Mohammed Miari (, ; born 12 April 1939) 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 headed the

Progressive List for Peace The Progressive List for Peace (, ''HaReshima HaMitkademet LeShalom'', ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed from an alliance of both Arab and Jewish left-wing activists. History The party was formed in 1984 by a mer ...

during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Biography

Miari was born during the Mandate era in

al-Birwa Al-Birwa (, also spelled ''al-Birweh'') was a Palestinian Arab village, located east of Acre (Akka). In 1945, it had a population of 1,460, of whom the majority were Muslims and a significant minority, Christians. Its total land area consiste ...

, a village which was depopulated as a result of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. He grew up in

Makr Judeida - al-Makr or Jadeidi-Makr (; ) is an Arab local council formed by the merger of the two Arab towns of al-Makr and Judeida in 1990. It is located a few kilometers east of the city of Acre in the Northern District, Israel. In its popu ...

and attended high school in

Kafr Yasif Kafr Yasif (, ''Kufr Yaseef''; ) is an Arab town in the Northern District of Israel. It is located northeast of the city of Acre and adjacent to Abu Sinan and Yarka. The population of Kafr Yasif is half Christian (52.1%) with most of the res ...

, and was also a member of the Arab Youth Pioneer movement. He later 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 was certified as a lawyer. Whilst at university, he became active in Arab student politics. He was amongst the founders of the al-Ard movement, was placed third on the Arab Socialist List for the 1965 Knesset elections, although the list was eventually prevented from running by the

Central Elections Committee The Israeli Central Elections Committee (, ''Va'adet HaBehirot HaMerkazit'') is the body charged under the Knesset Elections Law of 1969 to carry out the elections for the upcoming Knesset. The committee is composed of Knesset members (and deleg ...

. In 1984 he was amongst the founders of the Progressive List for Peace, and was elected to the Knesset in the elections that year. During his first term in office he was a member of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee. The party was initially banned from contesting the 1988 elections by the Central Elections Committee on the basis that it violated the

Basic Law A basic law is either a codified constitution, or in countries with uncodified constitutions, a law designed to have the effect of a constitution. The term ''basic law'' is used in some places as an alternative to "constitution" and may be inte ...

on the Knesset, which stated that parties should not aim for a "negation of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people". The PLFP appealed to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and the ban was overturned. Miari was re-elected, though the party was reduced to a single seat. He lost his seat in the 1992 elections, in which the PLFP won only 0.9% of the vote, failing to cross the 1.5% electoral threshold. During his time in the Knesset, there were two attempts to remove his parliamentary immunity; one over his attendance at a meeting in memory of Fuad Kawasme, who had been removed from his position as mayor of

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

, and the second for meeting

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

leaders in 1988 and a press conference at which he expressed support for the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

. Both attempts failed. He later joined Balad, and was given the symbolic last place on its list for the

2003 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...

. He left Balad in 2014 due to the party's criticism of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

's conduct during the Syrian Civil War, becoming leader of a breakaway movement named Kapah (''Struggle'').Syrian civil war splits Israeli-Arab party
Ynetnews, 11 February 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miari, Mohammed 1939 births Living people Arab people in Mandatory Palestine People from Jadeidi-Makr Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law alumni Israeli lawyers Arab members of the Knesset Leaders of political parties in Israel Progressive List for Peace politicians Balad (political party) politicians Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992)