Arab Nationalist Movement

Arab Nationalist Movement (Harakat al-Qaumiyeen al-Arabi), a radical pan-Arab nationalist organization. ANM had its origins in a student group led by George Habash at the American University of Beirut which emerged in the late 1940's. The group formed branches in various Arab states. The group took the name ANM in 1958.

In the 1960's an internal division surged, as one section oriented itself towards Marxism. This section was led by Nayef Hawatme.

The Palestinian branch of ANM was reconstituted as the National Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In December 1967 NFLP unified with two other Palestinian factions, Heroes of Return and the Palestine Liberation Front. Together they formed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. But the Hawatme leftist faction broke away from PFLP in early 1968 and formed the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The left-right split cut across most of the ANM branches, and led to the disintegration of the movement. This was a development partially propelled by the defeat of Egypt in the 1967, which had led to the discreditation of Nasserism and provoked the ANM to play down its pan-Arab character.

In 1964 the local ANM branch in Oman participated in the formation of the National Liberation Front of Dhofar. The ANM as a whole supported the Dhofar struggle. NLFD later emerged into the Peoples Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf, later the Peoples Front for the Liberation of Oman.

In South Yemen the local ANM branc was instrumental in forming the National Liberation Front which would later become the Yemeni Socialist Party, the leading political party in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen.

In Egypt the ANM branch merged into Arab Socialist Union, but they were later depolitized after an internal purge.

In Iraq the ANM branc had merged into the Arab Socialist Union in 1964, but a section later broke away to form the Arab Socialist Movement. Likewise in Syria, ANM had entered the Arab Socialist Union, but both the Hawatme and Habash loyalists later reconstituted themselves as independent parties.

In Lebanon the Hawatme wing (which has in majority in the Lebanon branch) reconstituted itself as the Organisation of Lebanese Socialists in 1968, and in later merged with Socialist Lebanon to form the Communist Action Organization. The Habash loyalist worked under the name of Socialist Labour Party for a while.

In Kuwait the ANM branch was reconstituted as the Progressive Democrats, a political party still in existence.

The Saudi branch gave birth to the Communist Party of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Socialist Action Party.