Muhamad Kanan (, ; born 17 October 1955) 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 ...

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

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 ...

and the Arab National Party between 1999 and 2003.

Biography

Born in Tamra, Kanan gained a BA at the

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

, before studying community centre management 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 then working as a high school teacher. Between 1980 and 1988 he served as deputy mayor of his hometown, and chaired the management council of the town's community centre between 1981 and 1989. He was elected to the Knesset on the United Arab List list in the 1999 elections, but on 19 February 2001, left the party to establish the Arab National Party along with Tawfik Khatib. The new party did not participate in the 2003 elections, and both lost their seats. In the run-up to 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 ...

it looked like Kanan would join

Hadash Hadash is a left-wing to far-left political coalition in Israel formed by the Israeli Communist Party and other leftist groups. History The party was formed on 15 March 1977 when the Rakah and Non-Partisans parliamentary group changed its ...

. However, the party then entered the election race, before withdrawing and announcing its support for Balad, though by then it was too late to take the party's name off the ballot. On election day the party picked up only 738 votes (0.02%), the second lowest in total and far 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 2%. In December 2008, Kanan joined the new Arab Centre Party, and was given second place on its Knesset list.Party aims to improve Arabs' daily life
''The Jerusalem Post'', 4 December 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanan, Muhamad 1955 births People from Tamra Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Israeli educators Arab members of the Knesset Living people United Arab List politicians Arab National Party politicians Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003)