Ahmed Abdel Latif Asaad
Ahmad El-Assaad or Ahmad Al-As'ad (Arabic: أحمد الأسعد) (1902 – 16 March 1961)[1] was Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament from 5 June 1951, till 30 May 1953.[2][3]
Ahmed Abdel Latif Asaad | |
|---|---|
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| 3rd Legislative Speaker of Lebanon | |
| In office 5 June 1951 – 13 August 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Sabri Hamadeh |
| Succeeded by | Adel Osseiran |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1902 |
| Died | 16 March 1961 |
| Children | Kamel Asaad |
Life
Family background
El-Assaad was the scion of a Shia feudal dynasty, which was established by Ali Al-Saghir in the 17th century after the execution of the Druze leader Fakhreddine II by the Ottoman leadership.[4] The El-Assaad-clan of the Ali Al-Saghir-family went on to dominate the area of Jabal Amel (modern-day Southern Lebanon) for almost three centuries,[5] with their base originally in Tayibe, Marjeyoun District.
When the 1858 Ottoman Land reforms led to the accumulated ownership of large tracts of land by a few families upon the expense of the peasants, the Al-As'ad descendants of the rural Ali al-Saghir dynasty expanded their fief holdings as the provincial leaders in Jabal Amel.[6]
During the French colonial ruler over Greater Lebanon (1920-1943) the mandatory regime gave Shiite feudal families like al-As'ad
"a free hand in enlarging their personal fortunes and reinforcing their clannish powers."[7]
Political career
He was the defense minister in the cabinet of Abdul Hamid Karami from January to August 1945.[8]
Deputy and speaker
When President Camille Chamoun introduced a new electoral system in 1957, El-Assaad for the first time lost the vote for deputy. He had presented his candidacy in Tyre, the stronghold of his Shia rival Kazem al-Khalil, rather than in his traditional home constituency of Bint-Jbeil.[9]
1958 Lebanese Civil War
As a consequence, al-Asaad became a "major instigator of events against Chamoun" and his allies, primarily al-Khalil,[5] who likewise was a long-time member of parliament and the scion of a family of large landowners ("zu'ama") ruling through patronage systems:[10]
"The Khalils, with their age-old ways, [..] were known for being particularly rough and hard."[11]
During the 1958 crisis, Kazem al-Khalil was the only Shi'ite minister in the cabinet of Sami as-Sulh, to whose family the al-Khalil feudal dynasty was traditionally allied. Thus,
"Kazim's followers had a free hand in Tyre; they could carry Guns on the streets".[5]
Then, after the formation of the United Arab Republic (UAR) under Gamal Abdel Nasser in February 1958, tensions escalated in Tyre between the forces of Chamoun and supporters of Pan-Arabism. Demonstrations took place – as in Beirut and other cities – that promoted pro-union slogans and protested against US foreign policy.[12] A US-Diplomat, who travelled to Southern Lebanon shortly afterwards, reported though that the clashes were more related to the personal feud between El-Assaad and Al-Khalil than to national politics.[9]
Still in February, five of its students were arrested and "sent to jail for trampling on the Lebanese flag and replacing it with that of the UAR."[13][9] On 28 March, soldiers and followers of Kazem al-Khalil opened fire on demonstrators and – according to some reports – killed three.[5] On the second of April, four[14] or five protestors were killed and about a dozen injured.[12]
In May, the insurgents in Tyre gained the upper hand.[15] Ahmad al-As'ad[5] and his son Kamel al-Asaad supported them, also with weapons.[16] According to a general delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who visited in late July, "heavy fighting went on for 16 days".[17] Kazem al-Khalil was expelled from the city and al-Asaad' allies took over control of the city. The crisis eventually dissolved in September, when Chamoun stepped down. Al-Khalil returned still in 1958, but was attacked several times by gunmen.[5]
Despite the victory of the al-As'ad dynasty, its power soon began to crumble.
Legacy
His son Kamel El-Assaad (1932–2010), was speaker for three terms. The scions of its al-As'ad clan have continued to play a political role even into the 21st century, though of lately a rather peripheral one.[18]
References
- كامل الأسعد (in Arabic). Great Men From Lebanon. Archived from the original on 2017-06-03. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
- Shanahan, Rodger (2005). The Shiʻa of Lebanon: clans, parties and clerics. I.B.Tauris. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-85043-766-6.
- (in Arabic)Republic of Lebanon - House of Representatives History
- Winter, Stefan (2010). The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516–1788. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 126, 129–134, 140, 177–178. ISBN 9780521765848.
- Gharbieh, Hussein M. (1996). Political awareness of the Shi'ites in Lebanon: the role of Sayyid 'Abd al-Husain Sharaf al-Din and Sayyid Musa al-Sadr (PDF) (Doctoral). Durham: Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Durham. pp. 121, 127.
- Abisaab, Rula Jurdi; Abisaab, Malek (2017). The Shi'ites of Lebanon: Modernism, Communism, and Hizbullah's Islamists. New York: Syracuse University Press. pp. 9–11, 16–17, 24, 107. ISBN 9780815635093.
- Firro, Kais (2002). Inventing Lebanon: Nationalism and the State Under the Mandate. London and New York: I. B. Tauris. pp. 159, 166. ISBN 978-1860648571.
- "الوزراء المتعاقبون على وزارة الدفاع الوطني" [Successive ministers of the Ministry of National Defense]. pcm.gov.lb (in Arabic). Government of Lebanon. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- Nir, Omri (November 2004). "The Shi'ites during the 1958 Lebanese Crisis". Middle Eastern Studies. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 40 (6): 109–129. doi:10.1080/0026320042000282900. JSTOR 4289955. S2CID 145378237 – via JSTOR.
- Shaery-Eisenlohr, Roschanack (2011). SHIITE LEBANON: Transnational Religion and the Making of National Identities. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0231144278.
- Ajami, Fouad (1986). The Vanished Imam: Musa al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon. London: I.B.Tauris & CO. Ltd. pp. 42–45, 85–86. ISBN 9781850430254.
- Attié, Caroline (2004). Struggle in the Levant: Lebanon in the 1950s. London - New York: I.B.Tauris. pp. 155, 158, 162–163. ISBN 978-1860644672.
- Sorby, Karol (2000). "LEBANON: THE CRISIS OF 1958" (PDF). Asian and African Studies. 9: 88, 91 – via SLOVENSKÁ AKADÉMIA VIED.
- Qubain, Fahim Issa (1961). Crisis in Lebanon. Washington D.C.: The Middle East Institute. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-1258255831.
- Cobban, Helena (1985). The making of modern Lebanon. Boulder: Westview Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0813303079.
- "July - July 1958 : US Marines in Beirut". monthlymagazine.com. July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- Bugnion, François; Perret, Françoise (2018). From Budapest to Saigon, 1956-1965 - History of the International Committee of the Red Cross (PDF). Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cros. p. 372. ISBN 978-2-940396-70-2.
- Jouhari, Ibrahim (2019-09-13). "The By-elections that was not!". 128 Lebanon. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
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