25 Facts About Maarouf Saad

Maarouf Saad was a Lebanese politician and activist.

Maarouf Saad served as Sidon's representative in the Parliament of Lebanon between 1957 and 1972.

Maarouf Saad's assassination sparked the Lebanese Civil War, and he is considered by many historians the conflict's first casualty.

Maarouf Saad was born to a Sunni Muslim family in Sidon in 1910 or 1914.

Unlike most of his political colleagues and rivals, Maarouf Saad hailed from modest origins.

However, according to historian Samir Khalaf, when Maarouf Saad left Lebanon to volunteer with the rebels in 1936, it was during the middle of his secondary schooling, not before he graduated.

Maarouf Saad served with Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad's fasa'il.

Maarouf Saad was imprisoned by the British authorities and released in 1937.

Maarouf Saad was consequently jailed in 1940, and released in 1944 or 1945.

Maarouf Saad had close relations with the Palestinian refugees who were present in the Sidon area in large numbers.

Maarouf Saad supported them politically and otherwise, while the Palestinian militias in turn offered him their backing.

In 1957, Maarouf Saad was elected to represent Sidon in the Parliament of Lebanon, beating his opponent Nazih al-Bizri.

Maarouf Saad used his Lebanese support base and allied Palestinian militias to gather arms and organize a defense of Sidon from government control, which he accomplished with ease.

Maarouf Saad headed a central command that oversaw an array of committees such as security, courts, military training and propaganda.

Maarouf Saad regarded the 1958 crisis a "popular armed uprising", claiming the opposition was forced into it after initially advocating a general strike to pressure Chamoun to step down from the presidency.

In Sidon, Maarouf Saad gained a reputation for being a staunch opponent of discrimination and promoter of a comprehensive peace and social justice in the country.

Maarouf Saad co-founded the international Assembly of World Peace and helped contribute to the Organization for Solidarity of Asian and African People.

Maarouf Saad was consequently released days later after intervention by an envoy sent by President Nasser.

Maarouf Saad alleged that Prime Minister Saeb Salam's support for Bizri in retaliation for Saad's participation in anti-government protests prior to the election caused his defeat.

Maarouf Saad had become the chairman of Sidon's municipal council in the early 1970s, in effect becoming its mayor.

That year, Maarouf Saad founded the Popular Nasserite Organization, a group espousing Arab nationalism and socialism in the tradition of Nasser, who died in September 1970.

Maarouf Saad declared he was defending his "hometown's downtrodden poor".

Maarouf Saad's killing brought his family and the PNO widespread public sympathy and boosted their reputation among the Lebanese left and the Sunni Muslim community.

Maarouf Saad's assassination is attributed by many analysts to have been the spark that set off the Lebanese Civil War, or at least one of its chief catalysts.

Maarouf Saad lost to the Future Movement candidate in 2009, but stayed the secretary-general of the PNO and maintained an active Nasserist presence in the city of Sidon within the broad March 8 coalition in Lebanese politics.