Lebanese Communist Party (LCP)

views updated

LEBANESE COMMUNIST PARTY (LCP)

Lebanese political party, legalized in 1969 by the interior minister, Kamal Jumblatt. The LCP grew out of the Lebanese People's Party, founded in 1924. At the beginning hostile to the Palestinian resistance in Lebanon, the LCP gradually changed its views, conforming to the directives of the Soviet CP, which decided to back the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). At its beginning the majority of its members were Christian, but it became mostly Muslim eight years later. In 1971, a splinter group, Trotskyist in tendency, left the party, in order to create the Lebanese Revolutionary Communist Party. The LCP was opposed to the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon and advocated resistance. It has supported Syrian intervention in Lebanese politics. The LCP's influence has shrunk since 1989.

SEE ALSO Jumblatt, Kamal;Palestine Liberation Organization;South Lebanon.

About this article

Lebanese Communist Party (LCP)

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article