Communist Action Organization in Lebanon منظمة العمل الشيوعي في لبنان | |
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| Abbreviation | CAOL; OCAL |
| Secretary-General | Zaki Taha |
| Founder | Mohsen Ibrahim |
| Founded | 1970 (1970) |
| Merger of | Organization of Lebanese Socialists Socialist Lebanon |
| Headquarters | Beirut |
| Newspaper | Al-Hurriya |
| Membership | 2,000 (1980s) |
| Ideology | Socialism Secularism Formerly: Communism Marxism–Leninism |
| Political position | Left-wing tofar-left |
| Parliament of Lebanon | 0 / 128 |
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Subdivisions |
TheCommunist Action Organization in Lebanon – CAOL (Arabic:منظمة العمل الشيوعي في لبنان |munaẓẓamah al-‘amal al-shuyū‘ī fī lubnān), also known asOrganization of Communist Action in Lebanon (OCAL) or theSecular Democratic Left Action Organization, is asocialistpolitical party and formermilitia inLebanon.
The OACL was one of Lebanon's few multi-sectarian parties, withChristian,Muslim andDruze members, but its main support base lay on theShi'a Muslim community.[1] OACL played a major role in the political radicalization of the Shi'a community during the 1970s.[2] In the 1980s, it had a membership of about 2,000.[3]
The OACL was formed around 1970 through the merger of theOrganization of Lebanese Socialists andSocialist Lebanon.[4]
The Organization of Lebanese Socialists was led by Muhsin Ibrahim and Muhammed Kishli. It had its roots in the Lebanese branch of theArab Nationalist Movement (ANM), a radicalpan-Arab movement.[5] During the 1960s Ibrahim was a leading figure in the leftist tendency with the ANM. This tendency, led byNayef Hawatmeh, argued that the ANM ought to adopt aMarxist outlook. This was opposed by the top ANM leaderGeorge Habash who, although being open to introducing Marxist concepts likeanti-imperialism into the discourse of the ANM, wanted to retain theanti-communist character of the organization.
As the central leadership of ANM had shifted toDamascus, the Lebanese branch began to function more autonomously. The official ANM organal-Hurriya ('Freedom'), of which Ibrahim had become editor in 1960, became ade facto mouthpiece for the Marxist sector.[6] In 1968 the Lebanese branch of ANM broke its links to the mother organization, and renamed itself as theOrganization of Lebanese Socialists.[7]
Socialist Lebanon was a small group of Marxist intellectuals,Arab nationalists and formerBa'athists which had been formed in 1965. Leading members included people like Ahmed Beydoun, Waddah Sharara, Fawwaz Trabulsi and Ismat Kawwas.[5][8][9]
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 theDemocratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine).[5]Al-Hurriya was published from Beirut as the joint organ of PDFLP/DFLP and OACL until 1977, when it became the DFLP organ.[10]
The OACL criticized theLebanese Communist Party (LCP) led byGeorge Hawi for 'reformist tendencies',[11] 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.[2]
In the spring of 1972 a large number of OACL members, who felt that neither group had committed sufficiently to "people's war", defected toFatah.[5]
In 1973 the OACL took part in the formation of theLebanese National Movement (LNM) together with theProgressive Socialist Party (PSP), theLebanese Communist Party,Nasserists and others. Ibrahim became the General Secretary of the LNM.[12]
In 1973-1974 the OACL was active in theGandour food factory strike.[2]
| Communist Action Organization in Lebanon منظمة العمل الشيوعي في لبنان | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | Mohsen Ibrahim |
| Dates of operation | 1975–1991 |
| Headquarters | West Beirut |
| Active regions | Lebanon |
| Size | 2,000 fighters |
| Part of | Lebanese National Movement Lebanese National Resistance Front |
| Allies |  Al-Mourabitoun Progressive Socialist Party (PSP)/.jpg) People's Liberation Army (PLA) Lebanese Communist Party (LCP)/Popular Guard Arab Socialist Action Party – Lebanon (ASAP–L) Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Syrian Arab Armed Forces |
| Opponents |  Lebanese Front Lebanese Forces Lebanese Armed Forces Internal Security ForcesProgressive Socialist Party (PSP)/People's Liberation Army (PLA)Lebanese Communist Party (LCP)/Popular Guard.svg) Amal MovementSouth Lebanon Army (SLA)  Israel Defense Forces (IDF)Syrian Arab Armed Forces |
| Battles and wars | Lebanese Civil War |
In virtue ofMohsen Ibrahim's position as the executive secretary of theLebanese National Movement (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 thePalestinianDFLP andSyria. 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,[13] being essentially a lightly armed infantry force devoid of any heavy weapons with the exception of a tiny number ofGun trucks andtechnicals armed withheavy machine guns andrecoilless rifles.
When theLebanese Civil War broke out in April 1975, the OACL fought on the side of the LNM, participating in theBattle 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-MinisterShafik Wazzan, who was felt to be too closely allied to then PresidentÉlias Sarkis.[14]
However, the LNM dissolved after the Israeliinvasion of Lebanon of June 1982 and the expulsion of thePLO 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 organBeirut 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.[15]
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[16] 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.[17]
During the 1980s theSyrian occupation of Lebanon grew stronger, and the OACL's alliance with Syria weakened. When theWar of the Camps broke out at Beirut in May 1985, the OACL allied itself with the pro-ArafatPalestinian refugee camp militias, theAl-Mourabitoun, theSixth of February Movement and theKurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L) against a powerful coalition ofDruzeProgressive Socialist Party (PSP),Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), andShia MuslimAmal Movementmilitia forces backed bySyria,[18] theLebanese Army,[19] 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 chairmanYasser Arafat.[11]
During 1982-2000, the OACL supported theShi'aIslamistHezbollah movement in itscampaign of guerrilla warfare against theIsraeli occupation of Southern Lebanon.
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.[20]
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