Merger and foundation of OACL The OACL was formed around 1970 through the merger of the
Organization of Lebanese Socialists and
Socialist Lebanon. 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 (ANM), a radical
pan-Arab movement. During the 1960s Ibrahim was a leading figure in the leftist tendency with the ANM. This tendency, led by
Nayef Hawatmeh, argued that the ANM ought to adopt a
Marxist outlook. This was opposed by the top ANM leader
George Habash who, although being open to introducing Marxist concepts like
anti-imperialism into the discourse of the ANM, wanted to retain the
anti-communist character of the organization. As the central leadership of ANM had shifted to
Damascus, the Lebanese branch began to function more autonomously. The official ANM organ
al-Hurriya ('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 and former
Ba'athists which had been formed in 1965. Leading members included people like Ahmed Beydoun, Waddah Sharara, Fawwaz Trabulsi and Ismat Kawwas.
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 OACL criticized the
Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) led by
George Hawi for '
reformist tendencies', 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 1973-1974 the OACL was active in the
Gandour food factory strike. being essentially a lightly armed infantry force devoid of any heavy weapons with the exception of a tiny number of
Gun trucks and
technicals armed with
heavy machine guns and
recoilless rifles.
The OACL in the Lebanese Civil War When the
Lebanese Civil War broke out in April 1975, the OACL fought on the side of the LNM, participating in the
Battle of the Hotels. 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, who was felt to be too closely allied to then President
Élias Sarkis.
1982 and onwards However, the LNM dissolved after the Israeli
invasion of Lebanon of June 1982 and the expulsion of the
PLO 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 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 militias, the
Al-Mourabitoun, the
Sixth of February Movement and the
Kurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L) against a powerful coalition of
Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP),
Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), and
Shia Muslim Amal Movement militia forces backed by
Syria, the
Lebanese Army, 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. ==See also==