Rostam Bastuni ( ar, رستم بستوني, he, רוסתם בסתוני; 15 March 1923 – 26 April 1994) was an Israeli politician and journalist, and the first

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 ...

to represent a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

party in the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

Biography

Bastuni was born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

to a family originally from al-Tira. He attended the Technion, graduating with a degree in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, going on to become a teacher. Going into politics, Bastuni joined the Arab branch of Mapam in 1951. He rose through the party ranks, and although not elected, he served as the party's secretary in the

first Knesset Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset (Hebrew: כ ...

. He also edited the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

edition of Mapam's weekly magazine, ''Al-Fajar''. For the 1951 elections he was placed high enough on their list to win a place in the Knesset, thus becoming the first Israeli Arab to represent a Zionist party (three Arab MKs had served in the first Knesset, but none of them for Zionist parties - one had been a member of the communist

Maki Maki may refer to: People *Mäki, a Finnish surname (includes a list of people with the name) *Maki (name), a Japanese given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name) Places *Maki, Ravar, Kerman Province, Iran *Maki, Rigan, Ke ...

and the other two were members of an Arab party, the

Democratic List of Nazareth The Democratic List of Nazareth ( he, רְשִׁימָה דֶּמוֹקְרָטִית שֶׁל נָצְרַת, ''Reshima Demokratit shel Natzrat''; ar, قائمة الناصرة الديمقراطية) was an Arab satellite list in Israel and t ...

). During his first Knesset term, internal divisions over the Slánský trial led to Mapam splitting. On 20 February 1951, Bastuni left the party and set up the

Left Faction The Left Faction ( he, סיעת שמאל, ''Siat Smol'') was a short-lived political party in Israel. History The Left Faction was formed on 20 February 1952 (during the second Knesset) as a breakaway from Mapam in the aftermath of the Prague T ...

with Adolf Berman and

Moshe Sneh Moshe Sneh ( he, מֹשֶׁה סְנֶה ; 6 January 1909 – 1 March 1972) was a Haganah commander and an Israeli politician. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki). Biography Mosze Klaynboym (late ...

. However, whilst Berman and Sneh went on to join Maki, Bastuni returned to Mapam on 1 November 1954. Bastuni lost his seat in the 1955 elections and did not return to the Knesset. In 1963 his nephew, Hassan Boustouni, became the first Arab to play in the top tier of Israeli football when he debuted for

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

club Maccabi Haifa F.C.Tamir Sorek (2003
Palestinian Nationalism Has Left the Field: A Shortened History of Arab Soccer in Israel
''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' Later, he served as an advisor in the Ministry of Housing on issues pertaining to Arab settlements. He was also dedicated to furthering Jewish-Arab harmony, and in 1966 he founded the ''Actions Committee of Israeli Arabs for Israel''. In 1969, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where he became an advocate of the

one-state solution The one-state solution, sometimes also called a bi-national state, is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state must be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Propone ...

, publishing his views in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 1972. He later taught Middle Eastern history at the State University of New York and became the chief architect of the

New York City College of Technology The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1946, it is the City University of New York's college of technology. History City Tech was founded in 1946 as The New York State Institute of ...

. He died in 1994 at the age of 71.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastuni, Rostam 1923 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Israeli architects 20th-century Israeli civil servants 20th-century Israeli educators 20th-century journalists Arab members of the Knesset Canaanites (movement) Israeli emigrants to the United States Left Faction politicians Mapam politicians Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) People from Tirat Carmel State University of New York faculty Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni