Naziq Al- Abid was a women's rights activist and a Syrian revolutionary, known as the Arab Joan of Arc. Naziq was born in Damascus, Syria in 1898 to an aristocratic family. She chose to leave her life of luxury in order to fight for the rights of women and for her country's independence. Naziq founded Noor al-Fayha (Light of Damascus), the city's first women's organization, and an affiliated publication of the same name. She also founded the Red Crescent in 1922, the Syrian equivalent to the Red Cross that was dedicated to helping nurse the wounded from the war. She was also made an honorary general of the Syrian army after fighting in the Battle of Maysaloun. Naziq led a delegation of Syrian women who appeared before the American King-Crane Commission. As a symbol of her desire for a more liberal, secular Syria, she removed her veil before the American commission, a decision that was highly controversial. Naziq continued her activism throughout her life, even when she was exiled from her home country. She co-founded the Damascene Women's Awakening Society with Adila Bayhum in 1925, organizing workshops to train displaced and widowed Syrian women in various crafts. In 1935 in Lebanon Abid also founded the Association for Working Women, which lobbied for sick days, maternity leave and equal pay for women workers.