Hussniya Jabara | |
|---|---|
حسنية جبّارة | |
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| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1999–2003 | Meretz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-04-11)11 April 1958 (age 67) Tayibe, Israel |
Hussniya Jabara (Arabic:حسنية جبّارة,Hebrew:חוסניה ג'בארה; born 11 April 1958) is an Israeli former politician, who served as a member of theKnesset forMeretz between 1999 and 2003. She was the first femaleIsraeli Arab to become a Knesset member.[1]
Jabara was born to a Muslim farming family inTayibe.[2] She studied physiotheraphy at the Wingate Institute.
She joined theNa'amat women's organisation and was chairwoman of its Tayibe branch between 1992 and 1994. Between 1995 and 1997 she served as Women's and Youth director at the Jewish-Arab Institute atBeit Berl Academic College, and became chairwoman of the Department for the Middle East at the college's International Institute.[3]
Despite opposition from her father,[4] Jabara sought to enter politics. Prior to the1999 elections she won tenth place on theMeretz list,[5] and entered the Knesset after the party won ten seats. During her first term she chaired the Subcommittee for the Advancement of the Status of Arab Women and was also a member of the Committee on the Status of Women.
In 2002 at the peak of theSecond Intifada, she travelled toRamallah to meet with Chairman of thePalestinian AuthorityYasser Arafat, after five Palestinians were killed in theGaza Strip. She told him that Israel's assassination policy was not helping Israel, the way thesuicide bombers are not helping thePalestinian people.[6]
She retained tenth place on the Meretz list for the2003 elections,[7] but lost her seat as the party was reduced to six MKs.
Jabara is married to Fathi, a driving instructor, and has three children.[2]