Saadia Marciano

Saadia Marciano (; 1 May 1950 – 21 December 2007) was an Israeli social activist and politician, and founder of the Israeli Black Panthers protest movement.

Biography Born in Oujda, Morocco in 1950, Marciano's family immigrated to Israel before his first birthday, where he grew up in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem. He was inspired by the example of the Black Panthers to organise a national movement to liberate Mizrahi Jews, and founded the Israeli Black Panthers in 1971. The organisation's name was attributed to Marciano by Kochavi Shemesh, who claimed that it was chosen to frighten Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

In 1972, Marciano was part of a Black Panthers group who moved milk bottles from middle-class neighbourhoods to poor ones. During a demonstration, he was given a black eye by a police officer, and this brought him to national attention.