Communist Action Organization In Lebanon
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The Communist Action Organization in Lebanon – CAOL ( , ''munaẓẓamah al-‘amal al-shuyū‘ī fī lubnān''), also known as Organization of Communist Action in Lebanon (OCAL) or the Secular Democratic Left Action Organization, is a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
and former
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
.


Membership

The OACL was one of Lebanon's few multi-sectarian parties, with
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
,
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
and
Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
members, but its main support base lay on the Shi'a Muslim community. OACL played a major role in the political radicalization of the Shi'a community during the 1970s.Israel in Lebanon, 1975-82, James A. Reilly, MERIP Reports, No. 108/109, The Lebanon War (Sep. - Oct., 1982), pp. 14-20 In the 1980s, it had a membership of about 2,000.


History of the OACL


Merger and foundation of OACL

The OACL was formed around 1970 through the merger of the Organization of Lebanese Socialists and
Socialist Lebanon Socialist Lebanon (, ''Lubnān al-ištirākī'') was a Marxist group in Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabi ...
. The Organization of Lebanese Socialists was led by Muhsin Ibrahim and Muhammed Kishli. It had its roots in the Lebanese branch of the
Arab Nationalist Movement The Arab Nationalist Movement (, ''Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab''), also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Arab world, particularly within the Pales ...
(ANM), a radical
pan-Arab Pan-Arabism () is a pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arab people in a single nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is ref ...
movement.Yazīd Sāyigh. ''Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993'', Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 302-303. . During the 1960s Ibrahim was a leading figure in the leftist tendency with the ANM. This tendency, led by
Nayef Hawatmeh Nayef Hawatmeh (; Kunya: Abu an-Nuf; born 17 November 1938) is a Jordanian politician who is the head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Biography Hawatmeh hails from a Jordanian clan and is a practicing Greek Catholi ...
, argued that the ANM ought to adopt a
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
outlook. This was opposed by the top ANM leader
George Habash George Habash (1 August 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a Palestinian politician and physician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) from 1967 to 2000. Habash was born in Ly ...
who, although being open to introducing Marxist concepts like
anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influen ...
into the discourse of the ANM, wanted to retain the
anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
character of the organization. As the central leadership of ANM had shifted to
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, the Lebanese branch began to function more autonomously. The official ANM organ ''
al-Hurriya Hurriya or Hurriyya (Arabic, 'freedom') may refer to: Places * Al-Hurriya, Baghdad, a neighborhood in Iraq's capital *Hurriya, a district of Idlib, Syria * Al Hurriya Air Base, a military airbase in Iraq * Camp Hurriya, or Camp Liberty, a former U ...
'' ('Freedom'), of which Ibrahim had become editor in 1960, became a ''de facto'' mouthpiece for the Marxist sector. In 1968 the Lebanese branch of ANM broke its links to the mother organization, and renamed itself as the Organization of Lebanese Socialists. Socialist Lebanon was a small group of Marxist intellectuals,
Arab nationalists Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...
and former Ba'athists which had been formed in 1965. Leading members included people like Ahmed Beydoun, Waddah Sharara, Fawwaz Trabulsi and Ismat Kawwas.Kazziha, Walid, ''Revolutionary Transformation in the Arab World: Habash and his Comrades from Nationalism to Marxism'', p. 99.


Early history of the Organization

Ibrahim became the General Secretary of OACL. OACL was closely allied with the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine led by Naif Hawatmeh, which had a similar background to the left-wing sector of the ANM. Hawatmeh had broken away from the ANM in 1969, setting up the PDFLP (later renamed as the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and Maoist organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya (). It is a member ...
). ''Al-Hurriya'' was published from Beirut as the joint organ of PDFLP/DFLP and OACL until 1977, when it became the DFLP organ. The OACL criticized the
Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
(LCP) led by
George Hawi George Hawi (; born 5 November 1938 – 21 June 2005) was a Lebanese politician and former secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP). An outspoken critic of Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, he was killed in 2005 by a bomb ...
for '
reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...
tendencies',Assad Abu Khalil, "Government and Politics", in ''A Country Study:Lebanon'' accessed 1 January 2007 from
United States Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers copyright law ...
website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/lbtoc.html .
but held unsuccessful talks on a party merger in the mid-1970s. OACL had a profound impact in the radical student movement that emerged in Lebanon in the early 1970s. In the spring of 1972 a large number of OACL members, who felt that neither group had committed sufficiently to "
people's war People's war or protracted people's war is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to maintain the support of the population ...
", defected to
Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
. In 1973 the OACL took part in the formation of the
Lebanese National Movement The Lebanese National Movement (LNM; , ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') was a front of Leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, which supported ...
(LNM) together with the
Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...
(PSP), the
Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
,
Nasserists Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President of Egypt, President. Spa ...
and others. Ibrahim became the General Secretary of the LNM. In 1973-1974 the OACL was active in the Gandour food factory strike.


Military structure and organization

In virtue of
Mohsen Ibrahim Mohsin Ibrahim ( ''Muḥsin ‘Ibrāhīm''), Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Khaled (; 1935 – June 3, 2020), was a Lebanon, Lebanese politician. He was a prominent personality of the Lebanese and Arab left. Initially a Nasserism, Nasserist nationali ...
's position as the executive secretary of the
Lebanese National Movement The Lebanese National Movement (LNM; , ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') was a front of Leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, which supported ...
(LNM) since 1973, the OCAL played a major role in the 1975-76 Civil War thanks to his allegedly 2,000-strong militia, trained and armed by the
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
DFLP and
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. Some sources however, estimate that the actual numbers of OCAL's military wing in the early 1980s were much lower, at about 150-200 fighters at most, being essentially a lightly-armed infantry force devoid of any heavy weapons with the exception of a tiny number of Gun trucks and
technicals Technicals may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle often used in civil conflict * TECHNICALS, a clothing brand owned by Blacks Leisure Group See also * Technical (disambiguation) Technical may refer to: * Technical ...
armed with
heavy machine gun A heavy machine gun (HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable (carried by one person) and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or ...
s and
recoilless rifle A Recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "rr" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some fo ...
s.


The OACL in the Lebanese Civil War

When the
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...
broke out in April 1975, the OACL fought on the side of the LNM, participating in the
Battle of the Hotels The Battle of the Hotels (, ''Maʿrakah al-Fanādiq'') was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War that occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut. This area was one of the first major battles of ...
. In the early 1980s the OACL had been allied with the Syrians; in 1981, in support of Syria, Ibrahim had called for the resignation of then Lebanese Prime-Minister
Shafik Wazzan Shafik Al-Wazzan (, January 16, 1925 – July 8, 1999) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 27th Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1980 until 1984. In December 1991, Wazzan was wounded when a car bomb exploded in the Beirut neighborhood of Ba ...
, who was felt to be too closely allied to then President
Élias Sarkis Élias Sarkis (; 20 July 1924 – 27 June 1985) was a Lebanese lawyer and politician who served as the 6th president of Lebanon from 1976 to 1982. Early life and education Élias Sarkis was born in Chebanieh, a mixed Christian-Druze mountain vil ...
.


1982 and onwards

However, the LNM dissolved after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon of June 1982 and the expulsion of the
PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
from Beirut. After the defeat of 1982, Muhsin Ibrahim elaborated a critical review of the politics of the LNM during its decade-long existence, which were disseminated through the party weekly organ ''Beirut al-Massa'' in the end of that year. Ibrahim's criticism was based on three points: that LNM forces had committed communal violence (although less than their opponents), that it had become dependent on other Arab states (a candid reference to the role of Syria) and that the LNM had failed in its mobilization of various sectors of Lebanese society due to the inclusion of traditional political elements in the Movement. The OACL then played a leading role in the early phases of resistance to the Israeli occupation. According to Hawi, the Lebanese Communist Party, the OACL and the Arab Socialist Action Party led by Hussein Hamdan had agreed to establish a specifically Lebanese resistance formation before the expulsion of the PLO. Hawi claims that the joint communique calling for resistance to the Israeli occupation of Beirut was written by himself and Ibrahim on 15 September 1982, while the initial resistance activities against the Israelis were undertaken jointly by the Communist Party and the OACL along with some smaller organizations, with Hawi and Ibrahim meeting daily in secret to coordinate activities. During the 1980s the
Syrian occupation of Lebanon The Syrian occupation of Lebanon lasted from 31 May 1976, beginning with the Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War, until 30 April 2005. This period saw significant Syrian military and political influence over Lebanon, impacting its g ...
grew stronger, and the OACL's alliance with Syria weakened. When the War of the Camps broke out at Beirut in May 1985, the OACL allied itself with the pro- Arafat
Palestinian refugee camp Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodate Palestinians who were displaced by the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight during the 1948 Palestine war. Camps were established by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UN ...
militias, the
Al-Mourabitoun The Independent Nasserite Movement – INM () or simply Al-Murabitoun ( lit. ''The Steadfast''), also termed variously Independent Nasserite Organization (INO) or Movement of Independent Nasserists (MIN), is a Nasserist political party in Leban ...
, the Sixth of February Movement and the Kurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L) against a powerful coalition of
Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...
(PSP),
Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
(LCP), and
Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
Amal Movement The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by ...
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
forces backed by
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
,Stork, Joe.
The War of the Camps, The War of the Hostages
in ''MERIP Reports'', No. 133. (June 1985), pp. 3–7, 22.
the
Lebanese Army The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; ), also known as the Lebanese Army (), is the national military of the Republic of Lebanon. It consists of three branches, the ground forces, the air force, and the navy. The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is ...
, and anti-Arafat dissident Palestinian guerrilla factions. The anti-Syrian coalition was defeated and by 1987 the OACL was forced underground, since Muhsen Ibrahim refused to go along with the Syrian policy of opposition to PLO chairman
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
. During 1982-2000, the OACL supported the
Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...
Islamist
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
movement in its campaign of guerrilla warfare against the
Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon lasted for eighteen years, from 1982 until 2000. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to attacks from southern Lebanon by Palestinian militants. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) occupied the ...
. In 2022 the party relaunched its activities with a name change to the "Secular Democratic Left Action Organization", passing a resolution de-emphasizing Marxism and communism and focusing the party's ideology on secular socialist democracy.


See also

*
Battle of the Hotels The Battle of the Hotels (, ''Maʿrakah al-Fanādiq'') was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War that occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut. This area was one of the first major battles of ...
*
Demographics of Lebanon This is a demography of the population of Lebanon including population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 95% of the population of Lebanon is ei ...
*
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...
*
Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
*
Lebanese National Movement The Lebanese National Movement (LNM; , ''Al-Harakat al-Wataniyya al-Lubnaniyya'') was a front of Leftist, pan-Arabist and Syrian nationalist parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, which supported ...
*
Lebanese National Resistance Front The Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF; ), best known by its Arabic acronym, ‘Jammoul’ (جمول), was a leftist alliance led by Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party, active in Lebanon from the 1982-1990 phase of the Civil ...
*
List of weapons of the Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War was a multi-sided military conflict that pitted a variety of local irregular militias, both Muslim and Christian, against each other between 1975 and 1990. A wide variety of weapons were used by the different armies and ...
*
People's Liberation Army (Lebanon) The People's Liberation Army – PLA (Arabic: جيش التحرير الشعبي , ''Jayish al-Tahrir al-Sha'aby''), also known as the Armée populaire de libération (APL) in French language, French or Forces of the Martyr Kamal Jumblatt (Ara ...
*
Progressive Socialist Party The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...
*
Popular Guard The Popular Guard or Popular Guards – PG ( , ''Al-Harās al-Sha‘abī'') was the military wing of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), which fought in the Lebanese Civil War#First phase (1975–1977), 1975–1977 phase of the Lebanese Civil W ...
*
Politics of Lebanon Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. Th ...
* War of the Camps


References


Bibliography

* CIA Lebanon report, ''Directory of Libanese Militias – A Reference Aid'', NESA 84-10171C, June 1984, pp. 6–7. Declassified in Part – Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP85T00314R000100070001-4.

*
Edgar O'Ballance Major Edgar "Paddy" O'Ballance (17 July 1918, Dublin, Ireland – 8 July 2009, Wakebridge, Derbyshire, England) was an Irish-born British military journalist, researcher, defence commentator and academic lecturer specialising in internatio ...
, ''Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92'', Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. *Fawwaz Traboulsi, ''A History of Modern Lebanon: Second Edition'', Pluto Press, London 2012. * Jennifer Philippa Eggert, ''Female Fighters and Militants During the Lebanese Civil War: Individual Profiles, Pathways, and Motivations'', Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, 2018.

* Jennifer Philippa Eggert, ''Women and the Lebanese Civil War: Female Fighters in Lebanese and Palestinian Militias'', Palgrave Macmillan, London 2022 (1st edition). , 3030837874 *Marius Deeb, ''The Lebanese Civil War'', Praeger Publishers Inc., New York 1980. *Rex Brynen, ''Sanctuary and Survival: the PLO in Lebanon'', Boulder: Westview Press, Oxford 1990.

*
Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...
, ''Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War'', London: Oxford University Press, (3rd ed. 2001).

*Samir Makdisi and Richard Sadaka, ''The Lebanese Civil War, 1975-1990'', American University of Beirut, Institute of Financial Economics, Lecture and Working Paper Series (2003 No.3), pp. 1–53.

*Tom Najem and Roy C. Amore, ''Historical Dictionary of Lebanon'', Second Edition, Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, Boulder, New York & London 2021. , 1538120437 *William W. Harris, ''Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions'', Princeton Series on the Middle East, Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997. , 1-55876-115-2 {{Authority control 1970 establishments in Lebanon Left-wing militant groups Communist militant groups Communist parties in Lebanon Factions in the Lebanese Civil War Lebanese National Movement Lebanese National Resistance Front Political parties established in 1970