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. After the elections, Tony Frangieh formed a bloc with several MPs that represent feudal families (Frangieh, Khazen, Tawk, Murr) and their presidential candidate for the
2022–2025 Lebanese presidential election is
Suleiman Frangieh. == Controversy ==