against a coalition of Palestinian, PSP, and SSNP forces.
...
Wikipedia