Najib Fayad's Resistance in Lebanon

In 1975, at the onset of the war in Lebanon and the Palestinian and Syrian attacks against the country, Najib Fayad was still very young but chose to fight for freedom. He joined the Movement of the Cedars—known as Tanzim (“the Organization”)—a Lebanese Resistance movement inspired by intellectuals such as Said Akl (considered one of the most important modern Lebanese poets, a staunch advocate of Lebanese identity and nationalism, and creator of a Latin-based “Lebanese alphabet” of 37 letters published in Loubnan newspaper), Charles Malek (chairman of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in Paris, where the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted, and later President of the UN General Assembly’s thirteenth session), May Murr (historian, writer, poet, political activist, and co-founder of Loubnan newspaper), and Alfred Murr (civil engineer, industrialist, author, political activist, and also co-founder of Loubnan). Tanzim was trained by Lebanese Army officers, among them General Michel Aoun.

Najib Fayad was among the founders of the Lebanese Forces (LF), the unified armed resistance and the military wing of the Front for Freedom and Man (later replaced by the Lebanese Front). He defended the strategic Museum–Badaro crossing in Beirut and fought in several decisive battles, including the battles of Tell el-Zaatar, Jisr el-Basha and Karantina against Palestinian organizations within the Tanzim, and the “Hundred Days War” in Achrafieh against the Syrian Army. His nom de guerre at the time was “Bull” reflecting his Scout totem.

Bachir Gemayel, Commander-in-Chief of the LF and member of the Lebanese Front, appointed Najib Fayad as the new Managing Director of the Gamma Group. This institution, successor to Dar al-Amal (a popular committee founded by Joseph Abi Khalil and Madis Gemayel Assouad, later directed by Raymond Arab, alias Moni), was transformed under Fayad’s leadership into Lebanon’s first true think tank: a shadow government of specialists, academics, and intellectuals. Among them were Georges Freiha (former coordinator of the popular committees and chief of staff of Bachir Gemayel’s presidential campaign), Joseph Maila (professor and former Director of Policy Planning at the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs), Selim Jahel (former magistrate and Minister of Housing and Cooperatives), Antoine Fattal (diplomat, former Lebanese Ambassador to the Holy See, and one of the key architects of the May 17 Agreement between Lebanon and Israel in 1983), Selim Catafago (former head of the Litani River Authority), Dr. Ibrahim Sahyoun, and Najib Amiouni (entrepreneur and founder of Noni).

The Gamma Group devised the presidential program of Bachir Gemayel, entitled “The State of the Year 2000,” a comprehensive vision of Lebanon’s future covering politics, economy, finance, and administration. Structured into eighteen branches, each corresponding to a ministry, it functioned as a genuine shadow government. The Group also played a key role in the launching of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) in 1985, now one of the leading television channels in the Middle East and North Africa. Father Selim Abou summarized the project’s main outlines in his book Béchir Gemayel ou l’Esprit d’un peuple (pp. 349–360).

The Gamma Group continued its work under Fady Frem, Commander-in-Chief of the LF from 1982 to 1984. Najib Fayad then became adviser to Dr. Fouad Abou Nader, elected Commander-in-Chief of the LF in 1984. Later, in 1989–1990, together with Dr. Abou Nader, Massoud Achkar, the Bureau Central de Coordination Nationale (BCCN, created by the Tanzim), and Captain Boutros Yammine (martyred on 13 October 1990, the day of the Syrian invasion of Free Lebanon’s last bastion), Fayad took part in demonstrations in Baabda against the Taef Agreement and in favor of a Free Lebanon.