Terrorist Organization Profile:
Lebanese Arab Youth

The group emerged out of a conflict between Egypt and hard-line Arab states, concerning Egypt's movements toward peace negotiations with Israel. The most notable of these overtures was a November 1977 visit to Jerusalem by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Other Arab countries saw this visit as a betrayal of the Palestinian people, and a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt would eventually lead to Egypt being expelled from the Arab League in 1979.

Outrage and protest against Sadat's visit to Jerusalem was high in many countries, especially in Lebanon, home to thousands of Palestinian refugees. To that end, in Lebanon over the course of three days in December 1977, a group calling itself Lebanese Arab Youth was responsible for an attempted bombing and missile attack on the Egyptian Embassy, an attempted bombing of an Egyptian diplomat, and the attempted bombing of an Egyptian airline. All of the attacks took place in Beirut. In a statement released to news agencies, the group identified itself and wrote, "These attacks are only the beginning. Our future strikes against the traitors and everything associated with them will be harder." Beyond an opposition to peace with Israel, the Lebanese Arab Youth did not reveal an underlying ideology behind its attacks.

Learn more about these U.S. Department of State classifications:

Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)

Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL)