Iskandar Ghanem

Iskandar Ghanem (Arabic: اسكندر غانم; 1911 – 4 February 2005) was a Lebanese army general who was the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army in the period from 1971 to 1976. He was close to Suleiman Frangieh and held the post during his presidency.[1]

Iskandar Ghanem
Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces
In office
1971–1976
PresidentSuleiman Frangieh
Preceded byJean Njeim
Succeeded byHanna Said
Personal details
Born
Iskandar Assad Ghanem

1911
Saghbine, Ottoman Empire
Died4 February 2005(2005-02-04) (aged 93–94)
Children3, including Robert Ghanem
AwardsOrder of the Cedar
Military service
AllegianceLebanon
RankGeneral

Biography

Ghanem was born in Saghbine, West Bekaa, in 1911[2][3] and hailed from a Maronite family.[4] From 1934 he attended the military school and graduated as a second lieutenant in 1937.[3]

Ghanem was dismissed from the Lebanese army, but he rejoined the army on 24 July 1971 when he was promoted to the rank of general.[5] Immediately after his promotion Ghanem was appointed commander-in-chief of the army.[6][7] Ghanem replaced Jean Njeim in the post who died in a helicopter crash on 24 July 1971.[6][8] In May 1975 Ghanem was also named minister of national defense and minister of electrical and hydraulic resources in the military cabinet led by retired brigadier general Noureddine Abdullah Rifai.[4] Ghanem served as commander-in-chief of the army until his retirement in January 1976.[2] Ghanem's successor was Hanna Said.[9]

Controversy

The Mossad agents attacked the headquarters of Palestinians in Lebanon on 10 April 1973 and killed three Palestinians who were the leaders of the Black September Organization.[10] The Palestinians murdered in the incident were Kamal Nasser, Muhammad Youssef Najjar, and Kamal Adwan.[11] Upon this incident due to pressures from the Sunni community Prime Minister Saeb Salam requested the dismissal of Iskandar Ghanem, but Salam's request was not accepted by the President Suleiman Frangieh which led to the resignation of Salam.[10][12]

Personal life and death

Ghanem was married and had three sons.[3] One of his children was Robert Ghanem who was a lawyer and served as the education minister in the second cabinet of Rafic Hariri in the mid-1990s.[13] Iskandar Ghanem died on 4 February 2005.[3] A funeral ceremony was held for him on 7 February in the Maronite Cathedral of Saint George in Beirut.[3]

Awards

Ghanem was the recipient of the Order of the Cedar.[3] He was first awarded the rank of commander and then the rank of grand officer.[3]

References
  1. Eduardo W Aboultaif (2016). "The Lebanese Army: Saviour of the Republic?". The RUSI Journal. 161 (1): 74. doi:10.1080/03071847.2016.1152123. S2CID 155411230.
  2. "إسكندر الموقع الرسمي للجيش اللبناني" (in Arabic). Lebanese Army. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. "Le général Iskandar Ghanem: «un grand homme, un exemple pour son pays»". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). 7 February 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  4. "Military Governments in Lebanon". The Monthly. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  5. "Blast near Israel Kills 4 Lebanese". The New York Times. Beirut. 28 November 1971. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  6. Dan Naor; Eyal Lewin (2021). "The 1967 war as point of departure for the 1982 war in Lebanon: an uncommon interpretation". Middle Eastern Studies. 57 (2): 370. doi:10.1080/00263206.2020.1830375. S2CID 231741619.
  7. "Chronology May 16, 1971-August 15, 1971". The Middle East Journal. 25 (4): 513. Autumn 1971. JSTOR 4324833.
  8. "Funeral of Lebanese Army Commander Killed In Helicopter Crash. 1971". Pathé News. Reuters. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  9. Norman Howard (January 1976). "Upheaval in Lebanon". Current History. 70 (412): 7. JSTOR 45314132.
  10. Meir Zamir (January 1990). "The Lebanese Presidential Elections of 1970 and Their Impact on the Civil War of 1975-1976". Middle Eastern Studies. 16 (1): 64. doi:10.1080/00263208008700424.
  11. Rami Siklawi (Summer 2017). "The Palestinian Resistance Movement In Lebanon 1967–82: Survival, Challenges, and Opportunities". Arab Studies Quarterly. 39 (3): 927. doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.39.3.0923.
  12. James R. Stocker (2016). Spheres of Intervention: US Foreign Policy and the Collapse of Lebanon, 1967–1976. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9781501704154.
  13. "Former MP and minister Robert Ghanem, 77 mourned by politicians". Ya Libnan. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
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