Al Amal (Lebanon)

This article is about the Lebanese newspaper. For the Tunisian newspaper with the same name, see Al Amal (Tunisia). For the Aden, Yemen newspaper, see Al-'Amal (Aden). For other uses, see Al Amal.

Al Amal
TypeWeekly newspaper
Owner(s)Kataeb Party
Founded1939; 86 years ago (1939)
Political alignmentRight-wing political stance
Language
  • Arabic
  • French
HeadquartersBeirut
CountryLebanon
Sister newspapers

Al Amal (Arabic: العمل, lit. 'The Work') is a long-running Arabic Lebanese newspaper affiliated with the Kataeb Party.[1] It is published in Arabic and in French on a weekly basis in Beirut, Lebanon.

History and profile

Al Amal was founded in 1939.[2][3] The paper is headquartered in Beirut,[4] and had Arabic and French editions.[3][5] It is the official publication of the Kataeb Party, also known as Phalangist Party, and has a right-wing approach.[6] In the early period the publisher of the paper was Pierre Gemayel, leader of the Kataeb Party.[7] Until 1946 Al Amal was distributed with another Kataeb paper entitled Action which was published in French.[8] From 21 November 1946 Al Amal became an Arabic daily newspaper, and Action was made a separate French-language weekly newspaper on 3 October 1948.[8]

Its major function is to convey the party's views and ideas.[2] In the 1940s Al Amal frequently published anti-Israeli news and articles.[9] From 1945 it also frequently criticized the Lebanese government.[8] The membership of the Kataeb Party significantly increased following the crisis in 1958 which also increased the significance of the paper.[10] However, during this turmoil Fuad Haddad, editor-in-chief of Al Amal, was kidnapped on 23 September.[11] Subscription to the newspaper became compulsory for all Kataeb Party members in 1966.[2]

The paper had an oppositional stance against the Palestinian refugees in the country in 1980.[11] In the 1980s Al Amal was published daily,[12] but later its frequency was switched to weekly. In October 1985 Elie Hobeika, a militia commander, unsuccessfully attempted to suspend the publication of Al Amal.[13] However, he seized the headquarters of Le Reveil, a French-language daily founded by Amine Gemayel.[13] Following the control of the party by the Lebanese Forces, namely Elie Hobeika and Samir Geagea, Al Amal was for a time temporarily controlled by the group in 1986,[14] but now reflects solely the points of view of the Phalange which is its license holder.[15]

The circulation of Al Amal was 35,000 copies in the beginning of the 2000s.[16]

Editors and contributors

The long-term editors-in-chief of the paper were Elias Rababi[2] and Joseph Abu Khalil.[17] Both were also the leading figures of the Phalangist Party in the 1940s.[9] Another editor-in-chief of Al Amal was Fuad Haddad who was abducted while serving in the post on 23 September 1958.[11] Lebanese caricaturist Pierre Sadek contributed to the newspaper.[17]

References

  1. ^ Muhammad I. Ayish (2008). The New Arab Public Sphere. Berlin: Frank & Timme GmbH. p. 110. ISBN 978-3-86596-168-6.
  2. ^ a b c d John Pierre Entelis (1974). Pluralism and Party Transformation in Lebanon: Al-Kataʼib, 1936-1970. Leiden: Brill. p. 62. ISBN 978-90-04-03911-7.
  3. ^ a b "Media Landscape". Menassat. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. ^ The Middle East and North Africa 2003. London; New York: Europa Publications. 2002. p. 737. ISBN 978-1-85743-132-2.
  5. ^ "Phalange Party". Country Studies. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  6. ^ Mahmoud M. Hammoud; Walid A. Afifi (1994). "Lebanon". In Yahya R. Kamalipour; Hamid Mowlana (eds.). Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-3132-8535-6.
  7. ^ Caroline Camille Attie (1996). Lebanon in the 1950s: President Chamoun and Western policy in Lebanon (PhD thesis). University of Texas at Austin. p. 142. ISBN 9798691260339. ProQuest 304273708.
  8. ^ a b c Richard Hans Laursen (1951). The Katàib: A Comprehensive Study of a Lebanese Political Party (MA thesis). American University of Beirut. pp. 60, 67. ProQuest 2320987156.
  9. ^ a b Eyal Zisser (October 1995). "The Maronites, Lebanon and the State of Israel: Early Contacts". Middle Eastern Studies. 31 (4): 911. JSTOR 4283765.
  10. ^ Claude Boueiz Kanaan (1995). Intercommunal relations and the 1958 crisis in Lebanon (PhD thesis). SOAS University of London. pp. 45–46. ProQuest 1977906991.
  11. ^ a b c Fawwaz Traboulsi (2012). A History of Modern Lebanon (2nd ed.). London: Pluto Press. pp. 135, 138, 217. doi:10.2307/j.ctt183p4f5. ISBN 9780745332741. JSTOR j.ctt183p4f5.
  12. ^ Itamar Rabinovich (1988). "1988: A Shift of Accent". In Ami Ayalon (ed.). Middle East Contemporary Survey. Vol. X. Boulder, CO; London: Westview Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-8133-0764-0.
  13. ^ a b Ed Blanche (30 October 1985). "Christian militia leader closes president's newspaper". Associated Press. Beirut. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Rift in Militia Perils Lebanon Accord". Chicago Tribune. Beirut. UPI. 5 January 1986. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  15. ^ "Law and Practice". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Lebanon Press". Press Reference. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  17. ^ a b Elie Hajj (26 April 2013). "Lebanon Loses Pierre Sadek, Prominent Political Cartoonist". Al Monitor. Retrieved 22 September 2013.