Saadia Marciano ( he, סעדיה מרציאנו; 1 May 1950 – 21 December 2007) was an Israeli social activist and politician, and founder of the
Israeli Black Panthers
The Black Panthers ( he, הפנתרים השחורים, translit. ''HaPanterim HaShkhorim'') were an Israeli protest movement of second-generation Jewish immigrants from North Africa and Middle Eastern countries. It was one of the first organiz ...
.
Biography
Born in
Oujda
Oujda ( ar, وجدة; ber, ⵡⵓⵊⴷⴰ, Wujda) is a major Moroccan city in its northeast near the border with Algeria. Oujda is the capital city of the Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of about 558,000 people. It ...
,
Morocco in 1950, Marciano's family
immigrated to
Israel before his first birthday, where he grew up in the
Musrara
Musrara ( ar, مصرارة, he, מוסררה, also known by its Hebrew name, Morasha, ) is a neighborhood in Jerusalem. It is bordered by Meah Shearim and Beit Yisrael on the north, the Old City on the south, Bab a-Zahara to the east, and the R ...
neighborhood of
Jerusalem. He was inspired by the example of the
Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...
to organise a national movement to liberate
Mizrahi Jews, and founded the Israeli Black Panthers in 1971.
The organisation's name was attributed to Marciano by
Kochavi Shemesh
Kochavi Shemesh (sometimes spelled "Kohavi", ; 10 January 1944 – 13 May 2019) was a lawyer, leftist activist, and one of the leaders of the Israeli Black Panthers and the editor of its main publication ''Ha'panter Ha'shachor'' (). He also help ...
, who claimed that it was chosen to frighten
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
In 1972, Marciano was part of a Black Panthers group who moved
milk bottle
Glass milk bottles are glass bottles used for milk and they are generally reusable and returnable. Milk bottles are used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen as retail store sale is available in some regions (with bottle de ...
s from middle-class neighbourhoods to poor ones. During a demonstration, he was given a
black eye by a
police officer, and this brought him to national attention.
The group collapsed the following year, but he continued to campaign for equality, and also set up a
drug rehabilitation centre.
The Black Panthers joined the
Left Camp of Israel
The Left Camp of Israel ( he, מחנה שמאל לישראל, ''Maḥaneh Smol LeYisrael'') was a Israeli left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. It was also known as Sheli ( he, של"י), an ...
party prior to the
1977 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1977.
Africa
* 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election
* 1977 Algerian legislative election
* 1977 Gambian general election
* 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election
* 1977 Malagasy ...
, and Marciano received a top five spot on their list. The party won two seats in the
Knesset, and Marciano was one of five people to hold one, on a rotation basis. He entered the Knesset in May 1980, but in November he left the party and sat as an
independent MK, before forming the ''Equality in Israel - Panthers'' party. After being joined by
Mordechai Elgrably
Mordechai Elgrably (, born 14 July 1944) is an Israeli former politician who served as a member of the Knesset for several parties between 1977 and 1981.
Biography
Born in Meknes in Morocco, Elgrably received a religious education and was a memb ...
, the party changed its name to the
Unity Party. However, the party failed to cross the 1%
electoral threshold in the
1981 elections and Marciano was therefore not re-elected.
A relative of Marciano,
Yoram Marciano
Yoram Marciano ( he, יורם מרציאנו, born 31 October 1964) is an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party from 2006 to 2009, and again between 2012 and 2013.
Biography
Born in Lod, Marciano was fir ...
, was also a member of the Knesset.
See also
*
Reuven Abergel
References
External links
*
1950 births
2007 deaths
Jewish Israeli anti-racism activists
Israeli human rights activists
Moroccan emigrants to Israel
20th-century Moroccan Jews
People from Oujda
Israeli Mizrahi Jews
Israeli Sephardi Jews
Jewish socialists
Black Panthers (Israel) politicians
Left Camp of Israel politicians
Unity Party (Israel) politicians
Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981)
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