Sheikh

Sheikh

Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

 Ibrahim Sarsur is an Israeli Arab politician and member of the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 for the United Arab List

United Arab List

The United Arab List , commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Ra'am , is a political party representing and supported by Israeli Arabs...

, of which he is the party leader.

Biography

Born in Kafr Qasim

Kafr Qasim

Kafr Qasim , is a hill-top Israeli Arab city located about twenty kilometers east of Tel Aviv, near the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank, on the southern portion of the "Little Triangle" of Arab-Israeli towns and villages. The town became notorious for the Kafr Qasim massacre, in...

, Sarsur served on its council

Local council (Israel)

Local councils are one of the three types of local government found in Israel, with the other two being cities and regional councils. As of 2003, there were 144 local councils in Israel, these being settlements which pass a minimum threshold enough to justify their operations as independent...

 between 1989 and 1999. During the 1970s, he studied English literature and English linguistics at Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...

. In 1999, he became head of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement

Islamic Movement in Israel

The Islamic Movement in Israel is a movement that aims to advocate Islam among Israeli Arabs. It operates on three levels: religious , social and anti-Zionist...

 (considered more moderate than its northern counterpart). He is one of the heads of the Supreme Committee for the Surveillance of Israeli Arabs (Arabic: لجنة المتابعة العليا للجماهير العربية في إسرائيل), an organization founded in 1982 in order to coordinate the political activities of Israeli Arabs.

He was active in the United Arab List before its merger with Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi is an Arab-Israeli politician and leader of Ta'al , an Arab party in Israel. He currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. He was elected on a joint ticket with the United Arab List to serve in Israel's parliament, the Knesset...

's Ta'al

Ta'al

Ta'al is an Israeli Arab political party in Israel led by Ahmad Tibi.-History:Ta'al was founded by Tibi in the mid 1990s. It ran in the 1996 elections under the name Arab Union, but won only 2,087 votes . For the 1999 elections it ran as part of the Balad list. Tibi won a seat, and broke away from...

, and became leader of the united list. He was voted to the Knesset in the 2006 elections. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections

Israeli legislative election, 2009

Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government...

.

Controversies

He spoke out against a meeting of Arab lesbians in 2007, releasing a statement saying that "all respectable people from all communities and streams to stand up against preaching sexual deviance among our women and girls." He also claimed there were no homosexuals in the Muslim community.

Following an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

 which killed a woman and her four children in April 2008, he compared the actions of Israel to those of the Nazis

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

: "Israel's killing of innocent people is reminiscent of some very dark times, including that of the Nazis."

In a June 2011 speech, Sarsur praised Hezbollah for "defeating" Israel and called for a new caliphate

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

 to be established with its capital in Jerusalem.

External links