Yusif Sayigh (1916–2004) was a Palestinian economist, academic and politician. He was an Arab nationalist and is known for his both academic and practical activities on economic development of Arabs.
Early life and education
Sayigh was born in
al-Bassa
al-Bassa () was a Palestinians, Palestinian Arab village in the Mandatory Palestine's Acre Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine, Acre Subdistrict. It was situated close to the Blue Line (Lebanon), Lebanese border, north of the district capital, Acr ...
, northern
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, in 1916.
He was the eldest of Abdullah Sayigh and Afifa Batruni's six sons, including
Fayez Sayigh,
Anis Sayigh and
Tawfiq Sayigh.
[ He also had a sister, Mary.][ His father was a ]Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
pastor of Syrian origin, and his mother was a native of al-Bassa.[ Shortly after the birth of Yusif, the family moved to ]Kharaba
Kharaba () also spelled ''Kharraba'' or ''Kherba'', is a village in southeastern Syria, administratively part of the as-Suwayda District of the as-Suwayda Governorate, located southwest of as-Suwayda city and northeast of Daraa. In the 2004 census, ...
, Syria.[
When a Druze revolt occurred in 1925, the family had to leave Kharaba and settled in al-Bassa.][ His father was assigned to a church in ]Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
in 1930 where they lived until May 1948.[ They were forced to leave the city which was captured by the Zionist forces of the newly founded Israel state after the ]Deir Yassin massacre
The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when Zionist paramilitaries attacked the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, then part of Mandatory Palestine, killing at least 107 Palestinian Arab villagers, including women and childr ...
.
Sayigh went to Sidon
Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...
at age 13 for high school education and obtained a degree in business administration from American University of Beirut in 1938. During the Arab revolt in Palestine between 1936 and 1939 he began to take part in political activities boycotting the shops run by the Jews and wearing the fez as a symbol of nationalist resistance.[
Sayigh received his MA degree from the American University of Beirut in 1952, and his thesis was entitled ''Economic Implications of UNRWA Operations in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon''. During his university studies he joined the ]Syrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; ) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Leb ...
(SSNP) led by Antoun Saadeh
Antoun Saadeh (; 1 March 1904 – 8 July 1949) was a Lebanese politician, sociologist, philosopher and writer who founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
Life and career Early life
Saadeh was born in 1904 in Dhour El Choueir, in the Mo ...
. Sayigh went to the US for the doctorate studies in 1954 when he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
and graduated from Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
in 1957 obtaining a PhD . His PhD thesis was entitled ''Entrepreneurship and development: Private, public and joint entreprise in underdeveloped countries''.[ It was published with the title ''Entrepreneurs of Lebanon'' in 1962.][
]
Career and activities
Sayigh was first employed as a lecturer in Tikrit
Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000.
Originally created as a f ...
, Iraq, between 1939 and 1940 after he received a degree in business.[ He had to return to Tiberias because of his mother's illness and worked at the Tiberias Hotel.][ Then he became an official in the Bayt al-Mal which was the fund of the ]Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee () or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Haj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Je ...
.[ During this period he also headed the Palestinian branch of the SSNP.][
At the end of ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Sayigh involved in the activities to raise funds to buy lands in Palestine to block the Jewish settlement. He was arrested during the 1948 Palestine war
The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...
and released from prison in 1949.[ Then he went into exile settling in Beirut and became a Syrian citizen.][ He left the SSNP criticizing its authoritarian leadership style and its opposition to pan-Arabism in the late 1950s.][ After he received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University he returned to Beirut and joined the American University of Beirut where he taught courses on ]development economics
Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural c ...
and became a professor economics in 1963.[ In addition, he taught at different universities, including ]Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
, Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
.[ Sayigh was the head of the Economic Research Institute of the American University of Beirut from 1962 to 1964.][ He retired from his university post in 1974.]
Sayigh was elected as a member of the Palestinian National Council
The Palestinian National Council (PNC; ) is the legislative body - in Arabic, the ''Majlis'' - of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PNC is intended to serve as the parliament that represents all Palestinians inside and outside th ...
in 1966.[ He was the member of the ]executive committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
of the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO) between 1968 and 1974.[ He was instrumental in the establishment of the Planning Center in Beirut which he headed between 1968 and 1971.] He also served as the treasurer of the PLO's National Fund from 1971 to 1974[ and as its official representative to the ]World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
.[ In the 1980s and 1990s he was a member of the PLO's Parliament in-exile.][
Sayigh worked as an adviser to the Kuwait's Planning Board between 1964 and 1965 and developed a five-year development plan for the country.][ He was an economic adviser to the ]Arab League
The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
.[ He headed the Arab Society for Economic Research between 1992 and 1995.][ In addition, he was also active in the establishment of the Centre for Arab Unity Studies, the Arab Though Forum based in Jordan and the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries based in Iran and Turkey.][
]
Work
Sayigh published many books and articles which are mostly about economic development of the Arab countries. Some of his books included ''The Economies of the Arab World'' (1978), ''The Arab Economy'' (1982) and ''Arab Oil Policies'' (1983).[ His 1966 analysis on the value of the property of the ]Palestinian refugees
Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country, village or house over the course of the 1948 Palestine war and during the 1967 Six-Day War. Most Palestinian refug ...
which they had to abandon in Palestine was the first study on the topic.
Sayigh also wrote a comprehensive report for the PLO entitled ''The Programme for Development of the Palestinian National Economy 1994–2000'' in collaboration with the Palestinian experts.
Views
Sayigh was an advocate of the heterodox economics
Heterodox economics is a broad, relative term referring to schools of economic thought which are not commonly perceived as belonging to mainstream economics. There is no absolute definition of what constitutes heterodox economic thought, as it i ...
based on the public goods and social justice.[ He argued in 1986 that there could not be any economic development in Palestine under occupation.
For Sayigh the first ]intifada
Intifada () is an Arabic word for a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It can also be used to refer to a civilian uprising against oppression.Ute Meinel''Die Intifada im Ölscheichtum Bahrain: Hintergründe des Aufbegehrens von 19 ...
of Palestinians in 1988 contributed to the global understanding of their struggle for national self-determination
Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage.
Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
and expanded the support for an independent Palestinian state.
Personal life and death
Sayigh was married to scholar Rosemary Sayigh
Rosemary Sayigh (née: Boxer; born 1927) is a British-born journalist and scholar of Middle Eastern history. She is known for her works on the Palestinian people, particularly those forcibly displaced to Lebanon as a result of the Nakba.
Person ...
. They met in Beirut and wed at the National Evangelical Church in Beirut on 7 October 1953.[ They had three children: Joumana, Yezid and Faris.] Yezid Sayigh is an academic.
Yusif Sayigh died in Beirut in 2004.
Awards
Sayigh was the recipient of the prize of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research in 1981 and of the Abdullah Tariki Award in 2000.[
]
Legacy
His wife, Rosemary Sayigh, edited a book on Yusif Sayigh entitled ''Yusif Sayigh: Arab Economist, Palestinian Patriot. A Fractured Life'' in 2015.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayigh, Yusif
20th-century Palestinian politicians
20th-century Palestinian writers
20th-century economists
1916 births
2004 deaths
Palestinian emigrants to Lebanon
Palestinian economists
American University of Beirut alumni
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Academic staff of the American University of Beirut
Members of the Palestinian National Council
Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel
Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon politicians
Palestinian evangelicals
Members of the Palestinian Central Council
Development economists
Arab people in Mandatory Palestine
Yusif