Abdulwahab Darawshe (, ; born 12 October 1943) 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 ...

former politician who served as a member of 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 ...

for the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

and the Arab Democratic Party between 1984 and 1999.

Biography

Abdulwahab Darawshe was born on 12 October 1943 in

Iksal Iksal (, , ''Kislot Tavor'') is an Arab local council in northern Israel, about southeast of Nazareth. It has an area of 9,000 dunams and a population of primarily Muslim inhabitants. Name The name of the town is believed to derive from Kisl ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. He studied at

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

High School, before graduating from the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

with a degree in education and history. He worked as a teacher and headmaster, also serving as a national supervisor for the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, a member of the board of the Teachers' Union's central committee, a member of the Education Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence's board, and chairman of the Arab Association for Education and Grants in Nazareth. Darawshe was first elected to the Knesset on the Alignment's list in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. On 15 February 1988, he left the alliance to found his own single member faction, which was named the Arab Democratic Party on 7 March.Mergers and Splits Among Parliamentary Groups
Knesset website His new party won 1.2% of the vote in the November 1988 election, just crossing the electoral threshold (1%), and winning a single seat, taken by Darawshe. He retained his seat again in the 1992 elections, after which the party gained a seat. During his third term in the Knesset, Darawshe chaired the subcommittee for Arab Education and the subcommittee for the Advancement of the Status of Arab Women. For the 1996 elections, Darawshe's party ran a joint list with 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 ...

, winning four seats, with Darawshe chairing the alliance's parliamentary group. He lost his seat in the 1999 elections. For the 2009 elections, he was placed 119th on the United Arab List-

Ta'al The Arab Movement for Renewal, commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Ta'al, is an anti-Zionist Arab nationalist political party in Israel, led by Ahmad Tibi. History Ta'al was founded by Tibi in the run-up to the 1996 elections where it ...

list.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darawshe, Abdulwahab 1943 births Living people 20th-century Israeli civil servants 20th-century Israeli educators Alignment (Israel) politicians Arab Democratic Party (Israel) leaders Arab members of the Knesset Arab people in Mandatory Palestine Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) People from Northern District (Israel) University of Haifa alumni