Ahmad Tibi
Ahmad Tibi | |
---|---|
Speaker of the Knesset | |
Personal details | |
Born | Tayibe, Israel | 19 December 1958
Ahmad Tibi (
Tibi is also a trained physician and graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a gynecologist.
Early life and career
Tibi was born in Tayibe, a town about 16 kilometres east of the Mediterranean coast north of Tel Aviv, in 1958. His father, Kamal Tibi, was born in Jaffa.
Tibi studied medicine at the
During his studies, Tibi had also become involved in politics. In the 1980s, he made connections with prominent Palestinian activists. He attended PLO meetings around the world, and in 1984, he met Yasser Arafat in Tunis, at a time when meeting PLO members was still a criminal offense in Israel. Tibi was questioned by police several times, subjected to a stay of exit order from Israel, and arrested once.[3]
Tibi served as a political advisor to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat from 1993 to 1999, representing the Palestinians at the 1998 Wye River negotiations. He resigned from this post in 1999 upon deciding to run for the Knesset. Tibi described his relationship with Arafat as "close" and "extremely interesting and important to [him]".
He was first elected to the Knesset in the
In 2002, MK Michael Kleiner initiated actions in the Knesset to restrict movements by Tibi inside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Kleiner claimed that Tibi was assisting the Palestinians in their war against Israel. Tibi protested the Knesset's decision as unconstitutional and illegal under Israeli law,[4] and appealed to the Supreme Court of Israel, which deferred a decision on the case.[5]
Ahead of Israel's
elections.Inside and outside Israel, Tibi is acknowledged as an effective parliamentarian and advocate for Palestinians who live in Israel and the territories it controls. He was the first Arab member of the Knesset to succeed in passing legislation under his own name against opposition, including an August 2012 law regularizing compensation given by airlines to their customers for delayed or cancelled flights.[8] In 2008, he initiated the establishment of the Parliamentary inquiry committee for the employment of Arabs in the public sector, serving as its chairman until 2012. He was favored several times in media surveys of the Arab-Palestinian population in Israel as the most popular Arab member of the Knesset and cited as best public speaker in the Knesset by parliamentary reporters. As of September 2014, Tibi remains Deputy Speaker and UAL-Ta'al Parliamentary Group Chairman. He is a member of the House Committee and the Finance Committee.[9]
Political positions
Tibi supports an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 green lines and a
During the April 2019 Israeli elections, Tibi was frequently referenced by Benjamin Netanyahu, who used the slogan "It's either Bibi or Tibi" – a phrase which was criticized by Tibi and opponents of Netanyahu as playing on Jewish fears of Arab involvement in the Israeli political process to cast the election as a dichotomy between returning Netanyahu as prime minister or allowing Arab Israelis to join a government.[12][13][14][15][16]
Controversies
Tibi continues to be considered controversial in the Israeli politics mainly due to his wide relations with Palestinian and Arab parties, and his speeches in the Knesset. However, Tibi is also known for having pronounced a moving speech to commemorate Holocaust Day in 2010 at the Israeli Knesset. Yair Lapid reported on Israel's Channel 2: "Knesset elders claim that it might have been the best speech ever given in the Israeli Parliament."[17]
During an event honoring Palestinian martyrs in January 2012, Tibi described martyrs as "symbols of the homeland", while congratulating Palestinian martyrs in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel, as well as overseas, asserting that for Palestinians "there is nothing more praiseworthy than those who die for the homeland." While the word martyr in Arabic means to die for God's name, it has come to be associated with suicide bombers in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[18][19]
See also
References
- ^ Friedman, Thomas L.; Times, Special To the New York (8 September 1987). "Doctor's Dismissal Spurs Israel Clash". The New York Times.
- ^ Gil Ronen (4 April 2008). "Analysis: MK Ahmed Tibi – Profile of a Brilliant Enemy". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "ח"כ ישראלי או שגריר פלשתינאי". הארץ. 3 December 2002 – via Haaretz.
- ^ "Movement Restrictions on MK Dr. Al-Tibi". Arab Association for Human Rights. 2 June 2002. Archived from the original on 15 December 2004.
- ^ Yair Ettinger; Moshe Reinfeld; Daniel Sobleman (3 November 2002). "Court delays ruling on Tibi petition over travel limitations". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ Gideon Alon; Yair Ettinger (19 December 2002). "Eitan to propose nixing Tibi's Knesset bid". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ "Poll ban on Arab Israelis lifted". BBC News. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ Davidovich-Weissberg, Gabriela (13 November 2012). המהפכות הצרכניות שעברו בכנסת הנוכחית ואלו שמחכות לאחר הבחירות [Consumer Right Revolutions Passed in the Current Knesset and Those Waiting in the Next]. TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ^ The Knesset, State of Israel
- ^ מדינת כל לאומיה [State of all peoples]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). 10 February 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ Alia Al Ghussain. (4 March 2018). "US Jerusalem move is 'official adoption of Israeli narrative'". Al Jazeera website Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ "Bibi or Tibi: Netanyahu campaign draws accusations of incitement". Ynetnews. 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Think About It: 'Bibi or Tibi'". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ Tobin, Jonathan (14 March 2019). "Bibi or Tibi?". Intermountain Jewish News.
- ^ "Bibi or Tibi?". Haaretz. 27 May 2010.
- ^ Schwartz, Yardena (10 September 2019). "Why Bibi Fears Arab Voters".
- YouTube
- ^ Harkov, Lahav (18 January 2012). "Tibi: Nothing's more praiseworthy than martyrdom". Jerusalem Post.
- ^ אזולאי, מורן (5 March 2012). "נזיפה חמורה לח"כ טיבי על הנאום ב"יום השהיד"". Ynet.
External links
- Ahmad Tibi on the Knesset website
- Tibi's channel on YouTube
- Tibi's Facebook page
- "Q&A with Ta'al MK Ahmed Tibi". Haaretz. 2 September 2003. Archived from the original on 4 September 2004.
- "A double identity". The Jerusalem Post. 21 April 2008.[dead link]
- Ahmad Tibi (5 February 2008). "The Future of Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations: Is Peace Still Possible?". The Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. Transcript of remarks at The Palestine Center, Washington, D.C.
- Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talk III on YouTube by Leon Charneyon The Leon Charney Report