Al Amal (Lebanon)

Al Amal was founded in 1939.[2][3] The paper, headquartered in Beirut,[4] is published both in Arabic and French.[3][5] It is the official publication of the Kataeb Party, also known as Phalangist Party and had a right-wing approach.[6] Until 1946 Al Amal was distributed with another Kataeb paper entitled Action which was published in French.[7] 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.[7]

Its major function was to convey the party's views and ideas.[2] In the 1940s Al Amal frequently published anti-Israeli news and articles.[8] From 1945 it also frequently criticized the Lebanese government.[7] The membership of the Kataeb Party significantly increased following the crisis in 1958 which also led to rise in the readership of the paper.[9] Subscription to the newspaper became compulsory for all phalangist members in 1966.[2]

In the 1980s Al Amal was published daily,[10] but later its frequence was switched to weekly. In October 1985 Elie Hobeika, a militia commander, attempted to suspend the publication of Al Amal, but did not manage to close down the paper.[11] However, he seized the headquarters of Le Reveil, a French language daily, which was founded by Amine Gemayel.[11] 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 Lebanese Forces in 1986,[12] but now reflects solely the points of view of the Phalange which is the license holder.[13]

The circulation of Al Amal was 35,000 copies in the beginning of the 2000s.[14] The long-term editors-in-chief of the paper were Elias Rababi[2] and Joseph Abu Khalil.[15] Both were also the leading figures of the Phalangist Party in the 1940s.[8] Lebanese caricaturist Pierre Sadek contributed to the newspaper.[15]