The Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party (Arabic: حزب طليعة لبنان العربي الاشتراكي Hizb Al-Taliyeh Lubnan Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki) is a political party in Lebanon. The party was led by Abd al-Majid al-Rafei[3][4] until his death in July 2017. It is the Lebanese regional branch of the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party. The party held its second congress in October 2011. Founders of the party included Dr. Abd al-Majid al-Rafe'ii, Jihad George Karam, Rafiq Naseeb al-Faqih,Rashid Abo Falah,Karam Mohamed al-Sahili, Hani Mohammad Sho'aib, Ammar Mohammad Shibli, Hassan Khalil Gharib and Wassef El Harakeh.[4] Although formally affiliated to the Sunni-dominated regime in Baghdad, the majority of the party's members were Lebanese Shiites.[5]
The existence of the Lebanese branch of the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party has much longer roots than its Syrian-led counterpart. Following the 1966 split in the Ba'ath Party between Iraqi and Syrian-dominated factions, the pro-Iraqi party was led by Abd al-Majid Rafei.[6][7]
At first, the pro-Iraqi party and the pro-Syrian party worked side-by-side in the Lebanese National Movement (also known as the National Front), but with tension increasing between them, the two parties were on a war footing.[8] The party was active in 1960s demonstrations,[9] and al-Rafei was detained by Lebanese authorities for his political activities.[10] However, he was a candidate from Tripoli in the 1968 general election.[11] The party expanded during the first half of the 1970s,[12] and in the 1972 general election al-Rafi was elected to parliament from Tripoli.[13] Ali al-Khalil, a former member, was elected from Tyre. The party was active in Southern Lebanon. In Nabatieh it was headed by Hani Mohammad Shoaib. The party was built with generous aid from Iraq.[14]
^Sassoon 2012, p. 30, The rift between the Ba'th parties in Syria and Iraq widened. In February 1966, a military coup by the party's left wing in Syria forced 'Aflaq and the Syrian leadership to seek refuge in Iraq. From that point on, despite short periods of rapprochement, the chasm between the so-called left-wing in Syria and the right-wing supported by al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein was never bridged..
Alla, Malumud Ata (1974). Arab Struggle for Economic Independence. Progress. p. 62. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024. This struggle sharpened after the Right-wing Baathists seized power in Iraq in 1963 and instituted a reign of terror against the Communists and other progressive forces, which considerably weakened the influence of the Baath Party in all the Arab countries.