Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Ahmad Kamel Ahmad Tibi (Hebrew: אחמד טיבי) (born December 19, 1958 in Taybeh), a Palestinian physician and
politician, leader of the Arab Movement for Change, and a member of the Israeli
Parliament «Knesset» since 1999. From 1993-1999 he served as an advisor to the
Palestinian President The late Yasser Arafat, “For the Affairs of the Arab
Minority in Israel.”
Upbringing, education and family
life
Al-Tibi was born to a father from
Jaffa and a mother from Ramla. His family took refuge in the 1948 war in
al-Taybeh. He is the second among his six brothers, the eldest of the three
male children. He received his secondary education in the city of Taybeh, then
studied medicine at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is married to Dr.
Mai al-Tibi, born in Tulkarm, with whom he has two daughters.
political activity
Tibi identifies himself as a
Palestinian-Arab, and calls for changing the nature of the State of Israel from
a Jewish state to “a state of all its nationalities” and an ethnic democracy to
a multicultural one. He said on more than one occasion that Israel cannot define
itself as a “Jewish and democratic” state, since there is a contradiction
between these two values. “It cannot be democratic and prefer one group of
citizens over another on the basis of ethnicity.” The contradiction is that
Israel is "a state that is democratic towards the Jews and Jewish towards
the Arabs."
The Arab Movement for Change
The party was founded in 1996 by Dr.
Ahmed Al-Tibi and a number of Palestinian intellectuals and activists from the
Arabs of the interior. After requesting the resignation of President Yasser
Arafat, despite his reservations about the request at the time, the Israeli
right questioned Dr. Tibi's loyalty to the State of Israel, as he had assumed
the position of advisor to the President of the Palestinian Authority. By withdrawing
before the elections, due to the movement's leadership's suspicions that it
would not exceed the threshold and that the Arab vote would be wasted, so the
leadership preferred to take the decision to withdraw out of commitment to the
interest of the Arab masses in Israel.
In the elections for the fifteenth
session of the Knesset in 1999, the Arab Movement for Change ran in the
elections as part of a coalition list with the National Democratic Assembly
Party. The list at that time won two seats, and the Arab Movement for Change
represented a seat through its president, Dr. Ahmed Tibi. As a result of
disagreements with the leadership of the Tagammu Party, the Arab Movement for
Change split from the coalition bloc in the Knesset.
The Israeli Central Elections
Commission disqualified Dr. Ahmad al-Tibi from running in the sixteenth round
of elections in 2003 on charges of supporting terrorism, supporting the
Intifada, and harming Israel's reputation in the world in the media, but he
went to the Supreme Court and succeeded in annulling the decision. Thus, the
Arab Movement for Change ran the elections on an alliance list with the
Democratic Front for Peace and Equality party, and won 3 seats at that time,
including a seat for the Arab Movement for Change.
In the elections of the seventeenth
session in 2006, an alliance was concluded between the Arab Movement for Change
and the Unified List, which includes the Islamic Movement, the Arab Democratic
Party and the Arab National Party. Arabic for change. The elections for the
eighteenth session 2009 and the elections for the nineteenth session 2013 also
ran within this coalition list. Until now, the Arab Movement for Change is
still within this coalition list, which and its leadership always seeks to
expand its coalition to include all the political components of the Arab masses
in Israel.
Political and field achievement
Although the Arab Knesset members
remained in the ranks of the opposition, this did not prevent Dr. Ahmed Tibi
from legislating and achieving in favor of the Arab minority in Israel and
exploiting his position and recruiting them to serve the members of the Arab
minority inside, so he was chosen several times as the most active member of
the Knesset and as the first political figure over the course of several years,
due to his activity And his tireless work for the benefit of the Arab masses at
home, and Tibi was able to legislate several laws, the most important of which
are:
Allied Medical Professions Law
Traveler Compensation Act
Laws to disintegrate villages that
have caused harm to their citizens
Bodyguard Law
The law abolishing the purchase of
lottery tickets for minors
Warning Act on Food Products
The Parliamentary Committee for the
Absorption of Arabs in the Public Sector - headed by Tibi
He was elected in many opinion polls
as the most prominent and best Arab Knesset member and the most active Knesset
member in general. He is considered a brilliant parliamentarian in the Knesset,
and he was the first Arab member of the Knesset to succeed in enacting four
laws during the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions as well. One of the most
prominent specialists in the Arab world in Israeli affairs and politics, and is
considered a distinguished reference in this field. Parliamentary journalists
chose him as the best orator in parliament, among Jews and Arabs alike. At the
Wye River summit, he served as the official spokesperson for the Palestinian
delegation, and everyone recognized his outstanding performance at the time.
Anti-racism
Dr. Ahmed Al-Tibi strives to expose
and fight racism and discrimination against members of his minority, and to
expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. Many recognize his success in this context due to his ability to deal
with the media, and his awareness of its importance as the most effective means
of communication in addressing public opinion and addressing the other. He was
described as "a tall Palestinian who does not lower his head, but rather
addresses the majority at the level of the eyes." He is proud of being
Palestinian, saying, "I do not claim that we are the best people in the
world, but from my point of view, there is no better people than the
Palestinian people. If I were to choose again, I would never choose to be
Palestinian."
Adviser to Yasser Arafat
Dr. Ahmad Tibi held the position of
political advisor to President Yasser Arafat, which aroused the grudge of many
Israelis against him, who tried to enact a law, later called “Tibi’s Law”,
whereby any Arab citizen is prohibited from working with the Palestinian
Authority and its various bodies.
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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