Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka ( ar, أسماء إغبارية-زحالقة, , born 1973) is an

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and political activist who heads the Organization for Democratic Action (Da'am) party. She is the only Israeli Arab woman to head a political party.

Biography

Agbarieh was born to a conservative

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

family and raised in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

. In 1995, after completing her undergraduate studies at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

and in education and teaching, she started work as an editor for ''al-Sabar'', the Arabic-language edition of the magazine ''Etgar'' (challenge) published by the newly founded Da'am party. She joined the party and became active in its socio-political activities, focusing on the city’s housing shortage, quality of education, and the

status of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. In 2000, she founded and became the director of the

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

branch of th
Workers’ Advice Center - 'Ma’an'
which provides assistance to non-unionized workers and the unemployed. In 2002, she relocated to the ''Ma'an'' branch in the

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

, where she worked on projects aimed at finding employment for laborers and the unemployed in various fields, and in youth education, as well as a project to help those affected by the Wisconsin Project.

Political career

She was a candidate for Da'am in the elections for the 2003 elections, and headed its list for the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and 2013 elections. The party failed to cross the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

on all three occasions, winning no seats. In November 2008 she ran for mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo and a seat on its city council. The party received 0.45% of the ballots, which fell below the threshold percentage.

Personal life

She is married to actor and contractor Musa Zahalka. The couple has an infant son, born in January 2009, to whom they gave the universalistic name Adam. Despite her upbringing, she is now critical of Islam due to perceived restrictions on women as well as aspects of

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

. She is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

.Igal Sarna
Asma and Naftali
, originally published in ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' Weekend supplement, December 14, 2012

References

External links

*

Haaretz, 3 February 2009

4/4/2008 "Tel Aviv" the weekly supplement of Ydiouot Ahronot. Published in English by

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agbarieh, Asma 1974 births Living people 21st-century Israeli women politicians Arab atheists Arab politicians in Israel Da'am Workers Party politicians Former Muslim critics of Islam Israeli atheists Israeli feminists Israeli former Muslims Leaders of political parties in Israel People from Jaffa Politicians from Tel Aviv Tel Aviv University alumni