Jamal Zahalka

Jamal Zahalka
جمال زحالقة‎
Faction represented in the Knesset
2003–2015Balad
2015–2019Joint List
Personal details
Born (1955-01-11) 11 January 1955 (age 69)
Kafr Qara, Israel

Jamal Zahalka (Arabic: جمال زحالقة, romanized: Jamāl Zaḥalqa, Hebrew: ג'מאל זחאלקה; born 11 January 1955) is an Arab-Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Balad between 2003 and 2019, and was leader of the party between 2007 and 2019.

Biography

Zahalka was born in Kafr Qara. As a teenager, he participated in PLO activities in the town. He attended a Jewish high school in nearby Haifa. While in the middle of 12th grade, he was arrested over his PLO activities, as at the time the PLO was an outlawed organization. He was subsequently convicted and imprisoned for two years. He completed his matriculation in prison. After his release from prison, he studied pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He earned a BA, MA and PhD.[1] His doctoral thesis was on the physiological properties of hashish.[2] He worked as a pharmacist prior to his entry into politics.

Zahalka was active in Arab and left-wing groups, and in the communist Maki party. For a time, he studied in East Germany, and returned to Israel in 1989. He later joined the Balad party, having met its founder Azmi Bishara at university in 1977.[3] He was elected to the Knesset on Balad's list in 2003, and was re-elected in 2006. After Bishara fled the country, Zahalka became party leader in 2007. He was subsequently re-elected in 2009, 2013 and 2015. He stepped down as party leader prior to the April 2019 elections and left the Knesset.

Zahalka lives in Kafr Qara and is married with five children. He is an atheist.[4]

Views on the treatment of Palestinians by Israel

Zahalka describes Israel's political discourse about the Palestinians as revolving around the ideas of separation, apartheid, and transfer. He argues that an apartheid system is already in place, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip separated into "cantons," and Palestinians required to carry permits to travel between them.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Jamal Zahalka". The Knesset. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Jamal Zahalka on 'Debunking the Myth of Israeli Democracy'". YouTube. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  3. ^ "אני מוכן להתייחס ליהודים בשוויון מלא". Haaretz (in Hebrew). 20 November 2002. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Zahalka's hysterics". Jerusalem Post. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  5. ^ "New Laws Legalize Apartheid in Israel". For the Record. No. 116. 11 June 2002. Archived from the original on 17 March 2008 – via Palestine Center.
  6. ^ "Worldwide events mark 'Israeli Apartheid Week'". Ynetnews. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2024.