Amal Movement The Amal Movement ( or Hope Movement in English , " " ) is a Lebanese political party associated with Lebanon ' s Shia community . It was founded as the " Movement of the Dispossessed " in 1974 . The Amal Movement is , by a small margin , the largest Shia party in parliament , having thirteen representatives to Hezbollah ' s twelve . Amal is currently in an alliance which includes the Free Patriotic Movement , Hezbollah , and the Progressive Socialist Party . The movement ' s current name was originally used by the Movement of the Dispossessed militia , the " Lebanese Resistance Regiments " , . This name , when abbreviated , created the acronym " Amal " , which means " Hope " in Arabic . Origins . Harakat al - Mahrumin / Movement of the Deprived . Harakat al - Mahrumin ( meaning The Movement of the Deprived or the The Movement of the Dispossessed or The Movement of the Disinherited ) was established by Imam Musa al - Sadr and member of parliament Hussein el - Husseini in 1974 , as an attempt to reform the Lebanese system , although the beginnings can be traced to 1969 in declarations by the Imam al - Sadr calling upon peace and equality between all Lebanese confessions and religions , so that no one confession would remain " deprived " in any region in Lebanon , noting that the Shia community in Lebanon remained the poorest and most neglected by the Lebanese government . While acknowledging its support base to be the “ traditionally under - represented politically and economically disadvantaged ” Shi ' a community , it aimed , according to Palmer - Harik , to seek social justice for all deprived Lebanese . Although influenced by Islamic ideas , it was a secular movement trying to unite people along communal rather than religious or ideological lines . The Movement had support from many confessions , but membership remained mainly within the Shia confession and was considered as a definitive Shia force against the traditional Shia families hegemony at the time . The Greek Catholic Archbishop of Beirut , Mgr . Grégoire Haddad , was among the founders of the Movement . The movement was absorbed in 1975 into what is now called Amal movement . Lebanese Resistance Detachments . On January 20 , 1975 , the Lebanese Resistance Detachments ( in Arabic أفواج المقاومة اللبنانية - also referred to in English as ' The Battalions of the Lebanese Resistance ' ) were formed as a military wing of Harakat al - Mahrumin under the leadership of al - Sadr , and came to be popularly known as Amal ( in Arabic أمل ) from the acronym Afwaj al - Mouqawma Al - Lubnaniyya ) . Amal became one of the most important Shi ' a Muslim militias during the Lebanese Civil War . It grew strong with the support of , and through its ties with , Syria and the 300 , 000 Shi ' a internal refugees from southern Lebanon after the Israeli bombings in the early 1980s . Amal ' s practical objectives were to gain greater respect for Lebanon ' s Shi ' ite population and the allocation of a larger share of governmental resources for the Shi ' ite - dominated southern part of the country . At its zenith , the militia had 14 , 000 troops . Amal fought a long campaign against Palestinian refugees during the Lebanese Civil War ( called the War of the Camps ) . After the War of the Camps , Amal fought a bloody battle against rival Shi ' a group Hezbollah for control of Beirut , which provoked Syrian military intervention . Hezbollah itself was formed by religious members of Amal who had left after Nabih Berri ' s assumption of full control and the subsequent resignation of most of Amal ' s earliest members . On January 20 , 1975 The Lebanese Resistance Detachments ( also referred to in English as ' The Battalions of the Lebanese Resistance ' ) is formed as a military wing of The Movement of the Disinherited under the leadership of al - Sadr . In 1978 the founder Al - Sadr disappears in mysterious circumstances while visiting Libya . He was succeeded by Hussein el - Husseini as leader of Amal . In 1979 Palestinian guerrillas attempt to assassinate then - Secretary General Hussein el - Husseini by launching missiles into his home , outside Beirut . In 1980 Hussein el - Husseini resigned from Amal leadership after refusing to " drench Amal in blood " and fight alongside the PLO or any other faction . In 1980 Nabih Berri became one of the leaders of Amal , marking the entry of Amal in the Lebanese Civil War . In summer 1982 Husayn Al - Musawi , deputy head and official spokesman of Amal , broke away to form the Islamist Islamic Amal Movement . In May 1985 , heavy fighting erupted between Amal and Palestinian camp militias for the control of the Sabra , Shatila and Burj el - Barajneh camps in Beirut , sparking the so - called " War of the Camps " which lasted until 1987 . In December 1985 Nabih Berri of Amal , Walid Jumblatt of the Druze Progressive Socialist Party , and Elie Hobeika of the Lebanese Forces signed the Tripartite Accord in Damascus which is supposed to give strong influence to Damascus regarding Lebanese matters . The agreement never came into effect due to Hobeika ' s ousting . Heavy fighting erupted between Hezbollah and Amal in the wake of the " War of Camps " to which Hezbollah was opposed . Syrian forces entered the area to help Amal against Hezbollah , Syrian troops killed dozens of Hezbollah members in which they claimed the members attacked them while Hezbollah claimed they were killed in cold blood . Fighting between the two factions lasted until 1989 . On February 22 , 1987 in what became known as the “ War of the Flag ” , a brutal militia battle spread throughout western Beirut between the Druze PSP and Amal . The fighting had started when a PSP member had walked to the Channel 7 station and replaced the Lebanese flag with a PSP flag , in what was a deliberate act of provocation . The battle ended with the Amal movement winning the battle and restoring the Lebanese Flag . On February 17 , 1988 the American Chief of the UN Truce and Supervision Organisation ' s observer group in Lebanon ( UNTSO ) , Lt . Col . William R . Higgins , was abducted and later killed after meeting with Amal ' s political leader of southern Lebanon . Amal responded by launching a campaign against Hezbollah in the south , It was believed that Hezbollah abducted him ; Though the party to this day denies it and insists that it was done to create problems between them and the Amal movement . In April 1988 Amal launched an all - out assault on Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut . Early in May 1988 Hezbollah gained control of 80 % of the Shi ' ite suburbs of Beirut through well - timed assaults . In 1989 Amal accepted the Taif agreement ( mainly authored by el - Husseini ) in order to end the civil war . In September 1991 , with background in the Syrian controlled end of the Lebanese Civil War in October 1990 , 2 , 800 Amal troops joined the Lebanese army . Military structure and organization . The movement ’ s militia , also designated Battalions de la Resistance Libanaise ( BRL ) in French , but simply known by its Arabic acronym ‘ Amal ’ , was secretly established with the help of the Palestinian Fatah , who provided weapons and training at their Beqaa facilities . The formation of BLR / Amal was revealed in July 1975 when an accidental explosion of a landmine at one of the ‘ Fatahland ’ camps near Baalbek killed over than 60 Shia trainees , which caused considerable embarrassment to Fatah and forced Al - Sadr to admit publicly the militia ’ s existence . When the civil war finally broke out in April 1975 , Amal ’ s strength standed at about 1 , 500 - 3 , 000 armed militants , backed by a motor force of armed jeeps and gun - trucks ( Land Rovers , Ford , GMC and Chevrolet pickups , Pinzgauer 710 light all - terrain vehicles , and US M35A2 2 - 1 / 2 ton cargo trucks ) fitted with heavy machine guns , recoilless rifles and some anti - aircraft autocannons . By the mid - 1980s however , the movement totalled 14 , 000 - 16 , 000 militiamen trained and armed by Syria , of which 10 , 000 alone were part - time male and female irregulars . The bulk of Amal ’ s regular forces was made of 6 , 000 ex - Lebanese Army regular soldiers from the Sixth Brigade , a predominantly Shia Muslim formation that went over to their co - religionists following the collapse of the government forces in February 1984 . Commanded by the Shiite Major - General Abd al - Halim Kanj , and headquartered at the Henri Shihab Barracks in the south - western suburbs of Beirut , this formation was subsequently enlarged by absorbing Shia deserters from other Army units . The brigade aligned an armoured battalion fielding Panhard AML - 90 armoured car s , AMX - 13 light tanks and 30 Syrian - loaned T - 54 / 55 MBTs , three to four mechanized infantry battalions on M113 , Alvis Saracen and VAB ( 4x4 ) armoured personnel carriers , and an artillery battalion equipped with Soviet 122 mm howitzer 2A18 ( D - 30 ) pieces . In addition , the well - equipped Beirut - based Amal forces also operated three ex - PLO ZSU - 23 - 4 ‘ Shilka ’ SPAAG tracked vehicles captured from the Al - Murabitoun in April 1985 , whereas their guerrilla units fighting in the south of the country were able to add a few M113 ZELDA and M3 / M9 ZAHLAM half - tracks captured from the Israel Defense Forces ( IDF ) and their South Lebanon Army ( SLA ) proxies . Upon the end of the war in October 1990 , Amal militia forces operating in the Capital and the Beqaa were ordered to disband . The 6th Brigade was re - integrated into the structure of the Lebanese Armed Forces ( LAF ) whilst an additional 2 , 800 ex - Amal militiamen joined the re - formed Lebanese Army in September of the following year . Despite the order to disarm , Amal guerilla units in the south were to remain in place throughout the 1990s until the final Israeli pull - out of May 2000 and the subsequent collapse of the SLA . Administrative organization and activities . Amal ’ s main sphere of influence encompassed the Shia - populated slum districts located at south - western Beirut of Shiyah , Bir Abed , Bir Hassan , Ouzai , and Khalde , with the latter including the neighbouring International Airport , which they brought under their control in March 1984 . Outside the Capital , they also operated at Baalbek and Hermel in the Beqaa , and in the southern Jabal Amel region , notably around the port cities of Tyre and Sidon down to the UNIFIL zone . In addition to Syrian backing , Amal received some financial support from Libya and Iran – first by the Shah in 1975 - 78 , replaced after 1979 by the new Islamic regime – and from the Lebanese Shi ’ ite immigrant community in West Africa ; additional revenues were levied in illegal ports such as Ouzai in Beirut , along with Zahrani , whose harbour and the adjacent Tapline oil refinery were employed in the contraband of fuel , and Sarafand ( used for smuggling imported cars and other goods ) , both located south of Sidon . The Movement had its own civil administration and assistance networks , gathered since the mid - 1980s under the authority of the so - called ‘ Council of the South ’ ( Arabic : " Majliss al - Orkoub " ) . Headed by Amal ’ s vice - president Muhammad Baydoun and based at the Christian town of Maghdouché near Sidon , it was responsible for running schools , hospitals , and conducting public works on Shia areas . Amal also run from its headquarters at Rue Hamra , in association with Zahir al - Khatib ’ s Workers League a joint television service ( Arabic : " Al - Machriq " ) . Islamic Amal . In the summer of 1982 , Husayn Al - Musawi , deputy head and official spokesman of Amal , broke with Berri over the latter ' s willingness to go along with U . S . mediation in Lebanon rather than attack Israeli troops , his membership in the National Salvation Council alongside the Christians , and his opposition to pledging allegiance to Ayatollah Khomeini . Musawi formed the Islamist Islamic Amal Movement , based in Baalbeck . It was aided by the Islamic Republic of Iran which , in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution , strove not only to help Lebanon ' s Shi ' a , but to export the PanIslamic revolution to the rest of the Muslim world , something Musawi strongly supported , saying , " We are her [ i . e . the Islamic Republic ' s ] children . " We are seeking to formulate an Islamic society which in the final analysis will produce an Islamic state . . . . The Islamic revolution will march to liberate Palestine and Jerusalem , and the Islamic state will then spread its authority over the region of which Lebanon is only a part . ` About 1500 members of Iran ’ s Islamic Revolutionary Guard or Pasdaran , arrived in Beqaa Valley that same time and " directly contributed to ensure the survival and growth of al - Musawi ' s newly - created small militia , " providing training , indoctrination and funding . Iran was in many ways a natural ally of Shia in Lebanon as it was far larger than Lebanon , oil - rich , and both Shi ' a - majority and Shi ' a - ruled . And of course , founder Musa al - Sadr had come from Iran . Iran ' s generous funding meant generous pay for the militias recruits - $ 150 – 200 per month plus cost - free education and medical treatment for themselves and their families - that " far exceeded what other [ Lebanese ] militias were able to offer . " This was a major incentive among the impoverished Shi ' a community , and induced " a sizable number of Amal fighters [ to ] defected regularly to the ranks " of Islamic Amal , and later Hizb ' Allah . But while siding with Syria rather the Islamic Republic of Iran seriously weakened Amal , Berri and others in Amal were reluctant to follow Iran ' s lead . Their reasons reportedly include : Islamic Amal went on to be particularly active in fighting Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon . By August 1983 , Islamic Amal and Hezbollah were " effectively becoming one under the Hezbollah label , " and by late 1984 , Islamic Amal , along with " all the known major groups " in Lebanon , had been absorbed into Hezbollah . The Lebanese War . The War of the Camps . The War of the Camps was a series of battles in the mid - 1980s between Amal and Palestinian groups . The Druze - oriented Progressive Socialist Party ( PSP ) and Hezbollah supported the Palestinians while Syria backed Amal . Although most of the Palestinian guerrillas were expelled during the 1982 Israeli invasion , Palestinian militias began to regain their footing after the Israeli withdrawal from first Beirut , then Sidon and Tyre . Syria viewed this revival with some anxiety : though in the same ideological camp , Damascus had little control over most Palestinians organizations and was afraid that the build - up of Palestinian forces could lead to a new Israeli invasion . Moreover , Syria ' s minority Alawite regime was never comfortable with Sunni militias in Lebanon [ citation required ] . In Lebanon , Shia - Palestinians relations had been very tense since the late 1960s . After the multinational force withdrew from Beirut in February 1984 , Amal and the PSP took control of west Beirut and Amal built a number of outposts around the camps ( in Beirut but also in the south ) . On April 15 , 1985 , Amal and the PSP attacked Al - Murabitun , the main Lebanese Sunni militia and the closest ally of the PLO in Lebanon . Al - Murabitun were vanquished and their leader , Ibrahim Kulaylat was sent into exile . On May 19 , 1985 , heavy fighting erupted between Amal and the Palestinians for the control of the Sabra , Shatila and Burj el - Barajneh camps ( all in Beirut ) . Despite its efforts , Amal could not take the control of the camps . The death toll remains unknown , with estimates ranging from a few hundreds to a few thousands . This and heavy Arab pressure led to a cease - fire on June 17 . The situation remained tense and fights occurred again in September 1985 and March 1986 . On May 19 , 1986 , heavy fighting erupted again . Despite new armaments provided by Syria , Amal could not take control of the camps . Many cease - fires were announced , but most of them did not last more than a few days . The situation began to cool after Syria deployed some troops on June 24 , 1986 . There was tension in the south , an area where Shi ' as and Palestinians were both present . This unavoidably led to frequent clashes . On September 29 , 1986 , fighting erupted at the Rashidiyye camp ( Tyre ) . The conflict immediately spread to Sidon and Beirut . Palestinian forces managed to occupy the Amal - controlled town of Maghdouché on the eastern hills of Sidon to open the road to Rashidiyye . Syrian forces helped Amal and Israel launched air strikes against PLO position around Maghdouche . A cease - fire was negotiated between Amal and pro - Syrian Palestinian groups on December 15 , 1986 , but it was rejected by Yasser Arafat ' s Fatah . Fatah tried to appease the situation by giving some of its positions to Hezbollah and to the Murabitun . The situation became relatively calm for a while , but the bombing against the camps continued . In Beirut , a blockade of the camps led to a dramatic lack of food and medications inside the camps . In early 1987 , the fighting spread to Hezbollah and the PSP who supported the Palestinians . The PSP , having won numerous battles , quickly seized large portions of west Beirut . Consequently , Syria occupied west Beirut beginning February 21 , 1987 . On April 7 , 1987 , Amal finally lifted the siege and handed its positions around the camps to the Syrian army . According to the " New York Times " ( March 10 , 1992 , citing figures from the Lebanese police ) , 3 , 781 were killed in the fighting . On February 17 , 1988 , Lt . Col William R . Higgins , American Chief of the UN Truce and Supervision Organisation ' s observer group in Lebanon ( UNTSO ) , was abducted from his UN vehicle between Tyre and Nakara after a meeting with Abd al - Majid Salah , Amal ' s political leader in southern Lebanon . It soon became " clear that Sheikh al - Musawi , the commander to Hezbollah ' s Islamic Resistance , had been personally responsible for the abduction of Lt . Col Higgins in close cooperation with both Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid , the local commander of Hizballah ' s military wing , and Mustafa al - Dirani , the former head of Amal ' s security service . " This is seen as a direct challenge to Amal by Hezbollah , and Amal responds by launching an offensive against Hezbollah in the south where it " scores decisive military victories . . . leading to the expulsion of a number of Hizballah clergy to the Beqqa " . In Beirut ' s southern suburbs however , where fighting also raged , Hizballah was much more successful . " [ E ] lements within Hizballah and the Iranian Pasdaran established a joint command to assassinate high - ranking Amal officials and carry out operations against Amal checkpoints and centers . " By May , Amal had suffered major losses , its members were defecting to Hezbollah , and by June , Syria had to intervene militarily to rescue Amal from defeat . In January 1989 , a truce in the " ferocious " fighting between Hizballah and Amal was arranged by Syrian and Iranian intervention . " Under this agreement , Amal ' s authority over the security of southern Lebanon [ is ] recognized while Hizballah [ is ] permitted to maintain only a nonmilitary presence through political , cultural , and informational programmes . " Amal after the war . Amal was a strong supporter of Syria after 1990 and endorsed Syria ' s military presence in Lebanon . After Rafik Hariri ' s assassination in 2005 , Amal opposed the Syrian withdrawal and did not take part in the cedar revolution . Since 1990 , the party has been continuously represented in the parliament and the government . Amal ' s enemies often criticize it for corruption among its semi - major leaders . Nabih Berri was elected speaker of parliament in 1992 , 1996 , 2000 , 2005 and 2009 . Currently , Amal has 13 representatives in the 128 - seat Lebanese parliament . According to Amal officials , the party ' s militants " have been involved in every major battle since fighting began " during the 2006 Israel - Lebanon Conflict , and at least 8 members were reported to have been killed .