Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October 2018, p. 72
Obituaries
Compiled by Amin Gharad
Mai Skaf (May Scaff), 49, died in her home on July 23 in Dourdan, southwest of Paris. While a colleague stated that she died of a heart attack, others—including her family and friends—are suspicious about the true cause of her death, deeming it “mysterious” given her showing no signs of illness before her death.
A celebrated Syrian actress born into a mixed Muslim and Christian Damascene household, she gained renown as a revolutionary icon for her role in protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. She was arrested in 2012 for taking part in a protest that came to be known as the “intellectuals’ demonstration,” and was again detained later that year. After receiving numerous death threats, she decided to flee to Jordan, and eventually settled in France where she had lived since 2015. Defiant and hopeful until the end, Skaf’s last Facebook post read, “I will not lose hope, never lose hope. It’s the Great Syria, not Assad’s Syria.”
A woman and artist of principle, Skaf distinguished herself not only for her achievements and popularity on the big screen, but as a beacon of integrity and unwavering courage. She decided early on to become a symbol of the revolution at a time when many other Syrian artists feared saying or doing anything that might invite regime crackdown. Her activism did not end after settling in France. In 2016, she demonstrated in Berlin against anti-refugee sentiment and policies in Europe, symbolically offering herself as fodder to a group of Libyan lions.
Skaf is survived by her mother and son, Joud.
Yasser al-Masri, 47, died on Aug. 23 after being involved in a car accident in Zarqa, Jordan. Born and raised in Kuwait in 1970, al-Masri would go on to graduate from the Jordanian Music Academy before acting in a number of Arabic-language television series such as “Nimr bin Adwan,” where he starred as the lead actor, and, most recently, “Haroon Al-Rasheed.”
He is survived by his wife, journalist Nisreen al-Kurd, and their three children.
Arlene Briem Sayegh, 92, died tragically earlier this summer as a result of a car accident in California. Arlene—a passionate advocate for the Palestinian cause—relentlessly continued the work and mission of her late husband, the celebrated Palestinian American academic and civil servant, Dr. Fayez A. Sayegh (See “In Memoriam” by Ambassador Andrew I. Killgore published on pp. 22-23 in the December 2005 Washington Report.)
A graduate of Brigham Young University, Arlene traveled to New York to take a job at the United Nations where she would eventually meet and marry Dr. Fayez.
A devoted longtime reader and friend of the Washington Report, she is remembered for having carved a legacy of her own in the realm of Palestinian activism, independently noteworthy, yet beautifully intertwined, with the legacy of her late husband. A friend and pen pal of hers, M.J. Ogden, credits her for helping him educate hundreds of students otherwise reflexively apathetic or antagonistic toward the Palestinian cause over the course of his tenure as a professor at Weber State University (see p. 6). She also took on the mantle of meticulously preserving much of her husband’s intellectual legacy, donating hundreds of his written works and recorded speeches and interviews—along with his massive personal library—to the University of Utah at Ogden.
We remember Sayegh here and she will be greatly missed.
Jamal A. Sa’d, 86, died at his home in East Lansing, Michigan on July 10 of complications from Parkinson’s disease.
After fleeing Palestine in 1948 during the Nakba, he and his family settled in Beirut, Lebanon where he would go on to attend the American University with a concentration in political science and law. Eventually Sa’d immigrated to the United States where he would pursue graduate studies at the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in international studies from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Sa’d enjoyed a vibrant career in diplomacy and business, distinguished by a decade of service at the Lebanese Embassy in Washington, DC, the Arab Information Center of the League of Arab States, and later at the United Nations. He also directed for a time the American Arab Association for Commerce and Industry.
In his spare time, Dr. Sa’d enjoyed music and the arts with a passion for the harmonica, drawing, and painting. He is remembered for his elegant style, lively intellect, and an effervescent presence that captivated the room.
He is survived by three daughters, Najwa, Rima, and Nadia; and six grandchildren.
