{{Short description|Arab-American scholar and civil servant (1922–1980)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox person | native_name = فايز صايغ | native_name_lang = he | image = Fayez Sayigh.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Fayez Abdullah Sayegh | birth_date = 1922 | birth_place = [[Kharaba]], [[Mandatory Syria]] | death_date = {{death year and age|1980|1922}} | death_place = New York City, New York, United States | resting_place = Beirut, Lebanon | occupation = {{ubl|Academic|Civil servant}} | years_active = | known_for = | alma_mater = {{ubl|[[American University of Beirut]]|[[Georgetown University]]}} | spouse = | notable_works = {{Infobox academic | embed = yes | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = | discipline = | sub_discipline = | workplaces = {{ubl|[[Macalaster College]] | American University of Beirut}} }} }} '''Fayez Sayegh''' ({{Langx|ar|فايز صايغ}}; 1922–1980) was an [[Arab-American]] diplomat, scholar and teacher. He was a scholar who developed various analyses on the Palestinian opposition movement against [[Zionism]].<ref name=ninaf>{{cite journal|author=Nina Fischer|year=2020 |title=Palestinian Non-Violent Resistance and the Apartheid Analogy|journal=Interventions|volume=23|issue=8|doi=10.1080/1369801x.2020.1816853| page=1129|s2cid=234662442|url=https://zenodo.org/record/4065513 }}</ref>
==Early life and education== Sayegh was born 1922 in [[Kharaba]], [[Mandatory Syria]], where his father was a [[Presbyterian]] minister.<ref name=matar>{{cite book|page=440|year=2005|title=Encyclopedia of the Palestinians|isbn=9780816069866|chapter=Sayigh (family)|author=Michael R. Fischbach |editor=Philip Mattar|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA440|location=New York|publisher=Facts on File Inc.}}</ref> He was one of Abdullah Sayigh and Afifa Batruni's six sons, including [[Yusif Sayigh]], [[Anis Sayigh]] and [[Tawfiq Sayigh]].<ref name=hani>{{cite journal|author=Hani A. Faris|title=Book review|journal=[[The Middle East Journal]]|volume=70|issue=1|year=2016|pages=162–164 |jstor=43698630}}</ref> He also had a sister, Mary.<ref name=hani/> His father was [[Syrians|Syrian]] and his mother was [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] and native of [[al-Bassa]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Prisoner of War: Yusif Sayigh, 1948 to 1949. Excerpts from his recollections|url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/77903|issue=29|journal=Jerusalem Quarterly|date=Winter 2007}}</ref>
As a child, Sayegh moved with his family to [[Tiberias]] and went to school in [[Safed]].<ref>{{cite news|title=فايز صايغ انتصار الحرية على الأيديولوجيا|url=https://palestine.assafir.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=2183|work=Palestine Assafir|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083105/https://palestine.assafir.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=2183|language=ar}}</ref> He received his bachelor's degree from the [[American University of Beirut]] (AUB) in 1941 and his master's degree from the same university in 1945.<ref name=matar/> In 1949, he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy, with a minor in political science, from [[Georgetown University]].<ref name="Andrew">[[Andrew I. Killgore]], "[http://www.washingtonreport.me/2005-december/in-memoriam-25-years-after-his-death-dr.-fayez-sayeghs-towering-legacy-lives-on.html 25 Years After His Death, Dr. Fayez Sayegh’s Towering Legacy Lives On]", ''[[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]'', December 2005, pp 22–23.</ref><ref name=marc/>
==Career== Sayegh, along with his brothers who had joined earlier, joined the [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party]] in 1943, a [https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/09/30/pro-assad-lobby-group-rewards-bloggers-on-both-the-left-and-the-right/ "rabidly anti-Semitic, fascist organization [with<nowiki>]</nowiki> international ties to the far-right."]<ref>https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/09/30/pro-assad-lobby-group-rewards-bloggers-on-both-the-left-and-the-right/</ref>.<ref name="matar" /> He was later expelled from the party after [[Antoun Saadeh]] returned to [[Lebanon]] in 1947, following his exile.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beshara |first=Adel |title=Fayez Sayegh, The Party Years 1938-1947 |publisher=Black House Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1912759224 |pages=39–91}}</ref> After receiving his Ph.D., Sayegh worked for the Lebanese Embassy in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington DC]]. He also worked at the [[United Nations]].<ref name=matar/> He taught at a number of universities, including [[Yale]], [[Stanford]], [[Macalaster College]], as well as at his alma mater AUB and at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name=matar/>
Sayegh established the [[Palestine Research Center]] in Beirut in 1965 and served as its director-general for one year.<ref name="Andrew" /><ref name="marc">{{Cite journal |last=Gribetz |first=Jonathan Marc |year=2016 |title=When the zionist idea came to Beirut: Judaism, christianity, and the palestine liberation organization's translation of zionism |journal=[[International Journal of Middle East Studies]] |volume=48 |issue=2 |page=246 |doi=10.1017/s0020743816000015 |s2cid=163254448}}</ref> The center published his historical study entitled ''Zionist Colonialism in Palestine'' in 1965.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sayegh |first=Fayez |year=2012 |title=Zionist Colonialism in Palestine (1965) |journal=Settler Colonial Studies |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=206–225 |doi=10.1080/2201473x.2012.10648833 |s2cid=161123773|hdl=1959.3/357351 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> His brother, Anes, succeeded Fayez as the director-general of the Palestine Research Center in 1966.<ref name=marc/><ref name="katqu">{{Cite thesis |last=Quenzer |first=Katlyn |title=Writing the Resistance: A Palestinian Intellectual History, 1967-1974 |degree=PhD |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1885/155195 |doi=10.25911/5d5149b41c470 |pages=59,96 |location=[[Australian National University]] |hdl=1885/155195 |year=2019}}</ref>
Sayegh was instrumental in the establishment of ''[[Shu'un Filastiniyya]]'' which was started by the Palestine Research Center in 1971.<ref name=ninaf/> He was the major contributor of the United Nations General Assembly's [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379|Resolution 3379]] adopted in 1975.<ref name=ninaf/> The resolution supported the view that Zionism is a form of [[racism]].<ref name=ninaf/> After this event he acted as the most visible spokesperson of the Palestinian cause.<ref name=ninaf/>
Sayegh made several appearances on American television as a commentator on the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04YQ8vMygrQ |title=Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Where Do We Go from Here in the Middle East? |access-date=2023-07-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
==Views== Sayegh was one of the early scholars who analyzed the negative effects of the [[sectarianism in Lebanon]].<ref name=weiss>{{cite journal|last=Weiss |first=Max|title=The Historiography of Sectarianism in Lebanon|journal=History Compass|volume=7|issue=1|year=2009|page=146|doi=10.1111/j.1478-0542.2008.00570.x}}</ref> For him these effects of [[sectarianism]] emerged as a result of the popular life and popular consciousness, not of the historical events.<ref name="weiss"/> He argued that not only a political change but also a social change should occur for the unified Arab societies.<ref name=katqu/>
Sayegh was the first scholar who developed the concept of the [[Zionism as settler colonialism|Zionist settler colonialism]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Walid Salem|title=Jerusalem: Reconsidering the Settler Colonial Analysis|journal=Palestine - Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1865399405|year=2016|volume=21|issue=4|id={{ProQuest|1865399405}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Sune Haugbolle|issue=1|author2=Pelle Valentin Olsen|title=Emergence of Palestine as a Global Cause|journal=[[Middle East Critique]] |volume=32|year=2023|page=137|doi=10.1080/19436149.2023.2168379|doi-access=free|hdl=10852/109792|hdl-access=free}}</ref> He argued that [[Palestinians]] would never accept "a fraction of rights in a fraction of their homeland."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Karsh|first=Efraim|title=Introduction: From Rabin to Netanyahu|journal=Israel Affairs|volume=3|issue=3–4|year=1997|doi=10.1080/13537129708719427|page=7}}</ref> He defined the racial principles of [[Zionism]] as [[self-segregation]], exclusiveness, and supremacy which are the elements of segregation.<ref name=ninaf/> These elements are the central characteristic of [[apartheid]].<ref name=ninaf/>
He challenged [[Israel]]'s arguments in the [[United Nations|UN]], asserting that resolutions regarding [[occupied territories]] need not be "two-sided" since there is only one set of occupied territories.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Lori |date=2020-12-04 |title=A History of False Hope |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781503614192 |publisher=Stanford University Press |pages=162 |doi=10.1515/9781503614192|isbn=978-1-5036-1419-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sayegh |first=Fayez |date=January 2012 |title=Zionist Colonialism in Palestine (1965) |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2201473X.2012.10648833 |journal=Settler Colonial Studies |language=ar |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=206–225 |doi=10.1080/2201473X.2012.10648833 |issn=2201-473X|hdl=1959.3/357351 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Sayegh expressed empathy for all who suffer [[foreign occupation]], urging UN delegates to uphold [[international law]] and [[human rights]]. Against this background, he rejected the notion of Palestinian [[exceptionalism]], emphasizing universal principles and the importance of applying them consistently.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}}
Sayegh and other diplomats and jurists{{Who|date=June 2025}} helped bring attention to the Palestinian cause within the framework of [[international law]] and [[human rights]].<ref name=":0" /> ==Death== Sayegh died in New York City in 1980 and was buried in Beirut.<ref name=matar/>
==Bibliography== * [https://archive.org/details/palestinerefugee00saye ''The Palestine Refugees''] (1952) * [https://archive.org/details/aic01amerged ''The Arab-Israel Conflict''] (1956) * [https://archive.org/details/arabunity0000saye/ ''Arab Unity: Hope and Fulfillment''] (1958) * [https://archive.org/details/CommunismInIsrael ''Communism in Israel''] (1958) * [https://archive.org/details/dynamicsofneutra0000unse ''The Dynamics of Neutralism in the Arab World: A Symposium''] (1964) * [https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC12_scans/12.zionist.colonialism.palestine.1965.pdf ''Zionist Colonialism in Palestine''], Research Center, Palestine Liberation Organization (1965) * [https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC12_scans/12.united.nations.palestine.1966.pdf ''The United Nations and the Palestine Question''], Facts & Figures Series, No 2, Research Center, Palestine Liberation Organization (1966) * [https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC12_scans/12.descrimination.education.against.1966.pdf ''Discriminations in education against the Arabs in Israel''], Facts & Figures Series, No 3, Research Center, Palestine Liberation Organization (1966) * [https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC12_scans/12.palestine.israel.peace.1970.pdf ''Palestine, Israel and Peace''], Palestine essays, No 17, Research Center, Palestine Liberation Organization (1970) * [https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC12_scans/12.palestinian.view..pdf ''A Palestinian view''], General Union of Palestinian students (1970) * ''The Record of Israel at the United Nations''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04YQ8vMygrQ "Where Do We Go from Here in the Middle East?"], 60-minute video interview on [[Firing Line (TV series)|''Firing Line'']] with [[William F. Buckley Jr.]] (1974) *Fayez Sayegh, [http://www.ameu.org/Resources-(1)/Zionism-A-Form-of-Racism-2.aspx Zionism: “A Form of Racism And Racial Discrimination” Four Statements Made at the U.N. General Assembly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723000735/http://www.ameu.org/Resources-(1)/Zionism-A-Form-of-Racism-2.aspx |date=23 July 2015 }}, 1976. Reprinted by [[Americans for Middle East Understanding]] *[[As'ad AbuKhalil]], "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150723113407/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22818 Before Edward Said: a tribute to Fayez Sayegh]", ''[[Al Akhbar (Lebanon)|Al Akhbar]]'', 9 December 2014 * [https://collections.lib.utah.edu/search?q=uum_fasc/ Fayez Sayegh] at [https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ University of Utah Digital Library], [https://lib.utah.edu/collections/special-collections/ Marriott Library Special Collections]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayegh, Fayez}} [[Category:1922 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:People of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] [[Category:American people of Palestinian descent]] [[Category:American people of Syrian descent]] [[Category:People from Suwayda Governorate]] [[Category:American University of Beirut alumni]] [[Category:Georgetown University alumni]] [[Category:Macalester College faculty]] [[Category:Palestinian emigrants to Lebanon]] [[Category:Palestinian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization]] [[Category:Members of the Palestinian National Council]] [[Category:Academic staff of the American University of Beirut]] [[Category:Syrian Social Nationalist Party politicians]] [[Category:Arab people from Mandatory Palestine]] [[Category:People from Mandatory Palestine]] [[Category:20th-century Palestinian diplomats]] [[Category:Sayigh family|Fayez]] [[Category:Syrian people of Palestinian descent]]