Arab Nationalist Movement
Encyclopedia
The Arab Nationalist Movement (Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab), also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Arab world
, most famously so within the Palestinian
movement.
at the American University of Beirut
which emerged in the late 1940s. In the mid-1950s Habash and his followers joined a larger student group led by Constantin Zureiq
. The group's ideology owed much to Zureiq's thinking: it was revolutionary
and pan-Arabist
. It placed emphasis on the formation of a nationally conscious intellectual elite which would play a vanguard role in a revolution of Arab consciousness, leading to Arab unity and social progress. Ideologically, it was committed to socialism
and secularism
, but initially not Marxism
. Its Arab nationalist approach meant an uncompromising hostility to West
ern imperialism
in general, and Israel
in particular, as the movement took a lead in the formation of anti-Zionist doctrine.
The group formed branches in various Arab states, and adopted the name Arab Nationalist Movement in 1958. Some political divergence arose within the movement. Many, especially in Syria
and Iraq
, became close to local Nasserist
movements, and indeed turned into the main pillar of Nasserism in some parts of the Levant. However, another faction moved towards Marxism
, including Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh
, which brought them into conflict with Nasser and increasingly led them to place a heavier emphasis on socialism than pan-Arab nationalism. Also, the differing systems of government in the Arab countries forced the ANM branch organizations to adapt to local conditions, and it became increasingly difficult to find common ground.
in the 1967 Six Day War, which had led to the discreditation of Nasserism, and forced the ANM to play down its uniting, pan-Arab creed. The final blow to the ANM had come in 1967-69, as the Levant
ine branches fractured into competing Marxist parties, precipitated by conflicts within the Palestinian movement. The tendency around Habash tried to regroup the movement by forming the Arab Socialist Action Party
as a new Pan-Arab political structure.
Even if nothing remains of the ANM itself today, its disintegration spawned a great number of parties and movements on the left flank of Arab politics. Some of these, for example those in the Palestinian movement and in South Yemen, were to become very influential in their respective countries.
n branch, until then a small group of intellectuals almost all of whom were Palestinian, reacted to the break-up of the United Arab Republic
by establishing a mass-movement calling for immediate re-unification with Egypt. Membership quickly surged to several thousand, and the leadership participated in the first Ba'thist-led government established after the coup of 8 March 1963, though on a non-party basis. The Ba'th and its allied officers almost immediately after the March coup began purging Nasserists from power, with dismissals, transfers and arrests during the Spring of 1963; the ANM was viewed as one of the most serious threats, because of its numerical force and ideological appeal to the Ba'thist constituency. The Ba'th-ANM tensions culminated in a Nasserist coup attempt led by Jasim Alwan that was struck down in July, 1963, after which Nasserism and the ANM in particular was a spent force in Syria.
The ANM entered the Arab Socialist Union
, but both the Hawatmeh and Habash loyalists later reconstituted themselves as independent parties, and the ASU itself splintered repeatedly during the Syrian 1960s and early 1970s.
. In the aftermath of the overthrow of Abdul Karim Qassim
in 1963, the Iraqi branch of the Ba'ath Party had established a government which collapsed in disorder and was replaced in November that year by a more broadly-based pan-Arab government under Abd al-Salam Arif. The ANM again played a major role in Iraqi politics, close to the Nasserist elements in Arif's government. After the Nasserists lost influence and withdrew from the government in July 1964, the ANM continued to collaborate with them and in September that year attempted a coup. In 1964, the ANM merged into the Iraqi Arab Socialist Union
.
the ANM branch merged into Nasser's Egyptian branch of the Arab Socialist Union
, but were later depoliticized after an internal purge.
The Marxist elements in the ANM reconstituted its Palestinian branch in the mid-1960s as the National Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In December 1967 NFLP unified with two other Palestinian factions, Heroes of Return (abtal al-awda) and Ahmed Jibril
's Palestine Liberation Front
(PLF). Together they formed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP), under Habash's leadership.
DFLP
In early 1968, a leftist, supposedly Maoist, faction headed by Hawatmeh broke away from PFLP to form the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(DFLP, initially PDFLP). At this point, both the PFLP and the P/DFLP had embraced Marxism-Leninism
, a break with the ANM heritage that would be replicated in other branches, and tear what remained of the movement apart.
The PFLP and DFLP subsequently both spawned a number of breakaway factions, such as the PFLP-GC, the PLF
and the FIDA
. Many of these groups were active as a leftist hardline opposition within the PLO, and most participated in the Rejectionist Front
of 1974.
Current situation
Even though the PFLP and DFLP remain very active in Palestinian politics and both have played a military role in the Al-Aqsa Intifada
, their political support is rather reduced, especially within the occupied territories. Partly, this is related to the decline of the Arab left in general, a trend related to changes in Arab political culture but also to the fall of the Soviet Union
. But in addition to that, the specific circumstances of the occupied territories have led to dual pressure from the radical Islamist opposition of Hamas
, on the one hand, and the patronage resources available to Fatah
through its control of the Palestinian National Authority
on the other.
the Hawatmeh wing (which had in majority in the Lebanon branch) reconstituted itself as the Organization of Lebanese Socialists
in 1968, and in later merged with Socialist Lebanon
to form the Communist Action Organization, which was active during the Lebanese Civil War
and in the Hizbullah-led resistance to Israel's occupation of the Lebanese south (1982-2000). The Habash loyalists formed the Arab Socialist Action Party - Lebanon.
participated in the formation of the National Liberation Front of Dhofar (NLFD). The ANM as a whole supported the Dhofar
struggle. NLFD later transformed into the Peoples Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf (PFLOAG), later the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman
(PFLO). This group led an insurgency in Dhofar for several years in the 1960s and early 1970s, driving government forces from large swaths of territory. It was eventually defeated in the early 1970s by the new Sultan of Oman
, Qaboos, backed by British
and Iran
ian forces. After resistance inside Oman was broken in 1975, the group remained as a minor military and political force based in the sympathetic neighboring state of South Yemen, which had backed the Dhofar rebellion, until the 1980s.
i ANM cadres initially joined the PFLOAG. In 1974 the Bahraini sector of PFLOAG was converted into the Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
. Today the Popular Front has given birth to Wa'ad, a prominent secular opposition party in country.
(YSP), the leading political party in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen. In North Yemen, the members of ANM broke away from the mother organization in June 1968, forming the Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen
(which would eventually merge into the YSP).
After the reuniting of the two Yemens in 1990, the YSP became the major opposition party in the Republic of Yemen.
the ANM branch was reconstituted as the Progressive Democrats, a political party still in existence.
, a Marxist-Nationalist faction aligned with the PFLP.
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
, most famously so within the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
movement.
Origins & Ideology
The Arab Nationalist Movement had its origins in a student group led by George HabashGeorge Habash
George Habash also known by his laqab "al-Hakim" was a Palestinian nationalist. Habash, a Palestinian Christian, founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which pioneered the hijacking of airplanes as a Middle East militant tactic...
at the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
which emerged in the late 1940s. In the mid-1950s Habash and his followers joined a larger student group led by Constantin Zureiq
Constantin Zureiq
Constantin Zureiq was a prominent and influential Syrian Arab intellectual who was one of the first to pioneer and express the importance of Arab nationalism. He stressed the urgent need to transform stagnate Arab society by means of rational thought and radical modification of the methods of...
. The group's ideology owed much to Zureiq's thinking: it was revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
and pan-Arabist
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
. It placed emphasis on the formation of a nationally conscious intellectual elite which would play a vanguard role in a revolution of Arab consciousness, leading to Arab unity and social progress. Ideologically, it was committed to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
, but initially not Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
. Its Arab nationalist approach meant an uncompromising hostility to West
West
West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the left side of a map is west....
ern imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
in general, and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in particular, as the movement took a lead in the formation of anti-Zionist doctrine.
The group formed branches in various Arab states, and adopted the name Arab Nationalist Movement in 1958. Some political divergence arose within the movement. Many, especially in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, became close to local Nasserist
Nasserism
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
movements, and indeed turned into the main pillar of Nasserism in some parts of the Levant. However, another faction moved towards Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
, including Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh
Nayef Hawatmeh
Nayef Hawatmeh , Jordanian-Palestinian Christian politician. His name can be transliterated from the Arabic in many ways; variants include Naif Hawatma, Niaf Hawathme, etc....
, which brought them into conflict with Nasser and increasingly led them to place a heavier emphasis on socialism than pan-Arab nationalism. Also, the differing systems of government in the Arab countries forced the ANM branch organizations to adapt to local conditions, and it became increasingly difficult to find common ground.
Decline and Disintegration
These tensions caused the movement's decline during the late 1960s, and it had ceased to exist as a regional political force by 1970. This development was partially propelled by the defeat of EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in the 1967 Six Day War, which had led to the discreditation of Nasserism, and forced the ANM to play down its uniting, pan-Arab creed. The final blow to the ANM had come in 1967-69, as the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
ine branches fractured into competing Marxist parties, precipitated by conflicts within the Palestinian movement. The tendency around Habash tried to regroup the movement by forming the Arab Socialist Action Party
Arab Socialist Action Party
Arab Socialist Action Party was a Pan-Arab political party, formed by the rightwing faction of the Arab Nationalist Movement. The general secretary of the party was Dr. George Habash...
as a new Pan-Arab political structure.
Even if nothing remains of the ANM itself today, its disintegration spawned a great number of parties and movements on the left flank of Arab politics. Some of these, for example those in the Palestinian movement and in South Yemen, were to become very influential in their respective countries.
Syria
In 1962 the SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n branch, until then a small group of intellectuals almost all of whom were Palestinian, reacted to the break-up of the United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
by establishing a mass-movement calling for immediate re-unification with Egypt. Membership quickly surged to several thousand, and the leadership participated in the first Ba'thist-led government established after the coup of 8 March 1963, though on a non-party basis. The Ba'th and its allied officers almost immediately after the March coup began purging Nasserists from power, with dismissals, transfers and arrests during the Spring of 1963; the ANM was viewed as one of the most serious threats, because of its numerical force and ideological appeal to the Ba'thist constituency. The Ba'th-ANM tensions culminated in a Nasserist coup attempt led by Jasim Alwan that was struck down in July, 1963, after which Nasserism and the ANM in particular was a spent force in Syria.
The ANM entered the Arab Socialist Union
Arab Socialist Union (Egypt)
The Arab Socialist Union was an Egyptian political party based on the principles of Nasserist Arab socialism.-Emergence:The Arab Socialist Union was founded in Egypt in December 1962 by Gamal Abdel Nasser as the country's sole political party. The ASU grew out of the Free Officers Movement of the...
, but both the Hawatmeh and Habash loyalists later reconstituted themselves as independent parties, and the ASU itself splintered repeatedly during the Syrian 1960s and early 1970s.
Iraq
Similar events led to the growth of the ANM in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. In the aftermath of the overthrow of Abdul Karim Qassim
Abdul Karim Qassim
Abd al-Karim Qasim , was a nationalist Iraqi Army general who seized power in a 1958 coup d'état, wherein the Iraqi monarchy was eliminated. He ruled the country as Prime Minister of Iraq until his downfall and death in 1963....
in 1963, the Iraqi branch of the Ba'ath Party had established a government which collapsed in disorder and was replaced in November that year by a more broadly-based pan-Arab government under Abd al-Salam Arif. The ANM again played a major role in Iraqi politics, close to the Nasserist elements in Arif's government. After the Nasserists lost influence and withdrew from the government in July 1964, the ANM continued to collaborate with them and in September that year attempted a coup. In 1964, the ANM merged into the Iraqi Arab Socialist Union
Arab Socialist Union (Iraq)
The Iraqi Arab Socialist Union was a political party in Iraq based on the principles of Nasserist Arab socialism. It was a sister party to the Arab Socialist Union parties that sprung up in a number of Arab countries....
.
Egypt
In EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
the ANM branch merged into Nasser's Egyptian branch of the Arab Socialist Union
Arab Socialist Union (Egypt)
The Arab Socialist Union was an Egyptian political party based on the principles of Nasserist Arab socialism.-Emergence:The Arab Socialist Union was founded in Egypt in December 1962 by Gamal Abdel Nasser as the country's sole political party. The ASU grew out of the Free Officers Movement of the...
, but were later depoliticized after an internal purge.
Palestine
PFLPThe Marxist elements in the ANM reconstituted its Palestinian branch in the mid-1960s as the National Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In December 1967 NFLP unified with two other Palestinian factions, Heroes of Return (abtal al-awda) and Ahmed Jibril
Ahmed Jibril
Ahmed Jibril is the founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command , part of the left-wing, Palestinian national liberation movement....
's Palestine Liberation Front
Palestine Liberation Front
The Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union and the USA. It is presently led by Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef.-Origins:...
(PLF). Together they formed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
(PFLP), under Habash's leadership.
DFLP
In early 1968, a leftist, supposedly Maoist, faction headed by Hawatmeh broke away from PFLP to form the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
(DFLP, initially PDFLP). At this point, both the PFLP and the P/DFLP had embraced Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
, a break with the ANM heritage that would be replicated in other branches, and tear what remained of the movement apart.
The PFLP and DFLP subsequently both spawned a number of breakaway factions, such as the PFLP-GC, the PLF
PLF
PLF may stand for:* Palestine Liberation Front* Parachute Landing Fall* Passenger load factor* Payload launch fairing, to reduce atmospheric drag and protect a rocket payload until space is reached* Penguin Liberation Front...
and the FIDA
Palestine Democratic Union
The Palestinian Democratic Union is a small Palestinian political party active in the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian National Authority .- Background :...
. Many of these groups were active as a leftist hardline opposition within the PLO, and most participated in the Rejectionist Front
Rejectionist Front
The Rejectionist Front or Front of the Palestinian Forces Rejecting Solutions of Surrender was a political coalition formed in 1974 by radical Palestinian factions who rejected the Ten Point Program adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization in its 12th Palestinian National Congress ...
of 1974.
Current situation
Even though the PFLP and DFLP remain very active in Palestinian politics and both have played a military role in the Al-Aqsa Intifada
Al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
, their political support is rather reduced, especially within the occupied territories. Partly, this is related to the decline of the Arab left in general, a trend related to changes in Arab political culture but also to the fall of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. But in addition to that, the specific circumstances of the occupied territories have led to dual pressure from the radical Islamist opposition of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, on the one hand, and the patronage resources available to Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
through its control of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
on the other.
Lebanon
In LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
the Hawatmeh wing (which had in majority in the Lebanon branch) reconstituted itself as the Organization of Lebanese Socialists
Organization of Lebanese Socialists
The Organization of Lebanese Socialists was a political organization in Lebanon. The organization was led by Muhsin Ibrahim and Muhammed Kishli. It had its roots in the Lebanese branch of the Arab Nationalist Movement , a radical pan-Arab movement. During the 1960s Ibrahim was a leading figure in...
in 1968, and in later merged with Socialist Lebanon
Socialist Lebanon
Socialist Lebanon was a small Arab nationalist group in Lebanon. The group was formed in 1965 by people like Ahmed Beydoun, Waddah Sharara and Fawwaz Trabulsi....
to form the Communist Action Organization, which was active during the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
and in the Hizbullah-led resistance to Israel's occupation of the Lebanese south (1982-2000). The Habash loyalists formed the Arab Socialist Action Party - Lebanon.
Oman
In 1964 the ANM branch in OmanOman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
participated in the formation of the National Liberation Front of Dhofar (NLFD). The ANM as a whole supported the Dhofar
Dhofar
The Dhofar region lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen. Its mountainous area covers and has a population of 215,960 as of the 2003 census. The largest town in the region is Salalah. Historically, it was the chief source of frankincense in the world. However, its frankincense...
struggle. NLFD later transformed into the Peoples Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf (PFLOAG), later the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman
Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman was a Marxist and Arab nationalist revolutionary organisation in the Sultanate of Oman...
(PFLO). This group led an insurgency in Dhofar for several years in the 1960s and early 1970s, driving government forces from large swaths of territory. It was eventually defeated in the early 1970s by the new Sultan of Oman
Sultan of Oman
-List of Imams :-Nabhan Dynasty :-Ya'ariba Dynasty :-Banu Ghafir Dynasty :-Ya'ariba Dynasty :-Al Said Dynasty :-See also:...
, Qaboos, backed by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian forces. After resistance inside Oman was broken in 1975, the group remained as a minor military and political force based in the sympathetic neighboring state of South Yemen, which had backed the Dhofar rebellion, until the 1980s.
Bahrain
The BahrainBahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
i ANM cadres initially joined the PFLOAG. In 1974 the Bahraini sector of PFLOAG was converted into the Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain was an underground political party in Bahrain with origins in the Arab Nationalist Movement. Its members were inclined towards the leftist Marxist trend within the ANM...
. Today the Popular Front has given birth to Wa'ad, a prominent secular opposition party in country.
Yemen
In South Yemen the local ANM branch was instrumental in forming the National Liberation Front which would later become the Yemeni Socialist PartyYemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen.It was the ruling party in South Yemen, the only Marxist Arab state, before unification in 1990...
(YSP), the leading political party in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen. In North Yemen, the members of ANM broke away from the mother organization in June 1968, forming the Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen
Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen
Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen was a political party in North Yemen, founded by a conference of the members of the Arab Nationalist Movement in North Yemen in June 1968. The conference resolved to break its organizational ties with the central structures of the ANM and form the...
(which would eventually merge into the YSP).
After the reuniting of the two Yemens in 1990, the YSP became the major opposition party in the Republic of Yemen.
Kuwait
In KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
the ANM branch was reconstituted as the Progressive Democrats, a political party still in existence.
Saudi Arabia
The Saudi branch gave birth to the Arab Socialist Action PartyArab Socialist Action Party (Saudi Arabia)
The Arab Socialist Action Party – Arabian Peninsula , was an underground oppositional political party in Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1972 by elements of the erstwhile Arab Nationalist Movement.-Profile of the party:...
, a Marxist-Nationalist faction aligned with the PFLP.