Benjamin Weir (December 20, 1923 – October 14, 2016) was an American

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1984–85.

Background

Born on December 20, 1923, Weir, who with his wife Carol served as

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

with the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its theological roots lie primarily in the Scottish Reformat ...

for nearly 30 years, was kidnapped off the streets of

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in May 1984. The kidnapping was done by an

Islamic fundamentalist Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

group, Islamic Jihad, that later evolved into

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

. He was freed 16 months later in exchange for US anti-tank weapons, as part of the Iran-Contra Affair. Shortly thereafter he was elected moderator of the 1986 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, the highest elected office in that denomination. He remained one of the world's most respected voices for peace and reconciliation in the Middle East for the next 30 years. The book ''Hostage Bound Hostage Free'' tells the story of his captivity from his perspective as well as his wife's. While a student at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, Weir was initiated into the Beta chapter of

Alpha Gamma Omega Alpha Gamma Omega (, or AGO) is an American Christian fraternity. It was founded in 1927 at University of California, Los Angeles and now has chapters at universities in California, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Histor ...

, a Christ-centered fraternity. Later he attended

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

. Weir died on October 14, 2016, in Oakland, California.

References

1923 births 1980s missing person cases 2016 deaths 20th-century American Presbyterian ministers American expatriates in Lebanon American people taken hostage Formerly missing American people Kidnapped American people Kidnappings by Islamists Missing person cases in Lebanon Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders University of California, Berkeley alumni People of the Lebanese Civil War Moderators of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) {{US-crime-bio-stub

Background

See also

References