Saadia Marciano (; 1 May 1950 – 21 December 2007) was an Israeli social activist and politician, and founder of the Israeli Black Panthers protest movement.

Biography

Born in

Oujda Oujda (, ) is a major city in northeast Morocco near the Algeria–Morocco border, border with Algeria. Oujda is the capital city of the Oriental (Morocco), Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of 506,224 people (2024 censu ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 1950, Marciano's family

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

before his first birthday, where he grew up in the

Musrara Musrara (, , also known by its Hebrew name, Morasha, ) is a formerly Ottoman neighborhood in what is now West Jerusalem. It is bordered by the Israeli neighborhoods of Mea Shearim and Beit Yisrael to the north, by the Russian Compound and Kik ...

neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He was inspired by the example of the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

to organise a national movement to liberate

Mizrahi Jews Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...

, and founded the Israeli Black Panthers in 1971. The organisation's name was attributed to Marciano by Kochavi Shemesh, who claimed that it was chosen to frighten

Israeli Prime Minister The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a president as the head of state. The presiden ...

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

. In 1972, Marciano was part of a Black Panthers group who moved

milk bottle From the second half of the 19th century, milk has been packaged and delivered in Reusable packaging, reusable and returnable glass bottles. They are used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkman, milkmen. Once customers have f ...

s from middle-class neighbourhoods to poor ones. During a demonstration, he was given a

black eye A periorbital hematoma, commonly called a black eye or a shiner (associated with boxing or stick sports such as hockey), is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than to the eye. The name refers to the dark-colo ...

by a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, and this brought him to national attention. The group collapsed the following year, but Marciano continued to campaign for equality, and also set up a

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general int ...

centre. The Israeli Black Panthers joined the Left Camp of Israel 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 The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

, 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, the party changed its name to the Unity Party. However, the party failed to cross the 1%

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

in the 1981 elections and Marciano was therefore not re-elected. A relative of Marciano,

Yoram Marciano Yoram Marciano (; 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 first elected to the Knesset in ...

, was also a member of the Knesset.

References

External links

* 1950 births 2007 deaths Jewish Israeli anti-racism activists 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) Burials at Har HaMenuchot {{Israel-politician-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links