Elias Daoud Khoury (, ) is an Arab-Israeli

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 ...

-based lawyer. He specializes in

real property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...

. Elias made appeals several times to the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

, and has had

Palestinian 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 p ...

politicians among his clients in Israeli courts. Elias gained fame in the 1970s when he led a legal battle against the Israeli settlers of Sebastia and

Elon Moreh Elon Moreh () is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located northeast of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus, on the slopes of the Mount Kabir ridge, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shomr ...

Early life and career

Elias Khoury was born in the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

. His father lost the family land to Israel in the 1948 war, took citizenship in Israel, and believed he could work patiently through Israeli law to get his land back. Elias studied law at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and lived in the

Beit Hanina Beit Hanina ( ,) is an Arab Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is on the road to Ramallah, eight kilometers north of central Jerusalem, at an elevation of 780 meters above sea level. Beit Hanina is bordered by Pisgat Ze'ev and H ...

and

Shuafat Shuafat (), also ''Shu'fat'' and ''Sha'fat'', is a mostly Palestinian Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, forming part of north-eastern Jerusalem. Located on the old Jerusalem–Ramallah road about three miles north of the Old City, Shu'fat ...

neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Khoury has a practice in Jerusalem, formerly in its Eastern part and now in the West, specializing in real property law. He has represented clients at all Israeli court levels, including the Supreme Court of Israel, as well as in planning commissions.

Terror victims in the family and activism

Both Khoury's father and son were killed in

Palestinian terror 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 p ...

attacks. Khoury's father, Daoud Khoury, was killed when a booby-trapped refrigerator exploded in Zion Square. Elias' son, George Khoury, was killed by

gunfire A gunshot is a single discharge of a gun, typically a man-portable firearm, producing a visible flash, a powerful and loud shockwave and often chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a ballistic wound caused by such a discharg ...

on 19 March 2004, while jogging in the neighborhood of French Hill in Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military branch of the

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

movement, claimed responsibility. After it became clear that the victim was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

it apologized, and offered to declare him a martyr for the Palestinian cause. "This is a barbaric act that will not change my world view, which includes deep faith in Palestinian rights," said Khoury. In the framework of his public activities, he has expressed concerns about the impacts of the lack of Arab participation in the urban politics of Jerusalem, while expressing an understanding of the rationale. In 2008, he expressed concerns with a planned real estate deal between his own

Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem,, ''Patriarcheîon Hierosolýmōn;'' , also known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, is an autocephalous church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Established in th ...

and the State of Israel. On 6 March 2010, ''The New York Times'' reported that Khoury had paid to have

Amos Oz Amos Oz (; born Amos Klausner (); 4 May 1939 – 28 December 2018) was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a pro ...

's ''

A Tale of Love and Darkness ''A Tale of Love and Darkness'' ( ''Sipur al ahava ve choshech'') is a memoir by the Israeli author Amos Oz, first published in Hebrew in 2002. The book has been translated into 28 languages and over a million copies have been sold worldwide. ...

'' translated into Arabic and distributed in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and other Arab capitals. Of his decision to pay for the translation and publication of the book, Khoury said: "This book tells the history of the rebirth of the Jewish people. We can learn from it how a people like the Jewish people emerged from the tragedy of the Holocaust and were able to reorganize themselves and build their country and become an independent people. If we can't learn from that, we will not be able to do anything for our independence."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khoury, Elias Advocates Israeli Arab Christians 20th-century Israeli lawyers Living people Real property lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni People from Northern District (Israel)