Al Amal (Lebanon)
Al Amal (in Arabic العمل , literally "The Work" in English) is a long-running Arabic Lebanese newspaper affiliated to Kataeb Party. It is published in Arabic and in French on a weekly basis in Beirut, Lebanon. History and profile. "Al Amal" was founded in 1939. The paper, headquartered in Beirut, is published both in Arabic and French. It is the official publication of the Kataeb Party, also known as Phalangist Party and had a right-wing approach. Until 1946 "Al Amal" was distributed with another Kataeb paper entitled "Action" which was published in French. 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. Its major function was to convey the party's views and ideas. In the 1940s "Al Amal" frequently published anti-Israeli news and articles. From 1945 it also frequently criticized the Lebanese government. The membership of the Kataeb Party significantly increased following the crisis in 1958 which also led to rise in the readership of the paper. Subscription to the newspaper became compulsory for all phalangist members in 1966. In the 1980s "Al Amal" was published daily, 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. However, he seized the headquarters of "Le Reveil", a French language daily, which was founded by Amine Gemayel. 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, but now reflects solely the points of view of the Phalange which is the license holder. The circulation of "Al  Amal" was 35,000 copies in the beginning of the 2000s. The long-term editors-in-chief of the paper were Elias Rababi and Joseph Abu Khalil. Both were also the leading figures of the Phalangist Party in the 1940s. Lebanese caricaturist Pierre Sadek contributed to the newspaper.