President | Samy Gemayel |
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Founder | Pierre Gemayel |
Founded | August 1, 1936 |
Headquarters | Beirut, Lebanon |
Ideology |
Falangism (Historical) National conservatism Christian democracy Phoenicianism Federalism |
Political position | Right-wing |
National affiliation | March 14 Alliance |
International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
Parliament of Lebanon |
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Cabinet of Lebanon |
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Party flag | |
Website | |
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The Lebanese Phalanges Party (Arabic: حزب الكتائب اللبنانية Ḥizb al-Katā’ib al-Lubnānīya), better known in English as the Phalange (Arabic: الكتائب al-Katā’ib), is a Christian Democratic political party in Lebanon. In spite of it being officially secular, it is supported mainly by Maronite Catholics. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90). In decline in the late 1980s and 1990s, the party slowly re-emerged since the early 2000s. It is now part of the March 14 Alliance.
The Lebanese Phalanges Party is also known as Phalanges Libanaises in French and either Kataeb (الكتائب اللبنانية al-Katā’ib al-Lubnānīya) or Phalangist Party (حزب الكتائب اللبنانية Ḥizb al-Katā’ib al-Lubnānīya) in Arabic. Kataeb is the plural of Katiba which is a translation into Arabic of the Greek word phalanx ("battalion") which is also the origin of the Spanish term Falange.
The Kataeb party was formed in 1936 as a Maronite paramilitary youth organization by Pierre Gemayel who modeled the party after Spanish Falange and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Roman salute.