Western press labels of Lebanese Kata’ib as rightist are misplaced

Evidence

Besides Kata’ib, the party has another name: the Social Democratic Party of Lebanon. This is by no means a meaningless label. The Lebanese Kata’ib stand for parliamentary, constitutional democracy and for a mixture of private enter­ prise and state assistance. These aims, coupled with Lebanese patriotism, might perhaps be described as rightist in the context of Middle Eastern politics, but it is or should be surprising to find this label used by the Western press. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1414