The Marada Movement () is a Lebanese political party and a former militia active during the Lebanese Civil War named after the legendary Marada (also called Mardaites) warriors of the early Middle Ages that fought on the external edge of the Byzantine Empire. Originally designated the Marada Brigade ( Liwa al-Marada), the group initially emerged as the personal militia of Suleiman Frangieh, president of Lebanon at the outbreak of the war in 1975. They were also initially known as the Zgharta Liberation Army, after Frangieh's hometown of Zgharta in northern Lebanon.
Marada in Lebanese history
The Marada were a group of independent communities in Lebanon and the surrounding highlands after the conquest of Syria by the Arab army in 630 CE. While some historians argue that the Marada "States" were that of a Maronite Aramaic-speaking Christian warrior elite, other historians tend to downplay their importance, and describe a more complex scenario. The Maronites and thus the Marada were given relative autonomy in the Umayyad Caliphate. The Marada were known by some as a fierce warrior group, and according to some, the name was synonymous with the Arabic word for rebels or also Maronites.
Lebanese civil war
During the Lebanese civil war was called one of the Maronite militias "Marada Movement". During the Lebanese civil war, Zgharta was the frontline and Christian stronghold of the north in northern Lebanon. The Zgharta-based Marada Brigade militia successfully repulsed and responded with attacks on armed militias from Tripoli, Danniyeh and Koura districts, and from PLO militias from the neighboring Palestinian refugee camps of Beddawi and Nahr al-Bared.
In March 1976, the Marada Brigade supported the hard-pressed Lebanese Army Republican Guard Battalion in defending the Presidential Palace in Baabda from a two-pronged combined LNM–LAA assault, though prior to the attack the Lebanese President had decamped to the safety of Jounieh.
The Marada were initially allied with the Kataeb until 1978, the year when Suleiman Frangieh refused the Lebanese Front's plan to declare a Christian canton, a Christian enclave separated from the rest of the country. A new alliance was formed between Suleiman Frangieh and Prime Minister Rachid Karami to counter the Lebanese Front's plan that called for separate enclaves/cantons of Christians, Druze and Muslims. Frangieh became firmly set against the onset of a Lebanese federal state that would make an alliance with Israel, promoted instead an Arab pro-Syrian alliance and stopped attending meetings with the Lebanese Front.
The incident is known as the Ehden massacre. Kataeb member at the time Samir Geagea, who allegedly headed the Phalangist force responsible for the Ehden massacre, admitted that he was among the "military squad" that was in charge of the Ehden "operation", but he denied taking part in the massacre, claiming that he was shot in his right hand before getting to the area and was taken to a hospital. Elie Hobeika has always denied taking part in the killing.
Modern politics
After the 2005 legislative elections, the Marada became a member of the (pro-Syrian) opposition alliance together with Hezbollah.
In June 2006, the Marada Movement was officially launched as a political party during a ceremony attended by supporters and representatives from Hezbollah, Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, and several pro-Syrian political figures.
In the 2009 Lebanese general election, Marada won all 3 seats in the electoral district of Zgharta, Marada was initially part of the Change and Reform bloc but left in 2013.
In the 2010 municipal election, Marada won in Zgharta and won a total of 17 out of 31 municipalities in the Zgharta District.
In the 2018 Lebanese general election, Marada won 3 seats in North III: 2 Maronite seats in Zgharta and 1 Orthodox seat in Koura. After the elections, Frangieh formed the Independent National Bloc () with Farid Haykal Khazen, Faisal Karami, Jihad Al Samad and Jbeil Shia MP Moustafa Husseini.
Faisal Karami and Jihad Al Samad left the bloc, Koura MP Fayez Ghosn and Jbeil MP Moustafa Husseini died which left the bloc with only 2 MP.
In the 2022 Lebanese general election, only one official Marada candidate Tony Frangieh Jr. won, Marada candidate in Tripoli Rafli Diab got the highest preferential votes for the Orthodox seat in North II but lost, Koura candidate Fadi Ghosn (brother of Fayez Ghosn) lost in favor of William Tawk.