Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

Ibrahim Sarsur (, ; born 2 February 1959) is an

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

politician. A former leader of the

United Arab List The United Arab List (, ''HaReshima HaAravit HaMe'uhedet''; , ''al-Qā'ima al-'Arabiyya al-Muwaḥḥada''), commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Ra'am (, ), is an Islamist and conservative political party in Israel and the political wing of ...

, he represented the party in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

from 2006 to 2015.

Biography

Born in Kafr Qasim, Sarsur studied English literature and English linguistics at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

during the 1970s. He became a member of Kafr Qasim

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

in 1989, serving on it until becoming the head of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement (considered more moderate than its northern counterpart) in 1999. He also became one of the heads of the

High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab citizens of Israel (, , also, High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Affairs and High Follow-Up Committee for the Arab Masses in Israel) is an extra-parliamentary umbrella organization that represents Arab citizens ...

. In the 2006 elections he was elected to the Knesset. He spoke out against a meeting of Arab lesbians in 2007, releasing a statement saying that "all respectable people from all communities and streams to stand up against preaching sexual deviance among our women and girls." He also claimed there were no homosexuals in the Muslim community. Following an Israeli air strike in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

which killed a woman and her four children in April 2008, he compared the actions of Israel to those of the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

: "Israel's killing of innocent people is reminiscent of some very dark times, including that of the Nazis." In April 2010 Sarsur lost in the elections of the southern branch to Sheikh Hamed Abu Daabas. Abu Daabas received 192 votes while Sarsur received 142. Sarsur was re-elected in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. In a June 2011 speech he praised

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

for "defeating" Israel and called for a new

caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

to be established with its capital in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He was re-elected again in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. Later in the year he signed a petition along with 105 other MKs calling for the release of the Jewish-American

Jonathan Pollard Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is an American former intelligence analyst who was jailed for spying for Israel. In 1984, Pollard sold numerous state secrets, including the National Security Agency's ten-volume manual on how the U.S. ...

, currently imprisoned by the United States for spying for Israel. Sarsur was quoted as saying that he "felt an emotional kinship with Pollard when eheard about the conditions under which he lives", comparing Pollard's treatment to that of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Sarsur retired from politics prior to the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, and was given a symbolic 119th place on the

Joint List The Joint List (, ''al-Qa'imah al-Mushtarakah'', , ''HaReshima HaMeshutefet'') was a political alliance of four of the Arab-Israeli, Arab-majority political parties in Israel: Hadash, Balad (political party), Balad, the United Arab List and Ta' ...

, an alliance of

Hadash Hadash is a left-wing to far-left political coalition in Israel formed by the Israeli Communist Party and other leftist groups. History The party was formed on 15 March 1977 when the Rakah and Non-Partisans parliamentary group changed its ...

and several Arab parties. His successor as party leader is Masud Ghnaim.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarsur, Ibrahim 1959 births Living people Arab members of the Knesset Bar-Ilan University alumni Israeli Muslims Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Muslim Brotherhood leaders People from Kafr Qasim United Arab List leaders

Biography

See also

References

External links