Ali Eid, a prominent yet understated figure in Lebanese politics. The Alaouites leader was born in Tripoli’s Tebbeneh in 1940, studied at the American School and then pursued studies in Biochemistry in the United States where he met Martin Luther King.

Ali Eid returned to Lebanon in 1960, and attended the American University of Beirut (AUB) earning a Bachelor’s degree Political Science and Public Administration. During his studies he discovered that the political structure of the Lebanese system deprived the Alaouites of their rights; something also shared with African-Americans in the United States.

Ali Eid began his political life in 1972 after he founded The Young Alawite Movement, and his alliance with the late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad.

In 1977 Ali Eid and a group of friends established The Front Opposing Patriotism party which included Souhale Hamadah, Ali Eid, Rashid Al-Mukadim, George Mourani, and Nasib Al-Khatib.

In 1982 The Arabic Democratic Party was established with Ali Eid being the general secretary.

In 1989 his son Zoulficar passed away due to an unexploded bomb dating back to the Lebanese civil war.

Ali Eid was later on appointed to newly established Alawite seat in the Lebanese Parliament in 1991 as a deputy, a direct repercussion of the Taef agreement.

Ali Eid then launched his son’s political career, setting him among allies in the March 8 coalition. However, the young man was soon faced with many disappointments caused by supposed allies in the bloc, hence neither receiving a seat at the parliament nor political cover during the last 2014 battles.