{{Short description|Lebanese politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Rifaat Eid<br />{{Nobold|{{lang|ar|رفعت علي عيد}}}} | image = | caption = | office = Leader of the Arab Democratic Party | prime_minister = | term_start = 2015 | term_end = | predecessor = Ali Eid | successor = | birth_date = | birth_place = Tripoli, Lebanon | death_date = | death_place = | party = Arab Democratic Party | spouse = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = Politician | website = }}
'''Rifaat Ali Eid''' ({{langx|ar|رفعت علي عيد}}; born 24 February 1977)<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/rifaat.eid/about?lst=100000582612091%3A1626241493%3A1490030377 Rifaat Eid] Facebook {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Arab Democratic Party. The party has the largest support of Lebanese Alawites, and its base is Tripoli, Lebanon, in the Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/1309/ |title=Lebanon's Alawi: A Minority Struggles in a 'Nation' of Sects |publisher=Al Akhbar English |date=2011-11-08 |accessdate=2012-05-18 |archive-date=2018-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104085546/https://english.al-akhbar.com/node/1309 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Rifaat took over its leadership after his father, former MP Ali Eid, died in 2015.
He led the party through the Bab Al-Tabbaneh-Jabal Mohsen clashes that have repeatedly happened from 2008 onwards, and has supported inhabitants of Jabal Mohsen financially when they could not go to work because of armed conflicts. During the 2008 Lebanon conflict, where Sunnis and Shias fought throughout Lebanon, Rifaat said in an interview, "We're the most convenient targets, the stand-in for Hezbollah, our problem can only be solved when the Shiites and Sunnis solve theirs."<ref>{{cite news|last=Williams |first=Daniel |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a.emfPHnt0.o&refer=europe |title=Tripoli Turmoil Increases Risk of a Sunni-Shiite War in Lebanon |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2008-09-29 |accessdate=2012-05-18}}</ref> He stated that Alawites in Tripoli do not have problems with Sunnis, but have to protect themselves when they are attacked.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0626/p06s05-wome.html/%28page%29/2 |title=Can Lebanon douse political fires? |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date= |accessdate=2012-05-18}}</ref> He also stated, "The Salafis are like kittens when they are weak, but when they are strong they become like tigers."<ref>{{cite web |title=Lebanon warily watches its Salafis |date=2008-09-24 |website=The Christian Science Monitor |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128063115/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0924/p06s03-wome.html/%28page%29/2 |archive-date=2021-11-28 |url-status=live |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0924/p06s03-wome.html/%28page%29/2}}</ref>
During the Syrian Uprising, he accused anti-Syrian groups in Lebanon, such as the Future Movement, of funding and equipping Islamists in Tripoli.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=363468 |title=Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon -Rifaat Eid: Exploded arms warehouse belongs to Future Movement |publisher=NOW Lebanon |date=2012-02-11 |accessdate=2012-05-18 |archive-date=1 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020208/https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/archive/rifaat_eid_exploded_arms_warehouse_belongs_to_future_movement |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/May-17/173675-sporadic-clashes-test-tripolis-shaky-truce.ashx#axzz1uzBSxwRs |title=News :: Politics :: Sporadic clashes test Tripoli's shaky truce |publisher=The Daily Star |date= |accessdate=2012-05-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://electronicintifada.net/content/months-after-qatar-talks-fighting-continues-northern-lebanon/7639 |title=Months after Qatar talks, fighting continues in northern Lebanon |publisher=The Electronic Intifada |date=2008-07-30 |accessdate=2012-05-18}}</ref> He believes the Alawites in Lebanon are attacked in revenge for events in Syria, and that the Syrian army can protect Lebanese Alawites against attacks from armed Islamists, since the Lebanese army is ineffective against them.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/world/middleeast/syrias-unrest-felt-by-military-in-lebanon.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | first=Josh | last=Wood | title=Syria's Unrest Felt by Military in Lebanon | date=2012-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/01/04/144626452/syrian-uprising-raises-the-specter-of-sectarian-war |title=Syrian Uprising Raises The Specter Of Sectarian War |publisher=NPR |date=2012-01-04 |accessdate=2012-05-18}}</ref>
On 10 April 2014, an indictment demanded the death penalty for Rifaat Eid and three senior Jabal Mohsen fighters. Eid's pro-Damascus Arab Democratic Party, the main faction in Jabal Mohsen, participated in more than 20 rounds of deadly sectarian fighting with gunmen from the neighboring Bab al-Tabbaneh district between 2008 and 2014. Eid had fled the country to Syrian city of Tartous to avoid legal charges, and is still living there.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://yalibnan.com/2015/12/26/fugitive-ali-eid-died-in-syria-and-buried-in-lebanon/|title=Fugitive Ali Eid died in Syria and buried in Lebanon|work=Ya Libnan }}</ref><ref>[http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Mar-31/251756-adp-denies-rifaat-and-ali-eid-fled-to-syria.ashx ADP denies Rifaat Eid fled to Syria]''The Daily Star'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129062550/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Mar-31/251756-adp-denies-rifaat-and-ali-eid-fled-to-syria.ashx |date=29 January 2015 }}</ref>
==See also== *Lebanese Civil War *North Lebanon clashes (2014) *2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eid, Rifaat}} Category:Arab Democratic Party (Lebanon) politicians Category:Leaders of political parties Category:Lebanese Alawites Category:Lebanese Arab nationalists Category:Living people Category:1977 births Category:Politicians from Tripoli, Lebanon Category:Lebanese criminals Category:Lebanese warlords