Said Nafa ( ar, سعيد نفاع, he, סעיד נפאע, also Said Naffaa, born 1 April 1953) 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 ...

politician and lawyer. A

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

citizen of Israel, he served as a member of 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 ...

for Balad between 2007 and 2013.

Biography

Born into a family of the

faith in

Beit Jann Beit Jann ( ar, بيت جن; he, בֵּיתּ גַ'ן) is a Druze village on Mount Meron in northern Israel. At 940 meters above sea level, Beit Jann is one of the highest inhabited locations in the country. In it had a population of . Etymol ...

in 1953, Nafa joined the Communist Party

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 ...

at age 14. He studied law 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 ...

, graduating in 1983. In 1989, he was elected to his hometown's local council as a representative of Maki, and also served as mayor and deputy mayor in the 1990s. Nafa left the Maki party in 1997, and joined the Arab party Balad in 1999, along with a large group consisting of other members of the Druze community in Israel. In 2001, he announced the "Pact of Free Druze", an initiative aimed at ending the conscription of Druze into the Israeli army and promoting the community's identity as an integral part of the Palestinian Arab population in Israel and the

Palestinian people Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

at large. Nafa himself is a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

who was jailed several times for refusing to carry out his army service and four of his sons have also stood trial for refusing to enlist. Another committee founded by Nafa in 2003 seeks to facilitate contacts between Druze leaders in Israel and elsewhere in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, principally

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. Prior to the 2006 elections Nafa was placed fourth on the Balad list. Although Balad won only three seats in the election, he entered the Knesset on 24 April 2007 as a replacement for party leader

Azmi Bishara Azmi Bishara ( ar, عزمي بشارة born 22 July 1956) is an Israeli Arab public intellectual, political philosopher and author. He is presently the General Director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Chair of the B ...

, who had resigned. He was placed second on the party's list for the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

, and retained his seat as the party won three mandates. In the end of February 2012, Nafa was a guest of honor in a rally supporting

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

and his regime in Syria. He stated that he came to support the regime and condemn the foreign coalition that was formed to prevent Assad's reform attempts. He also said that the western coalition made up the "genocide" and is (the western coalition) responsible for the death of Syrian children, by supplying weapons to the gangs. According to Israeli prosecutors, Nafa also met with Talal Naji, the Secretary-General of the

PFLP The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...

while in Syria. In December 2011, Nafa was indicted for illegally entering an enemy state and contacting a foreign agent. Nafa did not contest the 2013 elections and subsequently lost his Knesset seat. On April 6, 2014, Nafa was convicted of illegally entering an enemy state and on one count of contact with a foreign agent. He was acquitted of a second count of contacting a foreign agent. On September 4, 2014, he was sentenced to one year in prison. Nafa lives in

and is married with nine children.Attorney Said Nafa to replace MK Bishara in case of resignation
Haaretz, 10 April 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nafa, Said 1953 births Living people 20th-century Israeli lawyers 21st-century Israeli lawyers Balad (political party) politicians Deputy mayors of places in Israel Druze members of the Knesset Israeli Druze Israeli government officials convicted of crimes Israeli politicians convicted of crimes Mayors of places in Israel Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) People from Northern District (Israel) Tel Aviv University alumni

Biography

See also

References

External links