Lebanese-born activist dies in
Washington
‘Visionary leader’ praised Hala Salam Maksoud, who passed away on Friday in Washington DC after
a long battle with cancer, has been eulogized as a “visionary leader” in
Arab-American affairs.
She was the niece of former Prime Ministers Omar and Rashid Karami and the late Prime
Minister Saeb Salam.
But Maksoud, who emigrated to the United States in 1974 when she married Clovis Maksoud,
then Arab League ambassador to the United Nations, had a distinguished career in her own
right as a university professor, and more notably as a pioneer in the struggle for
Arab-American rights.
She served as president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee from 1996 to
2001, but had been involved since its inception in 1980, serving on the board of
directors’ executive committee.
Announcing her death, ADC president Ziad Asali said: “This is a devastating loss for
the entire Arab-American community … Hala was a visionary leader who charted a path
to empowerment we will be following for many years to come.”
Maksoud was a founder of several other organizations as well, including the American
Committee on Jerusalem, the Association of Arab-American University Graduates and the Arab
Women’s Council.
She held a PhD in political theory and an MA in government from Georgetown University in
Washington, as well as an MA in physics from the American University in Beirut.
She went on to teach at George Mason University in Virginia and Georgetown and, during the
various Middle East crises, her evaluation of the situations were regularly sought.
Born in 1943 in Beirut, Maksoud will be remembered for her 1982 sit-in staged in a tent
opposite the White House, where she, along with the wives of the Syrian and Saudi
ambassadors, protested the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
In March 2000, in recognition of her commitment, she was the recipient of a lifetime
achievement award from the American Immigration Law Foundation.
“She had a remarkable ability to communicate effectively with and inspire people of
very different cultural and political backgrounds and across lines of religion and social
class,” Asali said.
“Leaders of Hala’s caliber are exceedingly rare and we shall miss her guidance
and wise counsel. Our task now at ADC is to try to live up to the standard she set for us
all.”
Maksoud, who was buried Saturday in the US after a prayer service, is survived by her
husband, a brother and two sisters.
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