The Da'am Workers Party ( ar, حزب دعم العمالي, he, דעם מפלגת פועלים, Da'am Mifleget Po'alim) is a revolutionary socialist Jewish–Arab political party in Israel, where it is commonly known by the acronym Da'am ( ar, link=no, دعم, Hebrew: ). It calls for political and social revolution in favor of

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, these rights influen ...

, 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 usually refers to pri ...

of key industries, Jewish–Arab coexistence, and gender equality.

Name

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

History

The party was founded in Haifa in 1995 as a result of splitting process in the communist camp of Israel; in 1960

Matzpen Matzpen ( he, מצפן, lit. 'Compass') is the name of a revolutionary socialist and anti-Zionist organisation, founded in Israel in 1962 which was active until the 1980s. Its official name was the Socialist Organisation in Israel, but it became ...

was founded by former members of the

Israeli Communist Party The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Maki (), is a communist political party in Israel and forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for ''Reshima Komunistit H ...

and in the 1970s former members of Matzpen founded three organisations, one of them was The Workers Alliance-Avangard, then in 1977 former members of Avangard founded Derech HaNitzoz. Former members of Derech HaNitzoz established Da'am in 1995. In the

1999 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1999. * 1999 electoral calendar Africa * 1999 Algerian presidential election * 1999 Botswana general election * 1999 Beninese parliamentary election * 1999 Central African Republic presidential elect ...

the party won only 2,151 votes (0.06%), well below the electoral threshold 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 presidenti ...

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

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 Knesset. The party did not contest the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

. 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 coun ...

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 degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politi ...

— One Country", after it decided to support a one-state solution to the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

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

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), opposing discrimination, and holding an internationalist worldview. The party had supported the right of the Palestinian people to found an independent state based on the

1967 borders The Green Line, (pre-)1967 border, 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–Is ...

until 2018, after which the party supported a one-state solution based on

civic nationalism Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, in ...

. The party is against Israeli unilateralism and occupation of the Palestinian territories. It also opposes political Islam. 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 elections for the twentieth Knesset were held in Israel on 17 March 2015. Disagreements within the governing coalition, particularly over the budget and a "Jewish state" proposal, led to the dissolution of the government in December 2 ...

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