The Da'am Workers Party (, ) is a

revolutionary socialist Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...

, multi-ethnic

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in Israel, where it is commonly known by the acronym Da'am (, Hebrew: ). It calls for political and social revolution to secure

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...

, the

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of key industries, Jewish–Arab coexistence, and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

Name

The name "Da'am" originates from Arabic and is a reverse acronym for the name Organization for Democratic Action (, ''munaẓẓamāt al-ʿamal ad-dīmuqrāṭiyy''). The name also means "support" in Arabic.

History

The party was founded in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

in 1995 as a result of splitting process in the communist camp of Israel; in 1960

Matzpen Matzpen (, lit. 'Compass'), founded in 1962, was an Israeli revolutionary socialist and anti-Zionist organisation. It was active until the 1980s. Its official name was the Socialist Organisation in Israel, but it became better known as Matzpen af ...

was founded by former members of the Israeli Communist Party and in the 1970s former members of Matzpen founded three organisations, one of which was the Workers Alliance-Avangard. In 1977 former members of Avangard founded Derech HaNitzoz. Former members of Derech HaNitzoz established Da'am in 1995. In the 1999 elections the party received only 2,151 votes (0.06%), well below the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

of 1.5%. The 2003 elections saw a fall in support to just 1,925 votes, though its percentage (0.06%) remained roughly the same due to a reduced turnout. Nevertheless, it still did not pass the threshold. In the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential e ...

the party more than doubled its support, receiving 3,692 votes (0.11%). However, with the raising of the threshold to 2%, it was even further away from winning a seat 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 ...

. In the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendum ...

it again failed to pass the threshold and did not receive any seats. In the 2013 elections it received 3,374 votes (0.09%) and again did not obtain a seat in the

. The party did not contest 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 ...

. In the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

the party campaigned with the slogan "

Green Economy A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without environmental degradation, degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological econ ...

— One Country", after it decided to support a

one-state solution The one-state solution is a proposed approach to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. It stipulates the establishment of a single state within the boundaries of what was Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and 1948, today consisting of the co ...

to the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

based on post-nationalism instead of a Palestinian state and to emphasize its support for

eco-socialism Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism, socialist ecology, ecological materialism, or revolutionary ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. E ...

Ideology

The party is a joint Arab–Jewish party emphasizing class identity over ethnic or national ones. It is strongly left-wing, supporting workers' rights (particularly those of

Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by ...

), opposing discrimination, and holding an internationalist worldview. The party had supported the right of the

Palestinian people Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous ...

to found an independent state based on the

1967 borders The Green Line, or 1949 Armistice border, is the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between the armies of Israel and those of its neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It served ...

until 2018, after which the party supported a

based on

civic nationalism Civic nationalism, otherwise known as democratic nationalism, is a form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights, and is not based on ethnocentrism. Civic nationalists ...

. The party is against Israeli

unilateralism __NOTOC__ Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find disagreeable. As a word, ''un ...

and occupation of the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

. It also opposes

political Islam Political Islam is the interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It advocates the formation of state and society according to (the advocates understanding of) Islamic principles, where Islam serves as a source of poli ...

. Members of the party were involved in the establishment of the Workers Advice Center, "an initiative for building an independent labor association". Ma'an offers support to unemployed and unorganised (non- Union) workers. In the

2015 Israeli legislative election Early legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 March 2015 to elect the 120 members of the List of members of the twentieth Knesset, twentieth Knesset. Disagreements within the Thirty-third government of Israel, governing coalition, pa ...

, it was the only political party in Israel headed by an Israeli Arab woman,

Asma Agbarieh Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka (, ; born 1973) is an Arab citizens of Israel, Israeli Arab journalist and political activist who heads the Organization for Democratic Action (Da'am) party. She is the only Israeli Arab woman to head a political party. Bio ...

. The party produces the monthly English-language magazine ''Challenge'', as well as the Arabic ''al Sabar'' and the Hebrew quarterly ''Etgar''.

References

External links

* {{Israeli political parties 1995 establishments in Israel Arab political parties in Israel Political parties established in 1995 Communist parties in Israel Marxist parties in Israel Political parties in Israel Secularism in Israel